Ben Harper

Item: Diamonds on the Inside
Author: Brendan Boughen

Diamonds on the Inside

(2003)

Reviewed by Brendan Boughen

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify

Label Virgin RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2003

blues rock folk rock reggae

"When it's good, it's so, so good," croons Ben Harper on track two of this, his first studio album since 1999's Burn to Shine. He's right, and the wait has been worth it. Diamonds on the Inside is just so, so good.

Harper's blend of roots, blues and gospel music is a style that hasn't featured prominently in the pop charts over the last decade. Indeed, his 1994 debut Welcome to the Cruel World was way out in left field with its sparse, time-warping retro sound when grunge was still saturating the radio. But with an irresistible honesty and earthiness, Harper and his band, The Innocent Criminals, have since ascended to the heights of modern legends on par with the "Bob's"; Dylan and Marley. It is testament to the success of the maxim, "Do what you love."

For those who aren't in the know, Harper's signature instrument is the Weissenborn slide guitar which he uses to swing effortlessly between styles, from reggae to funk to Delta Blues to world music to hard rock. The Innocent Criminals mostly form the musical skeleton around this backbone, although Juan Nelson's bass licks are a delicious feature of many songs. However, as was demonstrated on the second disc of the amazing live, double-album Live from Mars, Harper only needs his gasping, pleading, often falsetto, soul-drenched voice and his guitar to captivate an audience.

The band's talent remains in fine form on Diamonds on the Inside, from the catchy reggae opener "With My Own Two Hands", to the blistering, guttural growl of Harper's electric sliding in "Touch From Your Lust" and "So High So Low." While the acoustic slide is at the forefront of most of the songs, Harper is not afraid to experiment, with the orchestral "When She Believes", the subtle "Blessed to Be a Witness" and "Picture of Jesus" pushing his boundaries; the latter being an amazing a cappella collaboration with the African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo (remember Paul Simon's song "Homeless" from the Graceland album?) This track alone is worth the purchase price, in my opinion.

The music alone is enough to please, but what continues to impress me most about Ben Harper is the fact that he wears his spiritual roots so unashamedly on his sleeve. His social conscience, his passionate loves and Christian faith continue to be his most common themes.

I can change the world with my own two hands
Make a better place ... I can make peace on earth ... I can clean up the earth...
I'm gonna make it a brighter place I'm gonna make it a safer place
I'm gonna help the human race / with my own two hands
("With My Own Two Hands")

A candle throws its light into the darkness / In a nasty world so shines a good deed
Make sure the fortune that you seek / Is the fortune that you need
("Diamonds on the Inside")

Corcovado parted the sky / and through the darkness
On us He shined / Crucified in stone
Still, his blood is my own / Glory behold all my eyes have seen
I am blessed to be a witness
("Blessed to be a Witness")

It hangs above my altar / like they hung him from a cross
I keep one in my wallet / for the times I feel lost
In a wooden frame with splinters / where my family kneels to pray
And if you listen close / you'll hear the words he used to say
I long to be a picture of Jesus / with him we shall be forever blessed.
("Picture of Jesus")

Nothing more needs to be said. Ben Harper's new album, as its title implies, is a gem. There are fourteen diamonds inside this album, which will shine for years to come.

5 tocks