| Ben Folds Five | 1995 |
| Whatever And Ever Amen | 1997 |
| Naked Baby Photos | 1998 |
| Fear Of Pop (Ben Folds) | 1998 |
| The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner | 1999 |
| Rockin' The Suburbs (Ben Folds) | 2001 |
| Ben Folds Live (Ben Folds) | 2002 |
"Wait a minute! Why are they called Ben Folds Five when there are only three people in the band?" Har har har. Well, whatever that reference may be (apparently it has to do with poker - 'folding' five cards or something like that), Ben Folds Five had a pretty nice sound going in the mid-to-late 90's, like almost power pop without a guitar! Yup, it was refreshing in the post-grunge era where sludgy detuned guitar riffage and angst vocals started to grow somewhat tiresome that Ben Folds and two friends of his Robert Sledge and Darren Jesse as his rhythm section appeared with a piano-driven sound more often reminiscent of songwriters like Joe Jackson, Todd Rundgren, Billy Joel and Paul McCartney. Add to that Ben's sometimes obnoxious and immature but also sometimes witty and hilarious lyrics and his frequently catchy melodies, and you have a very good band on your hands - one that rocks convincingly with not a guitar in sight. That instrument wouldn't appear until Ben actually went solo, and even then not a whole heck of a lot.
Speaking of Mr. Folds going solo, that's exactly the path he's been at since the band broke up in 2000, so since he wrote and sung a huge majority of the songs anyway (with maybe one or two exceptions), it would make sense to just review all this stuff in one clump on this page - I'm stealing the (Five) tag from Cole's page - good idea!. It should also be noted that he's quit releasing full-length albums for some completely random reason, now concentrating on just putting out short EPs. Meh... oh well, I guess he either feels that the entire format is dead, or that listeners now have short attention spans, maybe? Still, there's something about his songwriting style that's very appealing to my ears, whatever format it's in, and.... I can't think of anything more to write, so on to the reviews!
--Nick Karn
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Philosophy, Where's Summer B? LOW POINTS: Sports And Wine.
The first showcase of the Ben Folds Five sound isn't exactly as consistently catchy as the stuff that would come later, and in fact, it took me a few listens to remember how all the songs even went, perhaps a critical flaw in melody-driven music like this. However, the piano/bass/drums approach here is already pretty unique, and the melodies do start to grow on you after awhile, and become more entertaining with each listen. Plus, all three musicians are reasonably impressive in playing quality and harmonizing (by normal pop music standards, anyway). Sure, Ben and the gang aren't always as witty as they think they are - "Underground" tries to be all amusing with its' overdramatic barber shop quartet-tinged vocal beginnings ('I WAS NEVER COOL - IN SCHOOL'... ehh), but ends up sounding stupid and hookless instead (the stumbling 'we can be happy underground!!!' chorus is pretty decent, though) - but hey, I guess some may prefer the more juvenile stuff on here to the more mature, artsy Reinhold Messner. I'm not one of those people, though...
Apart from the aforementioned "Underground" and the dull fast jazzy tune "Sports And Wine" (probably the least captivating melody on here), though, everything else is solid, even if there's nothing really drop-dead classic on the level of "Brick" or "Narcolepsy" or anything like that. "Jackson Cannery" and "Where's Summer B?" are entertainingly bouncy and groovy singalongs, especially the latter song about Darren Jesse's girlfriend with that really ear-catching almost swing style piano line, nice chorus harmonies, and an inventive little chord progression. The former might be a little too much on the irritating side (as far as the vocals are concerned - for some reason Ben takes on a slightly more annoying and less likeable tone on this album), but it's still really hook-filled with a tight rhythm and energy going for it anyway, so I can't complain!
A couple of the other tracks also have that energy in abundance, especially the catchy and distorted bass romp of "Uncle Walter", while "Julianne" is snappy and raw tune about a girl who 'looked like Axl Rose', where for some strange reason the vocals get really high and distorted in the mix, there's the sound of crashing plates, and it gets all chaotic. Weird. Oh, and in case you're wondering, "The Last Polka" actually does have a polka-style rhythm and melody going for it, though with quite a tense mood and with some of the best piano work on the album - don't go expecting "Weird Al" Yankovic accordians here! Of course, it doesn't all rock and bounce - a couple songs like "Best Imitation Of Myself" and "Alice Childress" (love those backing vocals!) showcase their ballad side fairly well, as does "Boxing", which starts the obligatory 'Hi, I'm Ben Folds - I must close all my albums with the quietest and most nostalgic or introspective song' tradition. It's a little boring, maybe, but it does have a touching atmosphere to it.
