Welcome to the Cruel World :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Very Good 5/ out of 5 stars

2007-05-13
Very Good and enjoyed listening to Welcome to the Cruel World by Ben Harper but unfortunate when I first rated it I accidently confused it with another CD by Ben Harper so I'd like to apologize to you readers and liked to change my rating to 5 / out of 5 stars for Welcome to the Cruel World .

Great songs!

2006-09-28
Harper offers a great interpretation of Maya Angelou's I'll Rise poem. Also, you'll find "Waiting On An Angel" on the album. The song, if you don't know, was featured in the Lines in the Sand episode of the television show House, m.d.

Another Ben Harper...

2006-02-01
Couple of great tracks a couple hokey tracks. Great lyrics and nice melodic rhythms. Overall a good album to own.

Ben Harper rocks!!

2005-10-18
Ben Harper combines a wide variety of music styles in order to produce his various albums. Each of his albums combine aspects of jazz, rock, and folk. Harper's 1994 album, "Welcome to the Cruel World", was a major success. This album covers introduces listeners to Harper's aucoustic, Instrument, lite rock, and more heavy rock styles.

As with most of Harper's albums, he begins the album with his Instrumental style. The Three of Us, Harper's first track on the album combines all of the styles expressed within the album. The track begins soft rock and carries out in a more heavy rock tone. Other songs on the album like Walk Away and Forever are very similar in their soft rock nature. While How Many Miles Must We March and Welcome to the Cruel World show Harper's more hard rock style.

Harper is very successful in all of his albums especially "Welcome to the Cruel World" in providing listeners with a very ecletic mix of sound on one album. This album serves as a model for his following albums, "The Will to Live" and "Diamonds on the Inside", in the style and order of the tracks on the album. Overall this ablum is a must for any Harper fan.

Finally a social statement!!!

2005-10-17
"Whipping Boy" ... "Dont' Take That Attitude To Your Grave" ... "How Many Miles Must We March" ... "I'll Rise" :
Just these four songs make the CD worth having. Not to mention all the other songs which are just as good.

I've been listening to this dude back and forth from work for over two weeks...don't be surprised if some of his songs make you grow an attitude.

This is music to think about, not just your old hum and tap routine. Kinda reminds me of how we wrote music back in the late 60's early 70's. Ben Harper is the MAN!!!

Amazon reviewers obviously have no clue

2005-05-26

Ben Harper Photos

More from Ben Harper

Fight for Your Mind	Diamonds on the Inside	Both Sides of the Gun
Live From Mars	The Will to Live	Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Geoffrey Himes

2004-08-05
Geoffrey Himes is quite obviously an idiot. There are probably hilarious, idiotic reviews like this one that can be found for almost every great artist/band, whereby a near-sighted, close-minded music hack has decided that the artist/band in question wont make it. Hilarious and idiotic because of how wrong they are.
Great album, man.

Ben is here

2004-03-31
To all of you ignorants that have given this album negative reviews...

Please realise ben's depth of styles and the way he implements his own view of the world. Very honest and very talented.

Pleasure and Pain, Walk Away, The Three of Us, Waiting On An Angel, the list goes on. I think the true difficulty of writing simple music is by making it catch and sound good. Wainting on An Angel is not a difficult one to write but very difficult to put aside.

Peace

an exceptional debut album 2004-02-26
I can't agree w/the negative reviews of this album (including the one Amazon.com editorial reviewer, Geoffrey Hines, put forward). On the whole, it might be a bit simplistic, slow, and quiet, especially in light of his later work, but it's meant to be that way, and I find it enjoyable. "Whipping Boy" and "Breakin' Down" are some of his best songs. He addresses sociopolitical issues in "Like A King" and "How Many Miles Must We March" and softly sings of friendship in "Forever" and "Walk Away" while adopting a religious attitude in "Waiting On An Angel," "Don't Take That Attitude To Your Grave," and "I'll Rise." Besides, I can't dislike an artist who supports the Green Party and saving the environment and opposes hyposcrisy, corporate greed, and cultural, racial, and religious intolerance while throughout his career expressing these concerns with such amazing sensitivity and passion. As usual, Harper exhibits a wisdom beyond his years as one of the greatest musical artists of his time.

Welcome to a Dull Album 2004-02-15
This is, without a doubt, one of the most boring, empty and souless records I have ever heard. Ben Harper is an artist capable of decent and interesting compositions, but this debut isn`t really promising at all. This album is lifeless, flat and instantly forgettable, and there isn`t a single worthwile moment to register here.
Harper`s acoustic, laid back and mellow songs make him seem like a male version of Tracy Chapman, but pherhaps even more insipid an uninteresting. Listening to the entire record at once is a task, frankly, and creates a heavy sleep-enducing process due to its bland and sometimes melodramatic songs. All of them are filler, nothing stands out as mildly engaging and captivating.
A snoozer.