This is a interesting concept but Ben Harper actually is believing people give a shit if it's on 2 discs or not. It's an hr. I better not pay for it more. I've been a Harper fan since "Fight for your Mind" I remember dude playing with Taj Mahal on Austin City Limits in his Bumble Bee colored suit and Harper was in the back with his Weissborn. I liked his collab album with Blind Boys. I never heard Diamond in the Rough. Maybe I need to get it. I heard alot fans not diggin it.

But a funk disc? Bring it Harper.




from Rolling Stone:

http://www.rollingstone.c...id/9051879

Ben Harper Sees Both Sides
Singer-songwriter polishes off a disc of funk and a disc of ballads
Ben Harper will release a two-CD set, Both Sides of the Gun, on March 21st. While Harper released a collaboration with the Blind Boys of Alabama in 2004, this eighteen-track collection, divided into nine songs per disc, is the follow-up to his last solo effort, 2003's world music-inspired Diamonds on the Inside.

At an hour long, the new material would easily fit on one CD. But Harper wanted to give each disc a distinct sound, one harder and one softer, as he just "wasn't able to find that magic balance."

Among the tracks on Both Sides' harder-edged half is the title track, which melds funk with a Seventies soul vibe, and the blues and funk-driven "Black Rain," a song in response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In contrast, Both Sides' second half features the power ballad "Picture in a Frame," and the romantic closer "Happily Ever After in Your Eyes," a track Harper hopes will become "the ultimate wedding song." (Harper and longtime girlfriend actress Laura Dern actually chose holiday tracks for their recent wedding ceremony this December 23rd in Los Angeles.)

While the California singer-songwriter turned to his usual backing band and a number of L.A. "jazz-heads" for recording, he self-produced the album and, on several tracks, played all the instruments. Harper says of his very hands-on effort, "I feel confident there's not an ounce of filler."

With tour plans in support of Both Sides in the works for either February or March -- and a co-headlining slot for the Langerado Music Festival in Sunrise, Florida, on March 11th -- Harper finds himself itching to get out on the road. "I'm jumping out of my skin. I can hardly sit still. I just can't wait to get it out and play it."

STEVE BALTIN

Does anyone really like this concept??

As long as the set is priced as a single disc release, it sounds good. But paying for 60 minutes of music spread across 2 discs? No. I've only heard a handful of his songs, but I think his talent is obvious. If this turns out, maybe it will be the first album of his I buy.

RipHer2Shreds said:

You should get Fight for your Mind. Thats the best one to start with. It has this 11 minute slide guitar epic called "God Fearing Man"

Harper is an amazing talent when he wants to be.

Here I will help you on your quest

http://product.half.ebay....6QQtgZinfo

$2.19


my favorite Harper albums are

Fight for your Mind
Burn To shine
Welcome to the Cruel World
Will to Live

I have Burn To shine and Live From Mars. I just haven't got around to checking out the rest of his stuff. My ex-roommate LOVED Ben Harper though.

AnckSuNamun said:

Here's your chance go to Half.com

Everything is priced like $2.19 to 4.47

http://search.half.ebay.c...0QQmZmusic


Half.com should always be prerequisite for those who consume backcatalogs.

Trickology said:

I'm definitely gonna check Fight For your Mind out next

Trickology said:

i don't ben harper's first 2 records were wonderful the rest are shit, imo. he is wonderful live and, not surprisingly, his 'live form mars' 2-disc set is good. disc1 is live electric, disc2 is live acoustic. harper has never striken me as "funky". groovy maybe , but never funky.

Harper better brang it.

Ben Harper and Prince on the same day? Don't hold back nowww.

wavesofbliss said:

Yeah, Live From Mars is awesome. I'd love to see him play live.....he's not bad on the eyes either

I really love the concept of two homogeneous albums in stead of one album without concept ...
I don’t trust albums which last exactly 80 minutes ... most probably there are some filler-ups on it.
Why do you think most classic albums are made during the 60’s - 70’s - early 80’s?
Because most artists can only write about ten great tracks for an album ... not twenty-two!
And I do like albums that are balanced .... I think Ben is trying to make two great albums instead of one album that has no concept / feelin’

Prince can’t cope with the 80 minutes either .... After 1988 : there are more filler-ups than great songs on his albums:

LONG LIVE THE VINYLS!

By the way : Every album of Ben Harper 'till now is greatly balanced