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1997
On his third album The Will to Live, Ben Harper strengthens his populist folk with a grittier groove, which even borders on funk, that makes his music more immediate. Harper still has a tendency to preach, yet his melodies are catchier than before, and he has a better sense of rhythm, helping his bluesy songs catch hold. Leo Stanley,All-Music Guide
Ah ce feeling ahurissant de Ben Harper ! Sa musique coule, entre acoustique et électricité, aujourd'hui encore à la hauteur de ses maîtres Jimi Hendrix, Sam Cooke ou Bob Marley... Après deux albums qui avaient stupéfiés le monde musical, l'artiste parvient à surprendre. Dès qu'il se met à jouer ou à chanter, il dégage systématiquement un groove insensé. La magie fonctionne. Douze chansons fluides dans des registres différents : des ballades acoustiques, construites en arpèges de guitares fluides et en mélodies souples, ainsi que des titres plus musclés, avec des chorus saturés et un chant toujours parfaitement calé sur des accords d'une beauté toute limpide. Toute la tradition rythm & blues suinte sur cet album, entre St Louis et la Nouvelle Orleans, pour un ensemble parfait de swing et d'intense émotion. Ben Harper is keen on diversity - his life has "different movements"; so, he figures, should his music. This means that the album flips from genre to genre in a rocky-bluesy-folky mix, much like his acclaimed 1994 debut Welcome To The Cruel World. A virtue is that Harper handles each style with ease, while only seldom suggesting "and for my next trick" virtuosity. A vice, perhaps, is that he can come on as the spiritual seer, indulging in fine but banal sentiment. Witness Homeless Child: "There is no night/ And there is no day/ It is all one shade of gray". But when the writing is sharper, more specific - "I could have treated you better/ But you couldn't have treated me worse" (Roses From My Friends) - he's a welcome hybrid. Robert Yates pour Q
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