Ben Folds’ first solo album, Rockin’ the Suburbs, could easily have been another Ben Folds Five album — more smart piano/bass/drums pop. It was also a step up from Reinhold Messner because Folds focused more on writing good songs than delivering an oddball concept album.
Still, in a way Rockin’ the Suburbs is a concept album in its own right. Almost all of its songs are character sketches, short stories told in three minutes’ time. And Folds proved to be an expert at these mini-narratives.
Ben Folds Five’s third (and final) album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner didn’t live up to the promise of their first two. Studio gimmickry too often stands in for strong songwriting, especially in the album’s second half.
The first half, however, features several fine songs, including the lilting Bacharach-esque ‘Don’t Change your Plans,’ the crowd-pleasing ‘Army,’ and ‘Magic,’ a somber ballad about the loss of a grandparent.
While Ben Folds Five’s debut album is a seemingly impossible act to follow, the band’s second CD Wherever and Ever Amen was absolutely up to the task. Folds expanded his palette, making use of strings, horns and studio trickery to produce a stunning collection of songs. It would be a struggle to find another artist or band whose first two albums are as satisfying as these.
As with Ben Folds Five, it is hard to choose a song to highlight from Whatever and Ever Amen. From the hard-rocking opening track ‘One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces’ (incidentally, the only song in my catalog of over 8,000 that contains the word “dwarf”) to the delicate closer, ‘Evaporated,’ all of these songs are worthy of the spotlight.
Welcome to another single-artist theme week, this one focusing on the wonderful but short-lived Ben Folds Five as well as Ben Folds’ solo work. As usual, I will tackle the songs in chronological order.
That means I’m starting with Ben Folds Five’s self-titled debut album, which could very well be my favorite album of all time. Honestly, if I was in that desert island scenario and was allowed only one CD, I’m pretty sure this would be it.
Ten Best Songs of 2008 – #6
Yesterday I wrote about my biggest surprise of 2008… now I come to my biggest disappointment.
Ben Folds is one of my very favorite artists and through his career with both Ben Folds Five and as a soloist, he has almost never made a wrong step. But his latest album, Way to Normal, is his first to leave me cold.
Following his recent (and third) divorce, he decided to steer clear of the traditional breakup album and release something frivolous instead. And that’s fine. But this particular batch of songs is beneath his extraordinary talents — laden with unnecessary profanity and sophomoric humor, light on melody and heavy on monotony. I hope his next album steps up to the plate and apologizes for this one.
