It was only a matter of time before I found a diamond in the rough. An album that slipped through the cracks. One of the greatest aspects of exploring music is that there is always another road the listener will ultimately want to walk down. Whether an interesting song appears on the radio, in a movie, in a friend's car or just sitting in a bar waiting for a beer, it can lead to a path where someone can find that special artist that speaks to them.About a year and a half ago I bought a CD/DVD collection entitled In The Attic. It was a compilation album of performance that had appeared on the In The Attic Webcast. This particular webcast was hosted by Rachel Fuller or as I knew her, Pete Townshend's girlfriend. The Who still remains my favorite band and I am a sucker for anything the group members are associated with. In fact that is the only way to explain why I own Roger Daltrey's album Can't Wait to See the Movie.
I didn't expect much from the CD other than hearing a few new version of Who Songs done by various artists and by Pete himself. To my shock my favorite song on the discs came from an artist by the name of Ben Harper. I had heard the name in the past, but never thought of him as anything more than a college radio staple. The song Please Bleed spoke to exactly what I was feeling at the time. Being tossed aside by a girl, who meant so much to me at some point, left me angry and hurt. I rushed out and bought the album that this song originally appeared. Much to my surprise, the album didn't have the intimacy I was expecting. Gone was the artist and his acoustic guitar baring his soul and in its place was a Hodge Podge of styles that did not feel cohesive. I played the album a few times but was ultimately unfulfilled. I placed it on the shelf where it sat for the last year.
With the passage of time, I am able to appreciate the music that appears on this CD. I am no longer expecting a particular sound, instead I can hear the songs as the Ben Harper intended. What I initially wrote off as an noncohesive mess of songs, now is seen as an artist showing off all of his emotions through the different music stylings. I feel like it has almost become cliched to compare any album with multiple styles to the Beatles' White Album, but this does capture that same basic structure. Whether he is rocking out on the song Less, channeling New Orleans Jazz in Suzie Blue or sounding like Top 40 pop with Steal My Kisses, Harper nails each style. While the White Album ultimately comes off as a band who would not compromise their own ideas, Burn to Shine represents a complete view of an artist.
I love this album and I've listened to it a few dozen times now over the past few weeks. There are so many ideas that remind me of other songs I have loved as well. Show Me a Little Shame is a prime example as I am instantly brought back to hearing Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum, an all time favorite of mine. While I still prefer the version of Please Bleed on the In the Attic CD, this album is a treasure and I'm glad I rediscovered it.