My favorite song honor would have to go to "Philosophy", probably the most well-structured on here in both music and melody, from the opening piano lines to the hella tight ending jam (okay, why did I just use that Teen Girl Squad phrase?) More great backing/harmony vocals and nice twists in the hooks abound - very nice song. It does take a few listens to remember some of this stuff (the swaying "Video" was the last of these to click with me, and I'm glad it did), to the point where I couldn't even tell what the highlights were, but that's probably because it's mostly a very even, overall good and distinctive debut. Ben would go on to do better, though, both with the Five and on his own.
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COMMENTS
Awesome stuff and differing from Nick here I found this set instantly accessible. Great hooks and harmonies throughout and a totally unique sound driven by that thundering piano. "Uncle Walter" steals the show for me here but there's not much filler kicking around this set anywhere, sounds like Dean Friedman on acid to me, essential listening.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Brick, One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces, The Battle Of Who Could Care Less, Evaporated. LOW POINTS: Missing The War.
Better and generally catchier! The band's second album is also their most well-known on account of spawning their biggest hit ever, the depressing piano ballad "Brick" (which some people think to be a love song but is actually about an abortion - yet another wonderful aspect of lyrical misinterpretation ala "The One I Love") Whatever, it's a gorgeous song with one of the most beautifully simple piano lines I've ever heard, and there's a great solemn tone to the vocals and maturity to the lyrics that simply blows anything off the debut right out of the water - also, how can anyone resist the 'sheeeee's a brick and I'm drowning slowly' chorus falsetto? I usually don't consider a band's most well-known hit by far their best song, but in this case I will, even if it's not very typical of a lot of the rest of the album soundwise, since the rest is mostly more of the same piano-driven indie rock of the debut, just done in a better fashion.
Particularly on the opener "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces", where Ben tells of how he was a friggin' dwarf at 9 years old, there's a bouncy series of cool piano lines, distorted bass goodness during the 'now I'm big and important...' chorus that's one of my favorite moments on the album, and it's generally a pretty exciting rocker. Actually, a major advantage Whatever And Ever Amen has over the debut is that the entertaining and melodic uptempo songs that are considerably more high quality in consistent in sticking in my head than the debut, from the wildly entertaining big band-styled "Steven's Last Night In Town" (great quirky melody and use of trumpet and clarinet), the "Lady Madonna"-esque chord progresssion and really cool rhythmic things going on in "Kate", the quirky and likeable in spite of itself "Song For The Dumped" (if you can allow a hook like 'give me my money back, give me my money back, you BITCH!!!' to get stuck in your head, you'll dig this one) and the hilarious minor single "The Battle Of Who Could Care Less", where Ben references The Rockford Files, and the interplay between the bass and piano lines is as incredibly catchy as the harmonized chorus. These guys are a tight machine!
The quieter songs in the vein of "Brick", meanwhile, aren't quite the masterpiece that one is, but hey, in 1997, I don't think there's too many songs that reached a level that high anyway (though there were definitely some - it was the year of OK Computer, Zaireeka and The Mollusk, after all). "Selfless, Cold And Composed" is on the more weary and unassuming, jazz-tinged side of things, but it's still pretty, and "Smoke" has an absolutely wonderful instrumental melody going that feels as if you're out to sea or something (is it some kind of keyboard or harmonium thing? damned if I know) The closing "Evaporated" is probably Ben's best attempt at the 'mature and introspective' closer - I really think his voice lends incredibly well to those kinds of songs when they're done right, especially on the moving refrain and even little touches like the quiet 'see?' after he sings 'I poured my heart out... it evaporated'. Nice. Very nice.
