- Record Label: Virgin
- Release Date: May 5, 2009
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Harper's new band makes a fabulous racket, and the singer himself sounds reenergized on the soulful likes of 'Lay There and Hate Me.'
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This is the record that finally matches the excitement Harper generates in a live setting and is not to be missed.
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Harper leaves a few arrows unstrung from his deep musical quiver here, but the ones he fires all seem to hit their mark.
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Ben Harper is that rare talent able to not only vacation in the worlds of gospel, soul, folk and even reggae, but meld them gracefully together on both album and stage. But sometimes you just want him to rock, like he did on 1995's "Ground on Down." And at long last, he's assembled a new band that seems dedicated to just that, and it's a beautiful thing.
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The result is a restless hybrid that never completely settles into the groove that has defined the singer and guitarist's best albums.
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The chops are there but not always the songs. Still, it’s a committed rock album and, generally, a fun one--excellent fuel for the summer festival dates Harper has booked.
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White Lies for Dark Times is a strong, rocking record that certainly pays homage to a time when rocking mattered more than record sales, and a time when some would say music was at its best.
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Harper achieves the illusive balance of willful positivism and skeptical sentimentality in low-lit anthem 'Up to You Now' and the fuzz guitar, jam-band crush of 'Shimmer & Shine.' His sharp turns of phrase still cut deepest when he's seething from the scorn of a woman.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 14 out of 17
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Mixed: 1 out of 17
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Negative: 2 out of 17
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JamesMMay 16, 2009
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MicahHMay 6, 2009Great sound. Rock and roll at it's best. Different sound, but same ol Ben Harper. Gotta love it!
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DestroyerCMay 5, 2009Best studio album he has ever put out. The best rock album in a long time. The critics are way off on this, no way it should get anything below a 70.