The Will to Live | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 17, 1997 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 53:18 | |||
Label | Virgin America | |||
Producer | Jean-Pierre Plunier | |||
Ben Harper chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Chicago Tribune | (favorable) [2] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | [3] |
Los Angeles Times | [4] |
Pitchfork Media | 7.2/10 [5] |
Rolling Stone | (mixed) [6] |
The Will to Live is a 1997 album by Ben Harper which showed his continuing folk-centric focus, while at the same time expanding on his rock talents. This was his third album, his second with the Innocent Criminals (uncredited), and was packaged with a special bonus CD in certain countries.
The record would yield his first UK Singles Chart single, "Faded". To date it remains his only UK single entry. [7]
All songs written by Ben Harper except as noted.
Chart (1997) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [8] | 17 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [9] | 24 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [10] | 33 |
French Albums (SNEP) [11] | 4 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [12] | 1 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [13] | 37 |
UK Albums (OCC) [14] | 87 |
US Billboard 200 [15] | 89 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [16] | Platinum | 70,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [17] | Gold | 50,000^ |
France (SNEP) [18] | Platinum | 300,000* |
Italy (FIMI) [19] | Gold | 50,000* |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [20] | Platinum | 15,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Fight for Your Mind is the second album by Ben Harper. Released on August 1, 1995, it was his last solo album before adding the Innocent Criminals to his line-up. Reviews were generally very positive, praising Harper's fusion of multiple genres, from folk, folk rock, and politically charged reggae.
MTV Unplugged in New York is a live album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on November 1, 1994, by DGC Records. It features an acoustic performance recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged.
Room on Fire is the second studio album by American rock band the Strokes, released on October 28, 2003, through RCA Records. Its title is derived from a lyric in the song "Reptilia".
Welcome to the Cruel World is Ben Harper's debut album from Virgin Records. Released in 1994, the album established Harper as a popular folk musician in the California area. After this release, Harper went on to add a permanent backing band, the Innocent Criminals, although they remained unnamed until the Burn to Shine album. The song "I'll Rise" is based on a 1978 Maya Angelou poem "And Still I Rise".
Live from Mars is a two disc live concert(s) release from Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, which takes tracks from unnamed venues throughout his 2000 tour and places them on either an electric or acoustic disc. It was released in the year 2001.
Burn to Shine is an album by Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, released in 1999 on Virgin Records America. Harper's fourth album, it shows him working within many different genres, including blues, rock, soul, and folk. The songs "Steal My Kisses" and "Suzie Blue" became successful on college radio. Like most other Harper albums, different versions were released in different regions within varying bonus material.
Diamonds On the Inside is the fifth album by American singer-songwriter Ben Harper, released in 2003. Although he did not explicitly credit the Innocent Criminals for the first time in 10 years, all the touring members continue to support him on the album. On this album, Harper brought on several new additions to his band, the first being guitarist Nicky Panicci in 2002 who is the first guitar player to be credited on a Ben Harper record. Panicci toured with Harper on the Diamonds on the Inside Tour for almost a year. After leaving Harper's band on his own accord, Marc Ford, formerly of The Black Crowes replaced Panicci and joined Harper's band.
MTV Unplugged is the first live album by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, released by Maverick Records in the United States on November 9, 1999. It comprises songs performed by Morissette on the television program MTV Unplugged. Twelve tracks were included on the album, but Morissette also performed "Baba", "Thank U" and "Your House" during the live taping. These were later released as B-sides on the "King of Pain" single release. The first single, "That I Would Be Good", was moderately successful, and two other tracks, "King of Pain" and "You Learn" were released as singles outside North America. As of March 2012, the album has sold 673,000 copies in the U.S.
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Brushfire Fairytales is the debut album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson. It was released in 2001 through Enjoy Records, a label that was later renamed Everloving Recordings.
Desireless is the debut album by Swedish singer Eagle-Eye Cherry, released on 7 October 1997.
Both Sides of the Gun is the seventh album by Ben Harper, released in 2006. Split into two discs, the title suggests the two sides of Harper's musical nature. The first disc ("White") is made of mostly acoustic and string-driven songs hinted at on the last track of Harper's previous album Diamonds On the Inside. The second disc ("Black") is made up of the more rock and upbeat material and touching on genres such as hard rock, funk and gospel.
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Lifeline is an album by Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals. It was recorded in Paris in the fall of 2006 after the lengthy European leg of the Both Sides of the Gun tour. Harper and the Innocent Criminals wrote the tracks while on tour and would rehearse the songs during sound checks while at each venue. Recorded in only seven days on analog, the album was released on August 28, 2007. It is Harper's eighth album.
Sleep Through the Static is the fourth studio album by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson, released in the United States on February 5, 2008. The album was announced on Johnson's website as renovation began for the release of the album. It was recorded at the Los Angeles Solar Powered Plastic Plant, which makes it Johnson's first album made outside of Hawaii. It was produced by JP Plunier.
Oracular Spectacular is the debut studio album by the American band MGMT, released on October 2, 2007, by RED Ink and physically on January 22, 2008, by Columbia. It was produced by Dave Fridmann and is the band's first release of new content, being recorded from March to April 2007. Promotion for the album started as early as June 2007, when the song "Weekend Wars" was given away in summer issues of free monthly magazine Nöjesguiden in Stockholm, Sweden. Matching CDs could be picked up for free in all stores in three different shopping malls around Stockholm from June 26 to July 31. The album was also promoted with three singles: "Time to Pretend", "Electric Feel" and "Kids". Both "Time to Pretend" and "Kids" were re-recorded for the album; they were originally included on the band's previous release Time to Pretend (2005), with the opening track serving as a "mission statement" and the theme continuing through the album's subsequent tracks.
White Lies for Dark Times is a blues-rock album by Ben Harper and Relentless7. It was released on May 5, 2009, and is Harper's first album with the Texas-based backing band Relentless7, and his ninth album overall.
Songs from the Road is a live album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Released on September 14, 2010, it is his twentieth album.
You Want It Darker is the fourteenth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on October 21, 2016, by Columbia Records, 17 days before Cohen's death. The album was created at the end of his life and focuses on death, God, and humor. It was released to critical acclaim. The title track was awarded a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance in January 2018. It was Cohen's last album released during his lifetime and was followed by the posthumous album Thanks for the Dance in November 2019.
Happiness Begins is the fifth studio album by American pop rock band Jonas Brothers, released on June 7, 2019, by Republic Records. It is their first album since 2013's Live, and their first studio album since 2009's Lines, Vines and Trying Times. It was the first album released by the group since they reunited in 2019. It was preceded by their comeback single "Sucker" as well as "Cool". The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200.