This album actually comes really, really close to taking a solid 8.5 rating (and in fact competes with Rockin' The Suburbs as my favorite Folds-related outing), especially as far these songs I mentioned go, though there are some moments where it admittedly does sag a little. For instance, "Missing The War" is somewhat rambling melodically, enough that I can hardly remember how it goes, and it bores me while it's on, and "Cigarette" defines the description 'completely unmemorable' (though it's very short). Also, maybe the ratio of mellow ballads to uptempo songs is a little high (though there's one more good one I didn't mention in "Fair", kind of a less engaging but also more beautiful "Philosophy" that builds up nearly as well). However, if you can get past the still sometimes obnoxious lyrics and the really pretentious liner notes that go through how the album was meticulously recorded to perfection, you'll probably really enjoy this.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Narcolepsy, Don't Change Your Plans, Magic. LOW POINTS: Jane.
Okay, the maturity and ambitiousness really sets in big time, as this album clearly sets out to be the Five's huge artistic statement. Of course, it doesn't quite gel into that, since I get the impression the album only seems halfway there in how much the songs are actually developed, but I'm still going to defend this often-bashed album whose songs frequently a closer resemblance to self-important showtunes with trite personal lyrics than the piano pop the trio was so good at before. That change of direction and sometimes overbearing 'maturity', however, doesn't change the fact that several of these songs are just melodically gorgeous (well mostly just on the first half, but what a first half!) and well-written enough for me to call the album very good in spite of its' obvious on the surface flaws. The really hilarious thing though, as the band points out in the liner notes, is that they actually didn't realize (or remember) Reinhold Messner was actually a real person (a famed mountain climber) until after coming up with the album title! Ha - they thought they were such Clever Dans, didn't they?
Seriously, I really like the first four songs on here. "Narcolepsy" in particular has a great arrangement, from the wonderfully beautiful piano lines to the bombastic way the orchestration merges with the distorted bass and to the dreary 'I'm not tired...' outbursts over cool little electronic touches. "Don't Change Your Plans", regardless of the fact that it really has the showtune feel in abundance (and admittedly elementary school level lyrics like the opening lines: 'sometimes I get the feeling I won't be on this planet for very long / I really like it here, I'm quite attached to it I hope I'm wrong') still has a beautiful set of vocal melodies (the 'all I reaaaaally want to say' falsetto gets to me in particular) and snappy piano work. "Mess" is an effectively tense mini epic about stuff Ben doesn't believe in, and even Darren Jesse contributes a song! And a great one! Seriously, even though the main vocal melody and piano line of "Magic" sounds obvious, I don't recall ever hearing it before, and it's as pretty as everything else in this stretch, and the simultaneously romantic and mournful atmosphere fits in perfectly with the rest.
Unfortunately, after the brief first half closer "Hospital Song" (an ominous, depressing waltz to a hospital patient who's about to die, but could be developed a lot more into something truly shattering from its' 2 minute length - in particular there could be more lyrics), the album kinda just settles into a just 'pleasant' groove where the songs range from very good to okay to not bad but pointless. In the 'very good' category, I would single out the single "Army", the only song on here that has any sort of rocking firepower - yet it doesn't seem out of place, probably due to the 'biographical' concept it has going, and the piano style. Also qualifying as pretty good are "Your Redneck Past", a somewhat lyrically stupid yet bizarre take on Beach Boys music (the vocal intonations are almost exactly like them, and what are all those noises in the background?), and "Regrets", a nice fast paced bass-led jazzy groove with a big "Nights In White Satin" ending (with huge harmonies and musical bombast abounding, albeit in a somewhat random way).
The other three tunes really aren't very good, though, and they ultimately knock the rating down a little. I find it hilarious that "Your Most Valuable Possession", the only song here that all three band members (and two other people!) had a hand in writing, is actually nothing more than a instrumental filler that consists of an answering machine message from Ben's dad over unassuming organ-led backing music. A pleasant listen, but pointless. In addition, the two closing tracks "Jane" and "Lullabye" are the only times throughout that I will mostly agree with this album's detractors who claim the experience is dull, particularly the first of these (the second certainly is nice, but it's also pretty generic and the least impressive of the band's quiet closers). Yeah, I can kind of see where some can call Reinhold Messner "blah", especially since it can be hard to get into the mood, and it's frequently dressed up as more substantial than it actually is, but I still enjoy it for all its' flaws! If the band actually continued on this path and developed it more, I'd actually be curious to see how things turned out, but unfortunately, that was not to be.
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released by Ben Folds
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
HIGH POINTS: Zak And Sara, Annie Waits, Still Fighting It, Losing Lisa, Fired. LOW POINTS: None.
