Diamonds On The Inside

Combining shuddering, groove-laden funky soul and folky, handcrafted acoustics, singer/songwriter Ben Harper cultivated a cult following during the course of the '90s that gained full fruition toward the end of the decade. Harper combined elements of classic singer/songwriters, blues revivalists, Jimi Hendrix, and '90s jam bands like Blues Traveler, Hootie & the Blowfish, and Phish, which meant that he was embraced by critics and college kids alike. Though he never had a hit album, his body of work sold consistently and he toured constantly, building a solid, dedicated fan base.

A native of California, Harper grew up listening to blues, folk, soul, R&B, and reggae. As a child, he started playing guitar, and began to perform regularly as a preteen. During his adolescence, he began playing acoustic slide guitar, which would eventually become his signature instrument. After steady gigging in the Los Angeles area, Harper scored a deal with Virgin Records in 1992. He released his debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World, two years later to positive reviews.

Released in 1995, the politically-heavy Fight for Your Mind made for a strong sophomore effort, an obvious growth in musical experimentation and individual declamation. Harper's third album, 1997's The Will to Live, pushed his blues-oriented alternative folk into the middle mainstream, becoming a mainstay at college radio and making inroads at adult alternative radio. Recorded over two years of touring in support of Fight for Your Mind, The Will to Live introduced the Innocent Criminals, Harper's supporting band. The Innocent Criminals -- who are bassist Juan Nelson, drummer Dean Butterworth, and percussionist David Leach -- solidified Harper's musical rhythms and emotional diversity.

Aside from working on his own material, Ben Harper has built a strong rapport with other artists, playing guest spots on records by Beth Orton, John Lee Hooker, and Government Mule. He played 1997's and 1999's Tibetan Freedom Concerts, and opened for R.E.M., Radiohead, Metallica, Pearl Jam, and the Fugees. Harper's career gained momentum throughout 1998-1999. His most successful album thus far, 1999's Burn to Shine blended Harper's fondness of '20s jazz compositions and urban beatboxing, resulting in a clever and passionate collection of songs. "Steal My Kisses" and "Suzie Blue" were radio favorites, landing him two headlining world tours and an opening spot on the Dave Matthews Band's summer trek of 2000. In spring 2001, Harper issued Live from Mars, a double disc of live electric and acoustic material spanning the previous year's tour and including covers of material by Led Zeppelin, the Verve, and Marvin Gaye.

When it came to recording his fifth studio effort, Harper went back to his drawing board of life's pleasure and pain. He'd circled the world countless times and naturally, he brashly sang about it on the worldbeat-inspired Diamonds On the Inside, which appeared in March 2003. After a European tour withthe Blind Boys of Alabama in 2004, the two acts entered the studio together and laid down ten tracks in two different sessions at Capitol Records basement stuidios. The resulting collaborative album issued under both names, There Will Be a Light, was released in September of 2004.

Ben Harper is a musical preacher of sorts, never one to be shy in speaking his mind about social conformity. If his first two albums —Welcome to the Cruel World and Fight for Your Mind —didn't clue you in, Diamonds on the Inside will definitely do so. Diamonds on the Inside marks Harper's fifth studio effort and this time he's emotionally in touch with what makes his heart burst. This is a passionate album, no doubt. His signature Weissenborn guitar joins him once more and Harper's classic groovy funk is heavy; however, Harper adds worldbeat to his musical plank. From the Marley-esque vibe of "With My Own Two Hands" to the African soundscapes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo on "Picture of Jesus," Harper's purist presentation is smooth. "When It's Good" gives a little country blues twang, while "Touch From You Lust" is a sexy haze of writhing riffs. "Temporary Remedy" follows the funk Lenny Kravitz-style, and Harper's a bit campy. It's a noticeable change from his typically serious stature and a nice shift in personality, too. Diamonds on the Inside is another stunning effort from one of rock's underground heroes. Harper has consistently worked with what appeals to him musically for nearly a decade, ignoring what fits the mainstream. Diamonds on the Inside is Harper's sixth chapter of truth and just one listen to the electric blaze of "Everything" will convince you.

