Ben Folds (Five) Album Reviews

Ben Folds was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, also the birthplace of The dB’s and Let’s Active. He started playing piano when he was nine after his father received a piano as payment for some construction work.

Folds dropped out of University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. He also played bass in the band Majosha. He pursued acting in the early 1990s, before moving back to North Carolina and forming Ben Folds Five with bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee.

Singing with a piano, Folds is often compared to Joe Jackson and Elton John. However, in an early interview, he compares his piano voicings to Joni Mitchell and his style to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Billy Powell. Folds also feels that his character sketches resemble Randy Newman‘s. Part of the 1990s alt-rock umbrella, Ben Folds Five are edgier than their predecessors.

It’s become a challenge to see what we can do with the piano to bring it up to guitar energy. Every member of the band really has to make up for the lack of a guitar player. There’s a good reason why in the last however many years of rock ‘n’ roll there’s always a guitar. We have to put out a lot more to get that much out of it, you know.

Folds, NPR

Ben Folds Five Album Reviews

Ben Folds Five

1995, 8/10
Ben Folds Five released their debut album on a small indie label. Although it only reached the top 40 in Australia, it was successful enough to spark a bidding war and a major label deal for their next record. Folds was nearing 30 when it was released, so his style’s already fully developed.

It’s produced by Caleb Southern, referred to as the fourth member of the band. He’d previously produced Archers of Loaf.

It’s the band’s quirkiest, most low-key record. This is partly due to the tension between the sophisticated songwriting and small number of musicians involved. It’s fun hearing Folds, Jessee, and Sledge fill out complex pieces like ‘Alice Childress’ and ‘Where’s Summer B?’ with three-piece arrangements and backing vocals.

‘Underground’ was the album’s breakthrough song, Fold’s tale of a misfit, relatable and real. it’s fun hearing Folds explore non-rock styles on ‘The Last Polka’ and ‘Boxing’ – the latter feels more Tin Pan Alley than alt-rock.

Ben Folds Five is a fine debut, energetic and fun.

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Whatever and Ever Amen

1997, 9/10
Ben Folds Five were signed to a major label, Epic, for their second record. Their approach didn’t change – they recorded in the front room of a house in Chapel Hill.

But Whatever and Ever Amen feels more mature, largely due to the presence of the hit ‘Brick’. Written about Folds’ high school girlfriend’s abortion, it’s heartfelt and profound. Darren Jessee wrote the memorable chorus.

Elsewhere, it’s often business as usual. ‘Brick’ is pointedly followed by the crass ‘Song for the Dumped’, with the chorus “give my money back/bitch”. Opener ‘One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces’ is frenetic and fun. ‘Fair’ is another fun example of the band squeezing a huge, sophisticated arrangement out of their three-piece setup. ‘Evaporated’ returns to seriousness, a gorgeous closer.

Whatever and Ever Amen is a terrific sophomore album, an artistic step forward with a hit single.

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Naked Baby Photos

1998, 5/10
It’s unusual to release an outtakes and rarities collection so early in a career. Most of these tracks are outtakes from the debut or live versions of tracks from Ben Folds Five. There’s not really enough to justify a standalone release, and it would make more sense as a bonus disc.

Pro-tip: Don’t Google this album without adding Ben Folds Five. Google now probably has me flagged as a naked baby enthusiast….

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The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

1999, 7.5/10
The title of the Five’s third album was named for a name that Jessee and his friends used on fake IDs in their teens. They were shocked to learn that it was the name of a famous mountaineer, the first person to summit Everest solo.

The band have a much bigger budget, with horns and strings on many of the tracks. They lose their homespun charm – there’s lots to like here, but it’s more hit-and-miss than their previous records. It sounds like a Folds solo album, although Jessee wrote the first-side track ‘Magic’. The band have stated that the lighter sound was a reaction to years of playing bombastic piano rock.

Folds originally demoed the album as a single track, with all of the tracks forming a narrative about Messner. The ambition works on the opener ‘Narcolepsy’, entrancing through its ebbs, flows, and dramatic string arrangement.

The second half is closer to the trio’s previous records – ‘Army’ opens with “Well, I thought about the army/Dad said, “Son, you’re f***ing high”. It’s hard to imagine longtime fans not enjoying ‘Your Redneck Past’ or ‘Jane’ either.