Well, after Ben Folds and his four, err... I mean two, other bandmates in Ben Folds Five decided to part ways, the logical step was for Ben to start a solo career of his own. Rockin' The Suburbs happens to be one of those singer-songwriter albums where just one guy plays almost all the instruments himself, and fortunately, it shows his talents hadn't been lost with the band's breakup (although a bit of the uniqueness in the instrumentation and harmonies has, as Ben's definitely more proficient and distinctive at piano and vocals than bass or drums). In fact, his talent level has only gotten stronger - this is probably my favorite song collection of his, because the melodies hit a consistently really inventive and enjoyable quality, slightly more so than Whatever And Ever. Adding to that, there's a more diverse array of instrumentation, and even the lyrics have (mostly - there are some exceptions) shifted from obnoxiousness and immaturity to intelligent personal laments and really cool character sketch-type stuff, like he's telling stories about average people you'd come across.
There's one thing that glaringly sticks out about here, though - "Rockin' The Suburbs" has to be one of the most misplaced title tracks on any album ever. It's actually a pretty good song, but it's nothing like anything else here - it's the only song to use guitars (and prominently, at that), and it almost seems like a parodic anthemic attack on both modern music and Folds himself ('some producer with computers fixes all my shitty tracks..'). Oh, and it's got a little Rage Against The Machine / nu-metal imitation in there! Cool! It just seems reeeally out of its' element amongst singalong pop like "Gone", the soaring ballad "Still Fighting It" (maybe the most mature, honest and hard-hitting song he's written - 'everybody knows it sucks to grow up' indeed), and, well, just about everything. Especially when the mood gets even more serious like on the somber "Fred Jones Part 2", which chronicles the last days of some guy who's worked at the paper for 25 years ('and I'm sorry, Mr. Jones... it's.. time') over a melancholy piano part and violins.
My favorite songs on here actually tend to be the ones which prominently feature characters, like the poppy to the extreme "Losing Lisa" with its' incessantly catchy piano line, an incredibly effective majestic twist in the melody, and a 'black tears are falling, falling...' refrain you may never get out of your head. Elsewhere, "Zak And Sara" is probably my favorite, with exciting fast piano, some really whacked out lyrics in which I don't even know what's happening (some crap about Sara having spells where she lost time and 'visions of pills that put you in a loving trance'), and several great uplifting melodies (and the 'la da da...' chants, handclaps and keyboard parts accenting them well) that put a lot of modern music to shame. In addition, "Carrying Cathy", even if it is kind of a (superior) "Selfless, Cold And Composed" rewrite, is still an effortlessly flowing, dreamy and yearning ballad, and the opener "Annie Waits" hits upon a perfect upbeat piano line and addictive rhythm to get things started, with more high-quality hooks and an all around relaxing vibe that brings a smile to my face.
Actually, damn near every song on here is quite good, with only the more generic sounding and slow though still catchy "Not The Same" and the aforementioned loungey "Gone" being a slight bit below the others (I still love the Frally Hynes backing vocal cameo in the bridge section, though, and it does have a beautiful melody). The instrumentation can maybe sound samey, but when you're dealing with as many solid melodies and vibes as this album has, that's okay. And besides, there's enough quirks here to keep the pace interesting (the dramatic "The Ascent Of Stan" has a cool squiggly synth underpinning its' creepy piano build in parts, and the closer "The Luckiest" is just as heartfelt and stirring as any of those 'personal' closers from past albums, even if probably a bit more predictable.
Actually, it's more the preceding really Joe Jackson-esque "Fired" that has even more of a 'closing time' atmosphere than that one, with its' memorable 'walking' piano part, upbeat, quirky melodies, 'whoooo' outbursts, and crashing ending - plus lyrics that anyone who's been ousted from their job can relate to. Songs like that put me at a loss as to why there aren't as many artists out there anymore who write material that's driven in equal parts by neat personality and catchy melody as there used to be. Hmm. In any case, this is a really excellent album, and one that I very much recommend to modern pop/rock fans. Ben's peak by a slight margin - oh, and if you're kinda iffy about the title track, don't think about ignoring the album if you've actually liked any of the BF5 stuff in the past, because these songs are very worth your time if so!
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