Search - Ben Lee :: The Rebirth of Venus

Sing along!

ClickmeClickme | North Carolina | 05/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Let me be the first to defend Ben. Lighten up Rudy klapper. It's not meant to change the world. What's wrong with catchy pop? This is FUN music by a very talented singer.



I met him at a concert last year. Seems like an intellegent very likeable guy.



I can't sing, really not at all, but I can hardly resist singing along (alone in the car that is)."

Ben Lee - The Rebirth of Venus 4/10

Rudolph Klapper | Los Angeles / Orlando | 02/10/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Australian troubadour Ben Lee's seventh (!) album, The Rebirth of Venus, is an interesting concept album on the surface, a record dedicated to the mythic goddess of love and beauty. Hence song titles like "Boy With A Barbie," "I'm A Woman, Too" and that symbol of feministic rock everywhere, "Yoko Ono." Other than that merely skin-deep distinction, however, Venus is much like any other of Lee's albums of entertaining but workmanlike guitar pop: catchy, sugary sweet, and, more often than not, ultimately boring.



"What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)" opens the album, continuing Lee's obsession with bouncy, hook-laden choruses, eternally optimistic lyrics, and parenthetical titles. The tasteful percussion and understated guitar complement Lee's boyish vocals well, and the song is everything you'd come to expect from him. Following song, however, is more typical Lee, but in a bad way. "Surrender" rides along a strummed acoustic part and energetic drum line while Lee urges the listener to "let go, give in / give up, surrender," but the song gives a new meaning to call-and-response as a chorus repeats nearly every line, verse and chorus. It's redundant in the extreme, and the song's bland empowerment lyrics do little to make hearing everything twice worthwhile.



Lee's lyrics, a mixture of hippie-esque love is all sentiment, exhortations to take initiative, and reveling in the power of music and song, are usually the worst offenders on this collection, along with Lee's often-embarrassing earnestness and cringing sentimentality. "I Love Pop Music," a sing-a-long in the vein of his earlier hit "Catch My Disease (That's The Way I Like It)" compares politicians to professional wrestlers, criticizes the government for not committing "to a plan of action on renewable energy" and implores his audience to "turn up the radio / and sing along, like you're all alone." Other tunes, like the unbearably sappy "Rise Up" or the unintentionally humorous "I'm A Woman, Too" where Lee announces "I'm gonna get loud / hear me roar, I will not be ignored" as he proclaims his femininity while mentioning that everyone, from Palestinians to "freedom fighters to the Messiah" is "a woman too," are interesting concepts, but not the best of executions.



There is little overall to distinguish Venus from anything in Lee's previous catalogue, particularly anything from his last few albums. "Boy With A Barbie" switches things up for a few minutes with a rippling synth line and some more gender-twisting lyrics, making the song a welcome relief from the omnipresent guitar-pop that surrounds it, and I couldn't help but compare the chorus to Queen's "Under Pressure."



For the most part, however, handclaps, guitars, and multiple harmonies dominate the scene, and by closer "Song For The Divine Mother of the Universe," the call-and-response and campfire chants ("your love is everything" goes this last chorus) were becoming a bit overplayed. Lee undoubtedly has a gift for melody and the right ear for a hook that sticks, but his one-track mind has become, over the course of seven albums, the same old formula. It's always refreshing to hear a guy who seemingly is always in a good mood, especially when he has a penchant for tastily arranged indie-pop harmonies, but it's all too easy to forget about this CD after only a few spins."

Call and Response = Fun!

Persephone Rising | NC | 12/31/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I suppose the call and response element to this album would not make much sense to someone who has not been to a Ben Lee Concert, but to me, this album captures fully the Ben Lee Concert Experience. It's not about Ben, it's about the audience having a good time and feeling joyful, even if that means being a little silly.



Likewise, those who have not met Ben would probably consider this album to be cloying or disingenuous, but, really, Ben is one of the most authentic people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. He simply does not care if something comes off as cheesy...he's just being him. Not only that, but he wants YOU to not care if you are being cheesy, too. It's about letting go and living in the moment. This album is a testiment to his personality and eccentric thought process. It takes a big man to align himself with the feminine, so in that respect, this is an extremely brave album.



As for the music itself, Boy w. a Barbie is fantastic, imo. Families Cheating at Boardgames often brings me to tears...somehow he gets the Dysfunctional Family dynamic just right. Love the percussion (by his step-daughter)at the beginning of What's So Bad (About Feeling Good); the message is a good one, too. Fave line "No guilt, all pleasure".

Brad Wood is back producing and that's good news as he did a great job w. Awake is the New Sleep, as well. I think that Ben's music is an acquired taste; some people are going to get it, and some people aren't, and that's ok."