Ben Folds (Official Thread)

[Soot and Stars]

Ben Folds


It seems that Ben Folds is the guy who's name gets passed around like a great secret but never manages to break out of his cult status! Perhaps it's better that way because if Ben were to lose what keeps him in that spot he just wouldn't be the same. Ben is IMO the closest this generation has to an Elton John or Billy Joel and he carries that singer songwriter torch with the perfect blend of storytelling, character studies and quirky humor that can only be attached to Ben Folds.

Here's my blurb in one of my album reviews of how I first came to hear Ben Folds Five:

I heard Ben Folds in my senior year of High School when I finally mustered up the courage to join the Chorus group. I remember thinking it was so cool to get to know people better who had a passion for music and I would often chat with them about new music before class. For some reason, the one song I specifically remember discussing was a new pop song by a new group called Ben Folds Five! The song was "Brick" and as I recall we all seemed to like it (like Breakfast at Tiffanys he he)!

Ben was in the group Ben Folds Five at the time with his third (and consequently breakthough) album (following their self titled debut and a scattered B-Side Album called Naked Baby Photos)! Ben Folds Five was actually a threesome with Ben on vocals and piano, Robert Sledge doing bass guitar and backup vocals and Darren Jesse on drums. Folds did 90% of the songwriting but Sledge also contributed and actually wrote one of my favorites from the trio.

So anyway, this was the single that brought me in!

Brick


That dark, somber jazz infused piano track was a beautiful gem! I had never heard anything like it and the subject matter that it boldly embraced was a stranger to the pop radio I knew at the time. I wasted little time in purchasing the album and it was a shock. In the course of one album I had catharsis for the somber moments, a tickling of my funny bones, an urge to move and just an overall sonic escape from beginning to end! I've been in Bens world ever since!

The album was:

Whatever and Ever Amen


Here are some of the tracks that I still revisit:

One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces
(crazy nonsensical song with one of the danciest piano melodies ever, what an opener)


Fair
(The perfect mix of melody and Bens craziness, love the chorus)


Song For The Dumped
(not a sonic masterpiece but a favorite for me, I laugh at this every time)


Missing The War
(a nice ballad)


This is just part one as I have a HUGE discography to get through but I had to start this so nows as good of a time as any! Hope you enjoy getting your feet wet with Mr. Folds!

 

[Cosmic Harmony]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

I love just about everything Ben Folds does. I first heard his music when "Still Fighting It" was used in an episode of Scrubs and I've not looked back since.

 

[Magic]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

Outstanding pianist and songwriter


But he cant sing worth a hoot, IMO.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

I love just about everything Ben Folds does. I first heard his music when "Still Fighting It" was used in an episode of Scrubs and I've not looked back since.

Outstanding pianist and songwriter


But he cant sing worth a hoot, IMO.

I agree more with Cosmic and less with Magic!

So on that note Ben Folds Five had one more official release before breaking up! The c.d. was a darker, more experimental, strange sort of concept album. The album has some of my favorite Ben Folds Five songs and honestly I've grown to like it even better than Whatever and Ever Amen! It makes me sad that even though Ben Folds has great solo work that Ben Folds Five broke up as they were getting even more interesting! Anyway, the albums title is:

The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

Straight from Wikipedia here's a blurb about Reinhold himself:

Reinhold Messner (born September 17, 1944) is an Italian mountaineer and explorer from South Tyrol, often cited as the greatest mountain climber of all time. He is renowned for making the first solo ascents of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen and for being the first climber to ascend all fourteen "eight-thousanders" (peaks over 8,000 metres above sea level). He is the author of at least 63 books (in German, 1970–2006), many of which have been translated into other languages.

I'm not honestly sure how all the songs tie into to Reinhold but I don't give a crap because the music is gorgeous and ambitious!

Here are my fave tracks from the album:

Just a note, Ben Folds Five had a one off reunion to play this album so I'll throw those performances in!

Narcolepsy Studio


Narcolepsy Live


Magic Studio
(my favorite Sledge Composition)


Magic Live


Army Studio


Army Live


Mess Live

 

[Magic]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

I agree more with Cosmic and less with Magic!

I knew you would

The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

I actually love this album....the piano work and orchestration is outstanding! Ben Folds is probably the best pianist of the modern era.

 

[Soot and Stars]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

Cool Magic! What are your favorite tracks from the album! Do you agree with my picks? Have any favorites I haven't mentioned?

 

[Magic]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

Narcolepsy and Army are fantastic tracks. I also love


Lullaby




he needs a female vocalist, his music is so beautiful he needs a vocalist that has a better harmony with the beauty of the music. Just tossing that out there

 

[Soot and Stars]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Guess what? You may want to check out an old album review of mine! Ben Folds produced an A Capella album of different groups doing his songs! If you love his music but don't care for his vocals then follow the following link! There is some gorgeous versions of his work! The A Capella version of Magic is my favorite:

http://www.classicrockforums.com/forum/f37/now-something-completely-different-ben-folds-presents-university-cappella-3107/

 

[Magic]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

Having other groups perform his music is not the same as him replacing his own vocals with a more suitable complement to his music.

I remember you writing that review...and the bands he chose to perform did a good job. I am visiting the review now...and going over the songs again

 

[Soot and Stars]

Re: Introducing The Uninitiated: The Official Ben Folds Thread

Having other groups perform his music is not the same as him replacing his own vocals with a more suitable complement to his music.

I remember you writing that review...and the bands he chose to perform did a good job. I am visiting the review now...and going over the songs again

I just think our vocal preferences are different. 90% of the vocalist I like are character vocalist rather than singer type vocalist. Ben Folds wouldn't have had any personality without the geeky humorous presence of Ben Folds and his nasally singing combined with his perfect ability to tell a story was perfect for the group.

This shows a lot when he started his solo work which to me I connected more with especially when his live album came out. Anyway, Ben Folds Five broke up amicably as a group and that's when during my college years I bought and fell in love with this c.d.:

Rockin' The Suburbs

I think the writing became a lot more personal on this one but Ben also got even zanier. It was a great complete c.d. and the best one in his career from start to finish in my opinion. Granted a lot of the song titles cornily had character names but it was cool to get inside Ben's crazy imagination and inside all these characters goofy lives. The melodies are awesome and it ends on a gorgeous note after all the goofiness!

Here are my favorite tracks!

The main single and title track is the most hilarious White Boy Who Is The Farthest Thing From Gangsta And Knows It Song ever!

Rockin' The Suburbs


Not The Same
(one of my favorite Ben Folds songs ever and great live but I'll save that for his live album, just a crazy song but it moves me and the choir like harmonies are brilliant)


Annie Waits
(great pop song with brilliant melodies and hand claps)


Losing Lisa
(a great storyteller)


The Luckiest
(one of the best written ballads I've ever heard, not often that a couple who grew old together is spotlighted in a song rather than some teenybopper emo couple! Oh, and I think the singing is perfect in this song! )