The Will to Live

Welcome to the Cruel World Ben Harper sounds good on paper. He's a 24-year-old Californian devoted to vintage acoustic guitars, original political songs and the unusual blend of calypso and Mississippi Delta blues--an inspired blend of David Lindley, Tracy Chapman, and Taj Mahal. Unfortunately, Harper's ex...	Fight for Your Mind Ben Harper Photos More from Ben Harper Diamonds on the Inside Both Sides of the Gun Welcome to the Cruel World Live From Mars The Will to Live Live at the Hollywood Bowl	Burn to Shine Harper's soulful musical mix continues to defy genre categorization and his growth as an artist continues to amaze. Burn to Shine is his most ambitious work to date, tapping a multitude of styles and moods and revolving as usual around his incredibly expressive vocals and searing...	Diamonds on the Inside Ben Harper makes elegant leaps from reggae to rock to folk to funk and back in his fifth studio album. The rootsy singer-songwriter with the silken tenor isn't merely genuflecting at the altar of his musical heroes, as here he shows more quirky imagination and inventive musicians...	Both Sides of the Gun Split onto two discs, these 18 songs could have fit on one. It's a testament to Harper's aesthetic sensibilities that it is so configured, thereby both avoiding the scourge of the overly long album and dividing the raw, pummeling rockers from the ballads. With his band, the Inno...
There Will Be a Light Jam Nation hero Ben Harper tones down his lap-slide guitar flash in favor of the holy spirit for this blend of originals and gospel classics, his first full-length album with the historic singing group. They've worked together before, on the Blind Boys' excellent Higher Ground an...	Live from Mars With a slate of more than 200 shows a year, Ben Harper has never been an album-tour-album-tour kind of artist; for him and his fans, the stage is the ultimate proving ground. So after four studio albums, Harper has finally released his first official live set, a 25-song double-di...	Lifeline Eight albums in just over a dozen years: validation that Ben Harper--mind or body--rarely rests, be it on the road with backing jam band the Criminals or buried in a studio, where the gifted singer-songwriter lays down his brand of peace-chanting, love-tilting music. His latest i...	Brushfire Fairytales Fans of Willy Porter, Ben Harper, and G. Love will all want to check out Jack Johnson's engaging folk- and blues-inflected pop. Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Johnson, a former surfer and film-school graduate, has a knack for acoustic ballads whose calm surfaces hide a subtle but strong l...	On And On Jack Johnson has found himself a groove. Indeed, the Hawaiian surfing champion turned alternative pop-folk star really hasn't changed things one iota for his sophomore release. Fans of Brushfire Fairytales should be delighted with the results. The groove is a mellow one--most of ...

Marvelous
Execellent album. Ben Harper incorporates many different styles of music and does it well. Overall the album is fairly spiritual in content without being over the top. I cant tell you how much I love this album. In the top 20 of albums from the Nineties.

one of the best rock albums of the 90s
First question. Why is it that whenever someone mentions Ben Harper the next person's name that comes up is Lenny Kravitz? Their music is not that similar. Obviously the similarity between them is that they are the most popular African American rock musicians of the 90s. I hate this because it suggests a sense of racism by immediately pinning them against each other and making comparisons. They are two entirely different musicians, though both great in their own right. They are not the first African American rockers, for rock was invented by Chuck Berry and mastered by Jimi Hendrix. Not only that but there were other influencial and revolutionary African American rockers since then, for example, Bad Brains, Fishbone, etc. Anyway, "The Will to Live" is an excellent album. Popular hard rock is not the forte here, nor is funked out rock. What Harper does is incorporate many genres into his mix, including blues, roots reggae, rock, folk, and grunge. The excellent strings, such as in "Roses from my Friends", suggest classical influences as well. This album pays no regard to boundaries and does it well throughout the album. All in all a work of art.

soulful & moving
An album which expresses Harper's traditional genuflection to spirituality and concern for the less-than-fortunate. With "Homeless Child" and "Widow of a Living Man" (one of my favorite songs by him), Harper exhibits once again his uncanny ability of peering into the world of the downtrodden and revealing its anguish w/grace. While perhaps his most melancholy release, it's beautifully orchestrated, and like the majority of his work, it's an album that, thematically, speaks to those who are ahead of the status quo.

...not groundbreaking... but honest...
cant say that i'm a fan of the country-folksy-bluesy-semi-acoustic-lowlevel-rock-and-soul genre... but this aint bad... nothing that feels prententious or forced... or even 'cute'... just honest... and i appreciate that type of music regardless to the form it takes on.want to shake your moneymaker in the club? or rattle the concrete as you blow out your brand new stereo speakers???then THIS aint gonna be the album you do it to...but if you already lean toward the more eclectic/eccentric side of musical expression, then hey: get this and knock yourself out!

the will to win my musical heart
Ben Harper is one of the few original artist to jump race and genre boundries. he is a master of all styles able to rock out with screaming guitar, he can hit right to your heart the next on a simple soft chord. Do yourself a favor and check out any of his CD's. or go for the gold and get the box set