Birth Defects

SteveK reviews Ben Lee’s ‘Rebirth of Venus’

Although I’m not an avid listener, I usually enjoy Ben Lee’s music. However on his latest album, ‘Rebirth of Venus’ the preachiness and sanctimony are amped up to downright unbearable levels.

Take for example the song “I Love Pop Music” which is designed to do two things: First, it attacks the musical entertainment that is pop music, lambasting it for candy coating and bubble gum; at the same time, the up-tempo happy-feel song has lyrics about the devastation of war, environmental collapse, the price of oil and other protest-song standards.

“Boy with a Barbie” is another ham-handed number about not imposing gender roles on children, and the delivery of its message is clumsy, especially considering how many years Ben Lee has been at this.

“Wake Up America” is the worst of the lot, however; given that most of the recording of this album would have been done during 2008, during which time it became almost inevitable that Barack Obama would win the Presidency (Barring another fixed election or destroyed ballots). Therefore, a song that rails against the war in Iraq, the cost of oil, the destruction of the environment and just about every other wrong committed during the Bush Regime is already out-dated, given the new administration and its plans for change.

Perusal and listening to the rest of the tracks, including such grandiose titles as “Song for the Divine Mother of the Universe”, “Yoko Ono” “I’m a Woman, Too” all reveal Lee’s apparently overinflated sense of the importance of the message he attempts to impart.

As well meaning an album as this one obviously is, Ben Lee comes across not so much as a crusader as a whiny, passive-aggressive, condescending and smug little prick. It’s a shame that Lee didn’t consider the art of subtlety or the dangers of self-righteousness; it could have made it possible to listen to this album without feeling like I was being preached to.

Ben Lee: The Rebirth of Venus
New West Records
Steve’s Rating: 4/10