Audio CD review:
Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, Ben Lee - The Bens

Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, Ben Lee - The Bens

Band: Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, Ben Lee Title: The Bens Rating: Release Date: 31 December, 2003 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Just Pretend 2: XFire 3: Stop! 4: Bruised

Customer Reviews Extremely likeable EP from Ben Folds and Friends My favourite is "Bruised" which is mostly Ben Folds. Although there are only four songs on this EP, they are all four very nice and catchy tunes from Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, and Ben Lee. It isn't a world changing heavy song ripe with meaning, but is an infectious pop song about the perils of love. If you listen to this song a few times, you'll find it hard to get out of your head. "Just Pretend" is an acoustic song with sweet harmonies quite reminiscent of early Crosby, Stills and Nash. It is further evidence that these guys should indeed do a full album together. "Xfire" (Crossfire) is an electronic song markedly different from the others, and reminded me of some of the better hits of the 1980s (think - Gary Numan - "Cars") "Stop" is the odd track but still a good one as it takes the listener on a rollercoaster ride with the tempo shifting wildly from slow to fast before coming to an abrupt halt. Overall, a must have for any fan of Ben Folds. The Bens Ep review It is a lot of fun. This is a great EP if you are a fan of all of or any of The Bens (Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, and Ben Lee I believe is the third). Track two (XFire) makes me laugh everytime I listen to it. I do wish there were more songs, though. It would have been nice if they would have at least done one more song to end the EP that was like the song they wrote to start the EP. . Nothing extremely memorable on this disk. He may just be my favorite current song writer. I love Ben Folds. Lennon/McCartney and Brian Wilson being my all time faves. I'm a little familiar with Kweller and Lee, the other two Bens, but neither of them ever thrilled me. This disk sounds like they had a good time making it, but not like a lot of thought was put into the songs. None of the tracks are as good as Ben Folds alone, and I'd gather that both Kweller and Lee are better when they are left to do their own thing without the "supergroup" lineup. I've had this for about a month and am only listening to it for the 3rd or 4th time. Again, not horrible songs, not unlistenable, but nothing here is very memorable to me. Possibly worth the 7 or 8 bucks the disk costs, but I expected a little more from a "supergroup" outing like this. Maybe for me, it just can't possibly live up to the kind of songwriter Ben Folds has become. Definitely feels like he's just hanging around with these other Bens killin' time. . . You can see a complete list of all Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, Ben Lee discography, or go back to the Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, Ben Lee tabs