Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0094639338528 Label: Virgin Records Us Manufacturer: Virgin Records Us Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Virgin Records Us Release Date: August 28, 2007 Sales Rank: 1281 Studio: Virgin Records Us
Amazon.com: At the end of a nine month European tour, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals landed in a Paris recording studio and completed their new album, Lifeline, in just seven days. The result: a soulful masterpiece with beautifully direct lyrics, undeniable grooves and an effortless energy that recalls the best works of Otis Redding, Bill Withers and Beggars Banquet-era Rolling Stones. Yeah...it's that good.
It's no surprise that most bands today don't record albums live, straight to tape, in one room, no Pro Tools, no auto-tune. There are only a handful of modern artists that can pull it off. Since Ben & The Innocent Criminals were so musically connected after such a long tour, they entered the studio immediately. And on a sixteen track tape machine and one full week in the City of Lights, they successfully recorded and mixed an album that will sit alongside all of your old favorites...just like a classic record should.
Amazon.com: Eight albums in just over a dozen years: validation that Ben Harper--mind or body--rarely rests, be it on the road with backing jam band the Innocent Criminals or buried in a studio, where the gifted singer-songwriter lays down his brand of peace-chanting, love-tilting music. His latest is lighter on the rock, with a greater emphasis on gospel, blues, and deeply burning soul. Harper isn't concerned about letting listeners inside that soul, confessing in the title track, 'I don't want to wait a lifetime/Yours or mine.' The solo acoustic closer is classic wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve, a trait that seems to drift in and out of songs like the ominous ballad 'Younger than Today,' which remembers earlier days being better days, or its mood-opposite 'Say You Will,' where the exultance of a flamboyant piano and gospel backing vocals offset cheesy lines such as 'love you like a candle loves a flame.' The latter is a standout, along with the bluesy opener 'Fight Outta You'; the island-splashed 'In the Colors,' which recalls early-'70s Van Morrison; and 'Put It on Me,' with its brilliant lyric, 'She cuts cherry pie when she looks you in the eye.' All eyes, as his legion builds, are on Ben Harper. All ears, too. --Scott Holte
Ben Harper Photos
More from Ben Harper
Both Sides of the Gun
Diamonds on the Inside
Fight for Your Mind
Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama: Live at the Apollo
Pleasure & Pain
Digital Life Reviews
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Another classic by Ben Harper
It seems like each and everyday Ben Harper's music continues to grow on me. I have known his music for a decade but didn't really become a fan until a couple of years ago. He is trully one of the most creative artists of his time. He can go from rock, soul, funk, R&B, gospal, and even bluegrass over a course of an album and it never sounds forced or chessy.
Lifeline is a fantastic album. "Into the Colors" is a great first single and the album is packed with great tracks throuhout. If you are a Ben Harper fan then you will not be disappointed with this purchase. This is one of the best albums in the music industry over the past few years.
Rating: - 4-1/2 stars -- Saved!
Perhaps I was a little harsh when I gave Ben Harper's last album Both Sides of the Gun a three-star rating. The problem I had with that album was that, well, I realize that Ben changes his style quite often (especially evident by sometimes doing collaborations with different backing bands for entire albums), but the songs on that album were a little TOO different from one another. Thankfully, things flow more smoothly on Lifeline.
Ben hooked back up with the Innocent Criminals this time around, and it's a good thing he did because the songs are excellent. Well, actually, the album's opener "Fight Outta You" has him singing in a very unorthodoxly low voice, but if you skip past that, you'll find quality in tunes like "Fool for a Lonesome Train", "Heart of Matters" and "Younger Than Today". And although "Needed You Tonight" isn't spiritual, the vocals still take me back to the There Will Be a Light days. ... Read More
Rating: - these guys are great
My friends introduced me to Ben Harper's remake of Sexual Healing, and his killer tune Steal My Kisses. This is the first CD I bought and it's upbeat and happy. I love it. I'm going to buy more.
Rating: - MODERN WITH A CLASSIC FEEL
I ABSOULTLEY LOVE THIS C.D. I HEAR THE INFLUENCE OF AL GREEN AND HINTS OF THE GREAT BOB DYLAN. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THIS C.D. BRINGS A MODERN SONG WITH A CLASSIC FEEL...I JUST LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS.
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- Another classic by Ben Harper
- 4-1/2 stars -- Saved!
