Ben Harper – ‘Both Sides of the Gun’ (Virgin) Released 20/03/06

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The burning question must be whether this is the best ‘Both Sides’ album since Phil Collins? Or perhaps not. ‘Both sides’ here refers to the fact this is a double album. These always seem to incite accusations of being overlong and including loads of filler. Harper, however, opts for the same solution as the Foo Fighter’s ‘In Your Honour:’ two albums, but segregated, with a different style of music on each. Disc one has Harper doing sensitive, acoustic ballads, disc two groovey, funky r and b (in the traditional guitar based sense). The first disc is the stronger of the two. Harper displays the same knack for yearning guitar ditties as Badly Drawn Boy (remember him?) though without BDB’s penchant for Brian Wilson multi instrumental symphonies.

It starts with ‘Morning Yearning’ lyrically an on obvious beginner and who hasn’t felt yearning in the morning? It’s a pleasant, melodic opener though, with acoustic guitar and strings, a bit like Jose Gonzalez’s songs on ‘Veneer.’ ‘Picture in a Frame’ meanwhile features some sweetly flailing guitar and touching lyrics about the end of a relationship. ‘Sweet Nothing Serenade’ is a fine instrumental, the most BDB moment. All of the songs are good, though none are really classics. The best moment is the Dylanish ‘Cryin’ Wont Help You Know’ which features a good tune and almost self-consciously Dylanesque lyrics: “All your poets have put down their pens” anyone?

Moving on to album two and it’s impressive that one artist can create two such diverse recordings. For while not in a different universe to the first album the second is at least on another planet. It starts again with a track that takes the chosen genre of music in a fairly obvious direction, in this case a funky song called ‘Better Way’ in which Harper sings the slightly clichéd “I believe in a better way”. He does broaden out however. Having limited himself to the personal on the gentle stuff he tackles the political on disc two. The title track explores the political and social tension of American society, much of which is attributed to “a one dimensional fool in a three dimensional world” Who can he mean? He comes very clean with the Dylan obsession on Black Rain - “This generation is beyond your command….A black rain is gonna fall’ - attacking Bush strongly. He’s a better lyricist with this stuff than on the love songs, for example ‘Get it Like You Like It’s’, “They keep telling me Jesus walked on water/He shoulda surfed” That track is a simple rhythm and blues fun and is the most successful attempt at funky pop, along with ‘Please Don’t Talk About Murder While I’m Eating.’

This album would seem a little too comfortably cool for the discerning twenty/thirty something record buyer. Put in on at a social gathering knowing the sweet ballads will go down very nicely while disc 2 will show that you like diverse music as well. But that’s unjustly harsh on Harper. It’s a good album, save for some filler on the second part. He wants to be Dylan and Jagger. Harper has even produced the whole thing all by himself himself. Time for a lie down and a beer, he must be exhausted.