Word: albums
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Slight criticisms of his new album aside, Harper's live performance evoked maturity beyond even the best of his recordings. The concert began with a tried and true favorite--"Gold to Me." It is hard not to be charmed by Harper's singing. He makes every breath count, every word becomes signified. If we could hear the sound of a diamond in the rough, that would be Harper's voice, so close to perfection that the imperfections hardly seem to matter and conversely add character and integrity. But this is not to say that Harper's voice is reminiscent...
...Although the event was punctuated with songs from his previous albums, including the rarely performed "Whipping Boy," a little less than half was dedicated to material from Burn to Shine. The most promising song from the new album is without a doubt "The Woman in You." With sparse riffs suggestive of Hendrix's "Castles Made of Sand," the song is both a musical and lyrical delight. Here the brilliant Hendrix lyrics "and so castles made of sand fall into the sea...eventually" become equally brilliant as Harper sings in perpetual falsetto--"the woman in you is the worry...
...Owning one Ben Harper album will inevitably cause the ownership of his whole repertoire. It's one of those ethical imperatives. Harper is one artist who truly deserves every ounce of success he has awaiting him. However, at times, this end is wished for so much that we forget to confer patience upon this artist who is diligently working towards finding his own identity. But stumble or fall, I don't doubt that Harper will eventually succeed...
...Archie's Riverdale High, who have, y'know, problems and all, but never feel compelled to open up and bleed--actual plasma all pouring out over your chest as you scream incoherently--on stage, pace Iggy. Or just listen to "Search and Destroy" on the Stooge's Raw Power album: this is one of the most earnest and moving performances recorded. And so it's a total pleasure when Iggy follows up "Raw Power" with "Search and Destroy" tonight...
...Iggy mean it, anymore? You go listen to a Stooges album now; it's violent and misogynist and abrasive; it's the sound of people desperate to feel anything, be it pain or hate or love or happiness, but willing to settle for anger and self-loathing. Because it's better than feeling nothing, than living in '70s suburban Michigan and not meaning shit to anybody, even yourself. That was Iggy 30 years ago; Iggy now is "Behind the Music." So now Iggy's on stage and 50 and performing the same songs he was then. Sure, the band...