Review: Ben Harper - "Both Sides of the Gun"

Ben Harper - "Both Sides of the Gun"
(Virgin Records America, 2006)

Double albums are always risky. But when Ben Harper's making a double album you know no track's going to be the same. And over his previous seven albums, it's been made abundantly clear that he's musically capable of writing the material that could sustain that length. Both Sides of the Gun opens with "Morning Yearning," a piano and strings track that lets Harper's vocals lead us into the material on a somber note, and the standout tracks ("Never Leave Lonely Alone," "Reason To Mourn") keep that mood alive. But the second album's where the best songs come out. "Better Way (War Mix)" is perhaps Harper's most ear-catching piece yet -- as All Music Guide called it, "a musical tribute to Prince's 7". As it turns out, the second album contains all the bluesy funk (you've got to hear the Curtis Mayfield influenced title track!) which makes the album difficult to listen to straight through. It's more like a compilation of tracks, split among moods -- like Ben's personal playlist -- and while the songs I've mentioned are all worth buying by any music fan, the rest of the album is probably for Ben Harper completists only.