Anyway, I haven't actually put any preparation into this review and I'll review the next CD I pick up (unless I've done it before). What have I got?...erm.. Ben Harper's Give Till It's Gone. Ho boy. This is either going to be a very short or a very long review. I know which one I want.
Ben Harper is (wikipedia, wikipedia...ah) an American singer who did...something and this is his tenth album. Impressive, even if it is in sheer quantity. Anyway, Give Till It's Gone was released in May and, well, let me tell you about it.
1. Don't Give Up On Me Now
OK, before I start on this, I must point something out. Normally I pick at least one favourite ahead of time, but this time I must admit... I haven't actually listened to this album before. So, I'm just going to pick one of tracks before hand and just rant about it, no matter what it sounds like. How about Track 10? Now, this song. OK. Folksy. Can't get past that. Erm... it has lyrics that are... well, they're okay. His vocals are pretty damn good, if nothing else. This song is probably a return to the classic Ben Harper sound all his fans were after...if I had ever listened to his previous work. Wait. Did he do "The Drugs Don't Work"? Okay, this is new stuff then. Yeah, this is going to be a long review for both me and whoever has the misfortune to glance upon this. Yeah, this song is okay, but I certainly don't think this is single materiel. Apparently Harper disagrees, y the way.
2. I Will Not Be Broken
Okay, I'm starting to see that the vocals of Mr. Harper are going to be the undisputed highlight of the song. And I don't know if this is a theme, but so far this song (minus the actual music) is almost the same as the previous song. A mid-range verse followed by a higher pitch chorus. Yeah, that is going to get really old fast. When I saw the words "folk" and "reggae" on this guys wikipedia page (my bad for listening to wikipedia perhaps) I instantly thought this guy would just be a Yankee John Butler Trio. If only, oh if only. Perhaps I should no longer select album based on the fact that I have liked music by another guy called Ben (Ben Folds, if you're wondering). Oh, at least there is some electric guitar (I think) to break up the rest of the song.
3. Rock 'n' Roll Is Free
Okay, finally some spirit! At least in the music. What the hell is with Harper's voice. Yeah, it's very nice but he puts little to no emotion into it. Or perhaps effort is the word I'm looking for. Well, something deep inside warns me that this may be as good as the backing music is going to get. To give some idea, think if The Eagles cut two members of the group (which ever, but not the singer) and then replaced the singer with Ben Harper. It sounds like it was supposed to be a big song, but they should have just paid the extra money for some more musicians (and some more lyrics, if you could. I swear you can make up every line in the song, especially near the end, by rearranging the title).
4. Free Love
Slowing down, this song at least sounds different. Not necessarily good, just different. No, I'll be nice. The song isn't actually bad. Harper sounds like he at least cared enough about this song to put some effort in, which justifies me liking the song. Nothing heart-wrenching, but just replace the simile above with The Eagles to The Fleet Foxes. So far the best song, but a little birdie (2 6-sided dice -1) told me that Track 10 is legendary. Do little birdies lie to you as much as they do to me?
5. Clearly Severely
Well, at first it sounds like they are trying to grate a guitar, but the actual song (whilst grating their guitar) is not that bad either. However, it sounds like Harper sang the song without any music and then some producer (without his hearing aid in) put some music in the background. Not very well. Really, this sounds like the musical comparison of green screen. The vocals just do not match the music. Of maybe I'm just a complete SOB. Both are very possible.
6. Spilling Faith
Well the wikipedia entry on Give Till It's Gone says about this son- wait. Ringo Starr?! Wha-ho....wow. Well, lets see if he can fix this album. This song actually starts off like a song from a
7.Get There From Here
olds.. How long does this go for? One minute...two minutes...two and a half minutes...OK, so this is an instrumental which goes on for (Wikipedia away) six minutes!? Why? Just...why? Well, I've said everything I'm going to say already, except that for an instrumental, you need music. Not just bloody noise! Moving along as fast as humanly possible...
8. Pray That Our Love Sees The Dawn
Okay, this title is just A. Too long & B. A touch too poetic for what I'm imagining the song is going to be like. Now, Mr Harper should really take a page out of I believe Frankie Valli's book (shouldn't we all?) and make it simple. I think he had a song called "I Don't Want Our Loving To Die". There. That covers what you're saying, and then some. Just go with that. Okay, after the ordeal of song 7 has concluded, there is some tapping and some music, which quickly starts to go Cure-esque. Oh wow,. Harper decided to actually try some real singing today. Might have something to do with other people singing with him. Oh wow, some violin (I think). Don't try too hard, Harper, of someone might notice you actually have some talent (God forbid!). A nice slow song with a titles worth of lyrics. This is the best song so far, so I don't know how the decided the first song should have been a single. Enough said here. Let us move along.
9. Waiting On A Sign
This song actually starts out with some groovy guitar. And some actual effort on the vocals. This is starting to be awesome. Okay, this is definitely the best song on the album so far. Harper puts in real emotion in this performance, the music is both prominent and well played. Also, the lyrics touch on a narrative (nothing I can actually get a grip on, but if you listen to the song a bit more carefully, it wouldn't be that hard to pick up), which is always a big plus in my books. The song goes a touch longer than necessary, but not enough for it to get irritating.
10. Dirty Little Lover
Okay, so I have randomly designated this song the best on the album. I'm not sure how much of the review is going to be sarcasm, desperately searching for the silver lining and outright lies, I think they may start to meld together in one big delicious cynical ball by the end. Now, for the bull! Okay, a deep rhythmic baseline with electronic inspiration. Lyrics that...you don't have too think about too much. Harper actually does put some effort into singing this song,
11. Do It For You, Do It For Us
Well, this song actually has some groove in it, so that one ups a lot of the songs on this album. Again, Harper puts some emotion behind his performance, but by this stage it's a little too late for me to think you really give a rats about the album. All in all, this is a pretty good way to wrap up the album, but I stand by the theory that it is fine to finish off your album with a bang, but first make sure the album starts with something louder than a balloon letting out air at a gradual rate. It just doesn't equal out for me.
There we go. The damn thing is over, and I am certainly returning this to the library tomorrow. That's right. I wasn't stupid enough to buy it. Anyway, I'm glad I had something to purely rage over. Doing everything at differing levels of awesome, or awesome vs suck is fun, but I need a Give Till It's Gone to cleanse my palate with its blandness every once in a while (and if that was not the most pretentious sentence you have heard today, rethink who or what you spend your time with).
As I have in previous posts, I invite anyone who reads Red Television to suggest in the comments what they would like me to review. At my current rate of commenting (1 comment every...ever) I guarantee I will read it and almost guarantee I will review it (if I can find/stand listening to it.
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