REVIEW : Fistful Of Mercy's As I Call You Down - NZHerald.co.nz

By Graham Reid


Rating: 1/5

Verdict: If cream rises, this sinks like a lead samosa.

Further proof - if required - that something less than a supergroup can deliver something considerably less than super.

And this group - Ben Harper, the far-too-prolific singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur and Dhani (son of George) Harrison - come up so far short on every front that their folksy I Don't Want to Waste Your Time ("but I will, yes I will") could only be acceptable if it were delivered by Flight of the Conchords.

It's rubbish.

Unless it's a parody, which - regrettably - it isn't.Lyrics aren't their strong suit ("you love like I love, you love like I do, you wish what I wish ...", etc) and their template is the low end of Crosby, Stills and Nash - but with none of the cultural significance CSN enjoyed. FoM seem dislocated from their time, any guiding intelligence and a decent, memorable song.

Oh, aside from Father's Son (and yes, Dhani does sound like that) which has the sole virtue of rousing them from their self-satisfied Travelling Wilburys/CSN sleepwalk - although you can hardy hail a lyric that includes such blues cliches as "my father he done told me" and "my woman she done left me".

Rubbish Part II.

Further proof - if required - that it's far too easy to record an album these days.

Three days, apparently. Time wasted.

-TimeOut / elsewhere.co.nz