Ben Shive

The Ill-Tempered Klavier is an odd album to classify. Technically, it is singer/songwriter Ben Shive’s debut album, yet he already has a long history of writing and playing and producing on albums by established acts such as Andrew Peterson, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Bethany Dillon. I suppose calling it his solo debut is sufficient, but still feels a bit lacking considering how much of his work has been presented to the public, even if sung by other people. He is one of those artists who can walk a thin line between being at once familiar and at the same time unique and personal. Yes, these are piano-based pop songs, but Shive’s mastery of the piano allows him to create a playing style that is uncommon and difficult to match. He possesses an ability to make his melodies shift moods and rhythm flawlessly, while marrying that to lyrics that tell stories rich with depth and creativity.

One of the best examples is, “Out Of Tune”, which uses a metaphor of a neglected piano to describe our need for God. It does this without breaking the imagery, yet the human/God dynamic is still easily recognizable. While many songwriters would fall into cliché, Shive weaves around that by humanizing the instrument, giving it personality. This continues on in, “She Is The Rising Sun”, which takes the perspective of the moon, pining for the sun, and creates a unique and beautiful love song.

The most surprising songs on the album are the ones that are meant as comfort songs. “Rise Up”, with its’ simple message that God will avenge, could easily have fallen into trite platitudes, but avoids it, instead acknowledging current pain and empathizing rather than talking down to the person it addresses. The theme is deepened on, “Nothing For The Ache”, which tells its subject that there is no cure for some pain, that sometimes life hurts and nothing is going to make that go away. Yet the song also maintains the hope that there may be a reason for that pain, that it can be used for good.

There’s a bonus disc attached with a few songs that were cut from the main album, two if you don’t count the short coda to close the disc. “On The Night That You Were Born”, is a quiet and thoughtful memory of a child’s birth. It’s sweet and filled with Shive’s unique way of wording. There’s also an instrumental that seems to have originally been a reprise to the album track, “The Old Man”, which mused on death. The reprise was probably best left off, but it is an interesting track that continues the mood of the song. Then the brief coda that sounds more like a leftover from the soundtrack to, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind.

If there’s any criticism to be leveled at the album, it’s only that Shive’s voice sounds a lot like another member of the Square Peg Alliance, the group of like-minded musicians which Shive recently joined and has worked with in the past. His vocals often evoke Andrew Osenga, but with more polish and less nasal overtones. That is really the only noticeable problem the album has. It’s a shame that many will never hear this album, because if there’s any debut worth getting really excited about this year, it’s Ben Shive’s.

↓ One comment

#1 Matt Conner on July 17th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

Brenden, this is a great review. I also have heard and really enjoy this album and you hit this perfectly - great insights and perspective. And kudos to Shive for this year’s best ‘Christian’ album, if we must categorize.

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