— MacKenzie Wilson

In Pleasure and Pain, Danny Clinch's documentary of Ben Harper's 2001 Burn to Shine tour, Harper is caught throwing a cute-if-cantankerous fit on camera, whining and snapping at a European journalist like a pot-smoking Thom Yorke. It's funny, but not especially surprising that when faced with a middling reporter, Harper found his knickers in a bit of a twist: he's been misunderstood by the mainstream music press for nearly a decade now, and bumbling critics are at least partially to blame for the sloppily cobbled together batch of tracks on his latest studio release, the scattered Diamonds on the Inside.

Since his 1993 debut, Ben Harper has been getting all tangled up in his influences—he's inadvertently hog-tied himself with big, fat superstar ropes, each woven from stringy bits of Hendrix, Redding, Marley, Plant, Page, and a few stray Dylan hairs. This is as much a product of a lazy press (who relentlessly—aw, shit!—point out and examine his many muses) as it is his own musical mishmash, but either way it's got Harper stuck and wiggling for release. Disparate inspiration isn't a problem on its own, but Harper's inability to stabilize and carve himself a personality sure is. Neo-blues-soul-metal-punk-reggae-gospel-rock-funk is far too cumbersome to be a proper qualifier, and Diamonds on the Inside's breathless Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock whirlwind is tiring, at best. Harper's now-trademark lack of focus—which is especially disappointing because dude's got skills with that slide!—is destined to forever supercede his considerable songwriting talent.

Diamonds on the Inside opens with its first single, "With My Own Two Hands", an optimistic and aggressively reggae-inspired bit of dancehall wah-wah, complete with Hammond B3, clavinet, and high, lazy backing vocals. Harper swings effortlessly from a low, throaty growl to his excellent soul falsetto, and the rich, dynamic percussion (Oliver Francis Charles on drums) works remarkably well here. It's what happens next that gives pause: the sparse, southern gospel romp "When It's Good" stars a completely different breed of Harper, blues-driven and virtually unaccompanied (save a box of rocks, some background singers, and his acoustic slide).

Meanwhile, the title track is a thick, sentimental Lynyrd Skynyrd guitar throwdown, featuring a singalong chorus and sweet, lilting pedal steel, electric piano, bass, and guitars; the aptly titled "Bring the Funk" is pure gimmick, all synthesizers and poorly channeled Parliament. "So High So Low" is heavy, Zeppelin-inspired metal thrashing, kick-started by some kind of otherworldly primal scream. And on and on: slices of this and chunks of that. Slow down, Harps, I'm getting freakin' confused! What kind of goulash you serving here, anyway?

Despite Diamonds on the Inside's pointed identity crisis, there are still some standout songs. Ladysmith Black Mambazo pop up on the vocals-only "Picture of Jesus", which, despite its heavy-handed religious meditations, is a textured, vigorous, and engaging contemporary hymn. The brisk and solo-friendly "Touch from Your Lust" (seriously, what does that mean?) would have fit nicely on Burn to Shine, with its Lenny Kravitz bellbottom howls and heavy electric guitar noodling.

Harper has never been a particularly keen lyricist, but the introductory line of "When She Believes" ("The good Lord is such a good Lord/ With such a good Mother, too") is especially ridiculous, and the "Behind all of your tears/ There's a smile/ Behind all of the rain/ There's a sunshine for miles and miles" of "Everything" seems equally uninspired. To the contrary, new-favorite-word "shuck" is employed superbly in "Bring the Funk" ("Some are jiving/ Some are shuck/ Some are just down on their luck").

To his immense credit, Ben Harper pulls off rock star posturing even though he sits in a chair while playing live (an achievement Jagger has not yet approached—maybe this explains the incessant arena-touring?), and his performances are always charismatic affairs, especially if you're okay with little kids dancing shirtless outside. It's onstage that Harper excels, his humble grace and organic porch singing somehow capable of tugging sunburned college students away from the falafel tent and back to the main stage; live, his scattered influences are far less distracting and his playing takes on a more even and consistent edge.

Other artists have played the don't-pigeonhole-me card with slightly more success—Beck unapologetically flits between genres and styles, but has enough sense (or enough handlers) to centralize his records in a way that makes them thematically comprehensible. Even when artists self-consciously draw from a long, complicated lineage of diverse sounds and tactics, there still needs to be an organizing principle; ideally, individual tracks should contribute something substantial to the greater whole, like a chapter in a novel or a stanza in a poem, each cohesive, directed, and pushing towards a narrative payoff. All fourteen tracks here are autonomous, but as a record, Diamonds on the Inside feels pretty empty.

— Amanda Petrusich, Pitchfork