Customer Reviews

Ben Harper - Pleasure & Pain

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are already a fan or on the path of becoming one, then this DVD is a great addition to your collection. The primary piece on the disc is the 90 minute documentary Pleasure + Pain which is a surprising, humorous, and entertaining collection of behind the scenes and biographical footage of Ben Harper and his merry band of Innocent Criminals. Be warned, there is a very limited amount of live concert or studio segments in the documentary. However, there are a handful concert, studio, and bootleg tunes on the DVD that can be accessed separately including Faded, Gold to Me, Fight for Your Mind, Waiting on an Angel, I Shall Not Walk Alone, Strawberry Fields Forever, and an excellent version of Give a Man a Home featuring the Blind Boys of Alabama. I would have given it five stars if there was more footage capturing Mr. Harper's extraordinary live performances.

If you are unfamiliar with Ben Harper and his music this DVD is where you should start. Forget the albums and music, just know the man, and the music will come on as no surprise to how vital Ben is in today's music scene. Many people don't know of him, and that is for good reason. Throughout Pleasure And Pain Ben reveals the reasons for the lack of notoriety; conviction and pride, a pride to never be told what music to create and always being true to his roots and influences. His life story is told here throughout and intertwined with footage from his Will To Live world tour. The story is narrated and explained beautifully by Ben of how he was influenced so greatly at a young age by his mother, father, and growing up in his grandparents music store. This is also a creative project from a film medium. Danny Clinch does a great job, highlighting the many feelings that the viewer is experiencing with different types of film stock and effects. Buy this, learn about Ben, and then the music will follow.

It details the life and living of one of the most talented artists of this century. From his childhood through the time he realized his talent. This dvd showcases the amazing person and personaltity that is Ben Harper, match that with the awesome talent of one of the most versatile and incredible bands, Pleasure and Pain is an amazing experience.

About Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminal:

Ben Harpers style cannot be catergorised because there is no one style to his music. His amazing knowledge and capabilities on a huge variety of instruments and a band from a variety of different backgrounds you get a sound that has elements of jazz, funk, blues, latin etc the list goes on and on.

If you havent heard of Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals take one look at Pleasure and Pain and you will be captivated by an artist millions of people have grown to love.

This video is a great snapshot into the mind of a narcissist. I like Bens music, but some of the footage he really comes off as condescending, overbearing, rude and unpleasant. Be sure to watch for dramatic pauses as he waxes philosophically, being sure to give us commoners a clue he is going to blow our minds with his knowledge. Also watch as he shows what a diva he is during interviews- you better not ask him a stupid question, or you shall face the wrath of Ben!!!

To summarize, this is a pretty good showcase of his music, but I left watching this losing all respect for the guy.

This is a great DVD with quite a bit of insight as to what goes into Ben Harper's music. The interviews with him interacting with his family are especially interesting. The best though was Ben playing guitar with his Mom. AWESOME! BUY THIS!

Yes this is plenty reason to flunk this dvd. I have dvd's 10 years old that have CC.

As you hit the "not helpfull" button, understand, that it was not long ago someone like Ben would not even be able to play the places he does now, because he is black.

If you dont think both of these are the same issues, your ignorant. Not stupid, ignorant.