Ben Harper — Both Sides Of The Gun

Ben Harper has the right idea with splitting up his latest batch of songs a la Foo Fighters for his first solo release in three years. Disc one has Harper up on the soapbox, commenting on the sorry state of the world over top of jazzy soul-funk beats. "Black Rain" is a diatribe on continuing racial prejudices highlighted by the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and "Gather 'Round The Stone" has the newly married (to Laura Dern) Harper giving his opinion on the war in Iraq (unsurprisingly, he's not digging it at all). Closing track "Serve Your Soul" slows down and serves as a segue into disc two, which sees Harper put politics aside to get more personal. In this bittersweet mix of love songs and mournful recollections, the soulful beat is replaced by gentle swells of piano and strings. Harper's covered all the bases here, and he's done a beautiful job.

Get it from