BEN HARPER - Both Sides Of The Gun Review

With his protest songs, kinky Afro, and whining slide-guitar lines, Ben Harper is a rock & roll Rip Van Winkle — it's as if he fell asleep in 1974 and woke up, still clutching Taj Mahal vinyl sides, 30 years later. Harper's retro aura infuses his stellar seventh studio LP, Both Sides of the Gun, which employs another favored Vietnam War-era device: the double album. Don't panic, though. Each CD is barely over 30 minutes, so it's not a case of musical bombast or lazy editing. ...full text Ben Harper has always worn his influences on his sleeve, whether they be Led Zeppelin-esque bombast or Albert King soulful blues.
Now, with not one but two CDs to play with at once, Harper unleashes all his musical demons -- from the acoustic ballad brilliance of Big Star to Sly-funk to Staples-gospel to Tom Waits smoky narratives....full text His lyrics are political, his personal journey deep, his musical influences eclectic - these themes play out continuously through this double album....full text