Reinhold Messner was a commercial and critical failure, precipitating the trio’s initial breakup. But it’s become a fan favourite over the years, and it’s Folds’ favourite album from his former group.

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The Sound of the Life of the Mind

2012, 6/10
Ben Folds Five reconvened in 2011 to record three new tracks for a career retrospective. This spun into a full album. It’s a valiant stab at a Ben Folds Five record, more energetic and muscular than Folds’ solo work. But it’s clearly the trio’s weakest album.

It opens with the pointedly abrasive ‘Erase Me’, while lead single ‘Do It Anyway’ showcases Folds’ extroverted piano playing. But the best song is a leftover from Lonely Avenue, the ambitious title track, well suited to the trio’s more abrasive sound and heading towards progressive rock territory. ‘Michael Praytor, Five Years Later’ sounds like it could have come from Whatever and Ever, Amen. Darren Jessee has a sole writing credit for the pretty ‘Sky High’, one of the record’s better songs.

The Sound of the Life of the Mind isn’t embarrassing, but it isn’t essential either.

10 Best Ben Folds Five Songs

• Brick
• Alice Childress
• Army
• Fair
• Underground
• Evaporated
• Narcolepsy
• Philosophy
• Boxing
• The Sound of the Life of the Mind.

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Ben Folds Album Reviews

Rockin’ the Suburbs

2001, 9/10
Folds released his solo debut album on 11 September 2001. It marks a different approach to his work with Ben Folds Five – Folds plays most of the instruments, including guitar. It’s more sombre than his former band, with exquisite ballads like ‘Annie Waits’ and ‘Losing Lisa’.

It’s not all sombre – it’s easy to imagine Ben Folds Five playing the energetic piano pop of ‘Gone’ and ‘Fired’, while the title track is a parody of Korn and Rage Against the Machine. Best of all is ‘Not the Same’, a surreal tale of an LSD trip, with a tough beat set against a buzzing synth that sounds like a theremin.

Of the slow songs, the emotional gut punch comes from ‘Still Fighting It’. The song anticipates a turbulent relationship with his son Louis during adolescence. ‘Fred Jones Part Two’ is a sequel to ‘Cigarette’ from Whatever and Ever Amen. Folds’ character sketches are impressive, like the tragic ‘Carrying Cathy’.

Rockin’ the Suburbs is a terrific solo debut from Folds, perhaps his songwriting peak.

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Special B-Sides

2002
Rockin’ the Suburbs was a productive era for Folds, and it’s worth hearing his b-sides from the era. ‘Hiro’s Song’ and ‘One Down’ would have held their own on the parent album. The big band ‘The Secret Life of Morgan Davis’ is outrageous, one of Folds’ most unhinged moments.

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Songs for Silverman

2005, 8.5/10
Folds’ second solo album was named for Ben Goldman, Folds’ A&R man at Sony. In the documentary The Making of Songs For Silverman, Folds pointed out that there wasn’t a grand concept behind the record. “When you make a record, sometimes there’s a temptation to pick a direction like you’re choosing the direction of a catalogue or something. Like, I’m going to make my Gordon Lightfoot album… But I didn’t really want to do that, so I was just making songs.”

He returns to Ben Folds Five’s trio format, with bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Lindsay Jamieson. But it’s a step towards mature respectability – more sedate and sophisticated than before.

The best songs are ballads – he wrote ‘Landed’ about the breakup of his friends’ relationship, recalling Elton John’s 1970s epics like ‘Tiny Dancer’. ‘Late’ is a requiem for songwriter Elliott Smith – “Elliott, man, you played a fine guitar/And some dirty basketball.” ‘Gracie’ is a delicate ballad for Folds’ young daughter, while the foray into country on ‘Give Judy My Notice’ is lovely.

Song for Silverman is more mature and sedate than before, but it’s excellent.

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Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the LP

2006, 6.5/10
Supersunnyspeedgraphic is a pseudo compilation, which doesn’t overlap with Folds’ studio albums. It collects the EPs Speed Graphic, Sunny 16, and Super D, all released in 2003 and 2004. It’s not an exact match – some songs from the EPs are missing, while often different versions are featured here – either different takes, or with added layers. It also features other non-album tracks, notably Folds’ hilariously straitlaced cover of Dr Dre’s ‘Bitches Ain’t Shit’.

