Ben Folds Five - The Sounds Of The Life Of The Mind

Ben Folds Five – The Sounds Of The Life Of The Mind
2012, SONY Music

Ben Folds Five are back, thanks to the love, affection and financial contributions of their fans!  The band undertook a fan funding effort earlier this year to keep the project independent, and have managed to create a wonderfully subtle and complete collection of ten pop/rock songs entitled The Sounds Of The Life Of The Mind.

The album kicks off with Folds at his emotionally disaffected best on "Erase Me". A bit removed from the angrier songs if his youth, "Erase Me" finds Folds mining a mix of anger, heartache and knowing resignation as he confronts his co-pilot in a downward arcing relationship. "Michael Praytor, Five Years Later" finds BFF rocking out in classic fashion in interludes between Folds' classic storyteller verses. Folds gets contemplative on "Sky High", one of the pat aesthetically and lyrically pleasing compositions he has recorded to date.

Folds has always had a distinctive for capturing people and places in song in ways that bring them to life for the listener, but he outdoes himself on "The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind". This portrait of a young lady who escapes from the banality of her high school life through intellectual pursuits is surprisingly adept. Folds ability to tell her story both from within her thoughts and in the third person simultaneously is masterful. Likewise "On Being Frank", which a melancholy look at Sinatra's legacy as seen from the eyes of one time fanatic and now disillusioned fan. The composition is fully orchestrated and beautiful, reflecting back the sadness in the vocal line.

"Draw A Crowd" could be a take on the narcissism of artists who will do anything for attention. Regardless if your interpretation it's a hilarious take on the need for attention, wrapped in a wonderfully snappy pop arrangement. "Do It Anyway" is a piano-driven rock ballad about making hard decisions. There is an interesting dichotomy in this song, which initially sounds like an ode to immaturity but actually tackles the decision of whether to end a relationship from a surprisingly adult perspective.

Hold That Thought is wonderfully melancholy and melodic. The piano drives this along with a vibrant if quiet energy, and there is a lonely beauty in the melody that Folds has constructed.  “Away When You Were Here” is a bittersweet reflection on imperfect love and family ties.  Folds is coming to terms with a dysfunctional family relationship that is no longer reparable and finds the good, perhaps for the first time.  Folds once again explores this sort of imperfection on “Thank You For Breaking My Heart”, a gorgeous piano ballad that finds beauty and growth in suffering.  This song is a powerful statement, punctuated by the occasional use of the piano’s more percussive properties.  It’s a beautiful and poignant close that makes beauty out of sadness.

Ben Folds manages to make a classic Ben Folds album with the help of his original band mates Ben Folds Five.  Maturity and time have smoothed the sound of the trio a bit, but the songwriting is as incisive and original as ever.  The Sounds Of The Life Of The Mind proves that Ben Folds Five doesn’t suck.  I should know.  I have my own blog.  (Kudos to those who get it).

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more at www.benfolds.com. 

Review: Ben Folds - Way To Normal

Ben Folds - Way To Normal

2008, Sony Records

Ben Folds has walked the outer edge of pop stardom ever since the release of his first band's eponymous debut in 1995. Ben Folds Five reminded the rock world that pianos can rock, and also reminded rock and roll that its roots were in irreverence and true rebellion against the norm (not surveyed, pre-prepackaged rebellion at $18.98 per CD). Ben Folds has always told you exactly what he thinks, and has not mellowed (much) with success. Politically, fashionably and (sometimes) socially incorrect, Folds just tells stories his own way. Sometimes they're tongue in cheek and sometimes they're deadly serious -- you're never entirely sure which is which, but Folds is always brutally honest. Folds' eighth full-length release, Way To Normal, continues the brutal honesty, wit, intelligence and cutting edge pop/rock/punk style that Folds has become widely known for.

Folds has always been the bastard son of Billy Joel, embracing honesty and irreverence in the same fashion as many of Joel's classic recordings. Folds definitely has his own voice as a piano player and composer, but you can clearly see the lineage on Way To Normal. The album opens with Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head) details Fold's fall off of a stage in Japan. It's a funny story told in Folds' distinctive style with a sing-along chorus and memorable melody. Dr. Yang is the sort of frenetic composition that Folds' fans have loved since his Ben Folds Five days. The song would appear to mock all that we will put ourselves through in order feel our best. Folds teams up with the eccentric Regina Spektor on You Don't Know Me. You Don't Know Me has a metronomic quality to it and has actually become one of my favorite songs on the album. Spektor's voice is heavenly and wraps around Folds' voice like a snug undergarment.

Before Cologne is like a piano suite that introduces Cologne, which is one of Fold's most beautiful compositions to date. The serene melody and lush musical landscape created by Folds here stands in stark counterpoint to the storyline held within. Errant Dog is typical Folds. The song is funny and rough-hewn with the classic piano/bass/drums arrangement that seems to mark Folds at his best. Free Coffee allows Folds to turn his piano into the headwinds of funk, and also serves as the repository of the introduction to The Bitch Went Nuts. This is the most outlandishly funny moment on the album, continuing the tradition of tongue-in-cheek misogyny that Folds engages in from time to time. It's tongue in cheek because Folds is as much a misogynist as Randy Newman is racist. Both Folds and Newman have a little fun with fans and critics alike by creating true to life caricatures and giving them life in musical soliloquies that don't comply with the PC standards of the day. The song is well written and highly entertaining.

Brainwascht is a straight forward pop song done Folds-style with a little not-so-gentle irony thrown in for good measure. Effington starts out with a glee-club style chorus, complete with mixolydian harmonies. Effington is a vast word-play steeped in double-entendre and an almost Pleasantville-like vision. This may be Folds at his most musically creative. The song is stunning in it breadth of its vision and scope. I found myself in awe the first time Effington played, particularly because Folds is confident enough to marry what may be his boldest composition with a subject that is something of a humorous anecdote. Folds closes out Way To Normal with a return to his most personal and serious songwriting with Kylie From Connecticut. Once again we have a beautiful composition and lyrics that are based in a fractured relationship.

Folds may write about heartbreak better than anyone in the popular music sphere. When he writes about it in serious terms he avoids cliché and musical perseveration by drilling right to the heart of matter and speaking in unusually bold and honest terms. When he's writing from anger or humor (they're often the same), there's not a songwriter in Rock N Roll who's more entertaining. Way To Normal continues Fold's progression from punk rock pianist to consummate Rock N Roll composer. Folds embodies the near virtuosic composer status of Elton John and the irreverent rock toughness of Billy Joel, with a health dose of Generation-X awkwardness thrown in. Way To Normal is an embodiment of all these things, and proves once again that Folds is one of the most innovative and exciting performers in popular music. Way To Normal is a Wildy's World Certified Desert Island Disc. Make sure you give this one a spin.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Ben Folds at http://www.benfolds.com/. You can purchase a copy of Way To Normal at Amazon.com or wherever music is sold. Way To Normal is also available as a limited edition CD/DVD combo, and an even more limited CD/DVD/Vinyl combo that retails for $100. (What's Sony thinking?)