Give it a listen. http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/folds_ben/880047/album.jhtml?popThis=playIt() I miss the Folds Five. This solo album is, IMO, his best work musically. That said, it doesn't have the Keith Moon-edge that the Five had where you just thought something could go wrong at any minute....but never did. It lacks the energy that the Five had. Damn good album, but I'm still pining for a Ben Folds Five reunion.
A Ben Folds thread with no responses... Couldn't get the link to work, but I loved his first album so I'm sure this one will be just as good if not better. He played all the instruments and produced it himself. That's one talented mo-fo. That being said... I miss BFF with a passion. Those guys were greater than the sum of their parts. I got to see them live a few times and if I didn't know better, I would have guessed there were 7 guys playing instead of just 3. Especially when they sing harmonies. I can't believe they pull that off live. And you gotta love Darren's swing chops and unorthodox (ie. stiff) technique.
DAMN RIGHT! I have the BFF live at "Sessions at West 54th" DVD and it's so much fun watching him play. I love this album, but damn it makes me miss the five. I actually popped in all four of their CD's last night.
I have now (gotta love Limewire). A very moving ballad indeed... That's the kind of thing they used to do live. They always inject(ed) humor into their live shows. You should hear their ode to house soundcrews everywhere entitled "For Those of Ya'll Who Wear Fannie Packs" if you haven't already.
Greatest. Song. Ever. I scared some of my friends by playing "For Those Of Ya'll" on a constant loop for over an hour once at a party. Ima, I'm sure you have this but if you don't, "Naked Baby Photos" has one of the all-time great live crowd interactions with any band ever. It even surpasses the Ryan Adams "Summer Of '69" thing on the comedy scale. In the beginning of "Underground", the lyrics are very dramatic and start: "I was never cool in school...........I'm sure you don't, remember me." All of a sudden, someone in the audience SCREAMS "Who the f**k are you?!?" The crowd goes nuts, the band loses it and starts laughing. It's brilliant. Anyone who hasn't heard this needs to check it out ASAP.
I guess I should toss N4 a bone. It would be pretty embarrassing if the "Skydiver Dies After Legs Severed in Midair" thread gets more replies than this one. Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five might just be my favorite artist/group. I didn't even know that he had a new album coming out, but I'll get it as soon as I can. In terms of BF solo artist vs. BFF, I'd probably say that his Rocking the Suburbs album is his best, most mature work. But the BFF albums have all of the "fun" songs. I never went to one of his concerts but have downloaded a few stealth concert recordings. They sound pretty awesome. He does inject a bunch of humor and there's some nice audience participation (notably for the song "Army"). I'll definitely check him out the next time he comes to SoCal.
Oh yeah. Actually, when I saw them in Austin many years ago, I thought I would be original and yell that phrase at the same time when they played Underground. Well, me and about 20 other people yelled it. It doesn't even phase them anymore since they probably hear it every time they do that song. After a while, they probably just considered it part of the song.