Most of these songs are worthwhile, but it makes sense that they’re outtakes. The opening cover of The Cure’s ‘Between Days’ is lovely. It’s hard for the more serious songs to stand out among the extroverted covers and gimmicky originals like ‘There’s Always Someone Cooler Than You’. But the core of serious songs at the end, like ‘Bruised’ and ‘Still’, show Folds’ writing chops.

Supersunnyspeedgraphic is a mixed bag, but it’s worth a spin or two.

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Way to Normal

2008, 5.5/10
Up to this point, Folds’ catalogue of studio albums was impressively strong. But Way to Normal is much less impressive than his previous records – the songwriting is down a notch, and the energetic songs feel forced.

It was accompanied by a bizarre release strategy, where Folds leaked a version of the album with mostly fake alternate versions, created during “a night to kill in Dublin”.

Despite Folds’ protestations, Way to Normal feels inspired by his recent divorce. The mood ranges from anger on ‘Bitch Went Nuts’ to resignation on ‘Cologne’. The duet with Regina Spektor on ‘You Don’t Know Me’ deals with difficult romantic incompatibility, and it’s one of the strongest songs here. Folds is reliable with sophisticated piano ballads like ‘Cologne’ and ‘Kylie from Connecticut’, but there’s little else to get excited about.

Way to Normal is easily the weakest Folds studio album up to this point.

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Lonely Avenue

2010, 7.5/10
Way to Normal felt like a dead end, particularly its lyrics. So teaming up with novelist Nick Hornby was a great decision by Folds. Hornby’s best known for novels like ‘Fever Pitch’ and ‘High Fidelity’, and provides a more nuanced perspective. The album’s named for a 1956 song by Doc Pomus – it features a song named ‘Doc Pomus’.

If Way to Normal was an angry divorce album, some of the most memorable songs on Lonely Avenue are mature examinations of divorce’s aftermath. Regret and self-justification fuel the standout track ‘Belinda’. It’s a great premise—a rock star ditches his wife for an air hostess, but his career relies on the love song he wrote about his wife. ‘Claire’s Ninth’ also deals with the aftermath of divorce, from a child’s perspective.

‘Picture Window’ also has a fantastically demotivational chorus—”You know what hope is, hope is a bastard/Hope is a liar, a cheat and a tease.” Lead single ‘From Above’ has a terrific jazzy bridge—”maybe that’s how books get written/maybe that’s why songs get sung.”

Lonely Avenue is a smart return to form after an indifferent record.

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So There

2015, 6/10
Folds was commissioned by the Nashville Ballet, Nashville Symphony, and Minnesota Orchestra to write a piano concerto. So There features ‘Concerto For Piano & Orchestra: Movements 1, 2 and 3’, along with eight new pop songs given piano and orchestra arrangements.

The pop songs are worthy, often more energetic than you’d expect given the orchestral setting. I especially enjoy ‘Phone in the Pool’ – about an incident when an exasperated Folds threw his phone in the pool. Kesha fished it out for him, then caught pneumonia the next day. The proper songs peter out with ‘F10-D-A’, not something I’d want to listen to often, and the overly mellow ‘I’m Not The Man’.

I don’t feel qualified to judge the classical piece, but it’s more enjoyable than I expected.

There are some solid songs on So There, but its unusual format doesn’t help.

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What Matters Most

2023, 7.5/10
What Matters Most is the best Folds album in almost two decades, bringing back the pizazz and the tunes. Folds recreated the format of a vinyl record, a 10-song, 40-minute album. He’s grown from making So There, building sophisticated orchestral flourishes into his pop/rock arrangements.

It’s fun hearing Folds try new styles. The two singles both break new ground – on ‘Exhausting Lover’ he plays with a drum machine and a falsetto, while ‘Winslow Garden’ ventures into power pop. There’s still healthy helping of Folds’ usual character sketches and sad piano ballads, like ‘Kristine from Seventh Grade’ and ‘Fragile’.

If you haven’t checked in with Folds for a while, What Matters Most is worth a try.

10 Best Ben Folds Songs

• Landed
• Not the Same
• Still Fighting It
• Late
• Annie Waits
• Belinda
• Exhausting Lover
• Picture Window
• Phone in the Pool
• Winslow Gardens.