This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Many (if not most) musicians and singers mellow as they get older — the tunes slow down, the grooves soften, the melodies get sweeter.
But like Neil Young, singer-songwriter Ben Harper swims against that current. Over the course of four albums, he’s evolved from a tender troubadour into a heavier, guitar-charged rocker. Burn To Shine, his most fully rounded and varied set yet, continues the trend. In addition to the spiritual sensitivity of Harper’s acoustic ballads, Burn also smokes with Lenny Kravitz-style funk-rock, bathtub-gin ragtime, human beatboxes, urban folk-jazz, Stonesy guitar-rock and even some Otis Redding soul power. At this rate, expect Harper’s next outing to include drum ’n’ bass and speed metal. And expect to dig it as much as this one.
