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Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen Audio CD

A fair review of the Ben Folds Five "Whatever and Ever Amen" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Ben Folds Five reviews here, or go back to the Ben Folds Five tabs.

Ben Folds Five Band: Ben Folds Five
Title: Whatever and Ever Amen
Rating:
Release Date: 2005-03-22
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces 2: Fair 3: Brick 4: Song For The Dumped 5: Selfless, Cold and Composed 6: Kate 7: Smoke 8: Cigarette 9: Steven's Last Night In Town 10: Battle of Who Could Care Less 11: Missing The War 12: Evaporated 13: Video Killed The Radio Star 14: For All The Pretty People 15: Mitchell Lane 16: Theme From Dr. Pyser- Brendan O'Brien Studio Version 17: Air 18: She Don't Use Jelly- Lounge-A-Palooza Version 19: Song For The Dumped- Japanese Version

An Essential Album
And why not? The album contains the most diverse collection of songs that the band wrote (with Folds of course at the helm) while they were together. Buoyed by the success of the song "Brick," Whatever And Ever Amen went on to be Ben Folds Five's best selling album by a landslide. Tongue-in-cheek bubblegum pop (Kate), a very mature take on forgetting the past (Smoke), songs that dabble in jazz styles (Selfless, Cold, And Composed, and Steven's Last Night In Town), and a raw, candid examination of one's self (Evaporated). The bonus tracks on this re-mastered edition are just icing on the cake as they say. Though I recommend their self-titled debut for an introduction to the band (and really, it's great to listen to their albums sequentially as you can really see the growth in their songwriting), you certainly can't go wrong with WAEA.


Ben Folds! Give me my money back, you bitch!
If you don't mind skipping the occasional odd track, there are some on there that will blow you away. Just kidding! I love this CD! Although the additional content on this reissue content was best saved for a LP cause it's kinda sort of buying a nice steak and getting taffy and cotton candy on there too. Take a chance and buy this CD.


Piano pop.
That song was pretty cool but I didn't really start listening to them. I had heard their song "Air" on the Godzilla soundtrack I had on cassette when I was in elementary school (don't ask me why I owned it). I strayed away from them, actually, because a local artist in my area sounds just like them (and I wasn't a fan of that local artist). It wasn't until a few weeks ago when I heard "Song For The Dumped. " That hooked me in. After buying this album I was pleased to see the bonus b-sides they included. Like a lounge version of "She Don't Use Jelly" (originally by The Flaming Lips). All in all, very catchy piano pop.


And don't forget to give me back my black t-shirt
Smart and nerdy and deftly walking the tightrope between the two extremes, "Whatever and Ever Amen" was a CD that took the starch out of angsty grunge and depressing emo-pop. Ben Folds' major label debut was a near perfect zinger of power-pop, influenced by everyone from Elton John to Todd Rundgren to The Raspberries.

Fold's newly minted celebrity is given a revenge-of-the-nerds bashing in "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces," as an Elton-styled piano riff floats along under the lyric "if you really want to see me check the papers and the TV/Look who's telling who what to do. " Even nastier in the smackdown dept is "Song For The Dumped," where the jilted Folds gives one of the most riotous kiss-offs in pop history. Since the punch line would get my review booted, I won't repeat it here. Just suffice it to say that every geeky guy that got dumped just as you thought you were king of the world will get a good laugh from this particular song.

But Folds also was developing the serious side that eventually blossomed in full on his terrific "Rockin' the Suburbs. " "Whatever and Ever Amen" broke through on the strength of "Brick," which chronicled a crushed boyfriend as he takes his pregnant girlfriend to an abortion clinic. The most amazing thing about "Brick" is its utter lack of judgmental tone. It is a classic, and easily one of the best - if not the most unlikely - hit singles of the 90's.

Folds doesn't always hit the bull's-eye, as "Steven's Last Night In Town" and "Cigarette" show. But for most of the original CD's 12 songs, Folds was showing he could put snap into his eclectic brand of pop. As for the bonus material, well, there was a reason they were B-sides. The bands' run through "Video Killed The Radio Star" is pretty good, but The Flaming Lips cover pales after a few listens. Instrumentals and band conversation do not qualify as a "bonus" to me. And if the best you can add is a non-sense take of "Song For the Dumped," then spare me the added material. It's just a distraction from a really great album. Burn yourself the remaster minus the added tracks. You'll enjoy it more.


Fantastic!
This CD is worth more than it costs. Ben Folds/Five are one of the few artists (out of tons of genres that I like to listen to) that have risen to the top of the must-have-in-my-library list.


You can see a complete list of all Ben Folds Five discography, or go back to the Ben Folds Five tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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