There are two types of people in this world. Those who understand the absolute power of Ben Harper's musical talent and those who have not heard him yet.
After the soul-powered "Lifeline" recorded in one week in Paris with the Innocent Criminals, the journeyman that is Ben Harper joins forces with new superheroes forming the Relentless7 (there are four of them I believe.) This album is much harder than Ben's previous work and chock full of hard rock mixed with Ben's slide guitar wizardry. If you are looking for an album to rock out to all summer, this is it. You can feel the heat of mid-summer off fuzzed tracks like "Shimmer and Shine" and "Why Must You Always Dress In Black." The slow jams that made him the underrated megastar he is today blossom in the middle of this rock fest of lying lovers and foolish faulters with songs like "Fly One Time" and the closer "Faithfully Remain." But it is the stupifying "Keep It Together" raises the album to a five-star status as Ben looks at his life and his wife Laura Dern's relationship in it asking for her to "Keep it together" so he can continue to spill his heart and emotion out in every song to feel alive. It starts loud, it crashes to a slow jam session, then comes back alive as we feel Ben's exhaustion from being a super human musician.
On the DVD (with deluxe edition) Ben says with such sincerity and not once comes off callous "I'm not ready to rest on any accomplishment whatsoever. There'll be no mellowing till the grave." That sums up the awe-inspiring and raw power of this album. Front to back full relentless energy from the Relentless7.
Final Verdict: 5 Stars
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