Ben Folds Five - The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner
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Free Music Notes for The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner
Free Music Review: Angst in My Pants
Hit: 5 Stars
Way back in ancient times (1982) Atlantic records released an album named "Angst In My Pants" by a group well known in England but lacking FM play here in the states..."Sparks". Bourne on a tide of college radio station playlists and word of mouth (this was pre-email days) the group gained a foothold among the intelligencia who appreciated good lyrics and music that encapsulated the mindset of youthful exuberance. Today, Ben Fold, Darren Hessee and Robert Sledge make their trio sound as if they've filled every cranny of Red Rocks with driving base guitar licks, drum rhythms that go way beyond the standard "back beat you can't lose" and Ben Fold's Baldwin Piano riffs that vary from playfully jazzy and complex to melancholic. The lead cut NARCOLEPSY has a tune that hooks (and has a great deal of college DJ air play). The sixth cut ARMY epitomizes the Austin slacker mentality. YOUR REDNECK PAST is an anthem to home roots and a razz against intellectual dishonesty. YOUR MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION is a two minute phone message set to a background melody that is reminescent of Thelonius Monks wanderings. REGRETS is an electronic smorsgaborg of driving bongos, melodious acapella harmonies, and an orchestrated crescendo with stepped key changes that show the sophisticated musical knowledge of this group. All in all this is a must for the eclectic collector.Free Music Review: 5 for Five
Hit: 5 Stars
Most great albums remind you of a certain period of your life. This particular album will always remind me of driving up through Kansas into Iowa to visit a good friend of mine. It was one of those days where it was freezing outside but sunny and very beautiful. As my wife was sleeping in the seat next to me, I decided that I wanted to listen to some Ben Folds Five and so I put this disc in. I believe it was the first time I ever REALLY listened to the album from beginning to end. Wow, was I into it. In addition, it's great for long drives. Needless to say I just let the cd repeat itself and probably listened to it three or four times.Ben Folds Five have always released great music. This is no exception to the rule. I actually believe that some of Five's best work is on this album. Is it their best album? I don't know. They have several that are excellent.
The ballad-type songs on this album really blow me away. It's nice to see someone of a younger generation really making meaningful and very talented music. I don't even think it's too far from genius.
There are songs on this album for everyone. I know most people probably have preconceived ideas about what Ben Folds Five sound like or represent. Like anything, give them a chance if you haven't. You may just surprise yourself and become and avid fan of one of the best defunct alternative groups of the 90's.
Free Music Review: Probably the best record of the late 90's
Hit: 5 Stars
If not the definitive best, it is certainly one of the most emotionally-comprehensive. I read one review when this came out, claiming that this was indeed a "concept album" - in the sense that it tells a life story of some miscellaneous person (or everyperson) through a cavalcade of richly textured songs about the base human emotions: love, insecurity, regret, and hope. The boundless wit and energy of their first 2 1/2 albums have been replaced by a more mature-sounding melancholy, best expressed in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th tracks of the record ("Narcolepsy," which gets the album off to a start that BFF fans probably weren't expecting; "Don't Change Your Plans," which is, IMHO, the best song the group ever recorded; and "Magic," one of the few songs in my lifetime that have ever had the power to actually bring an honest tear to my eye). The more upbeat songs are fewer and not as solid as the softer compositions, with the exception of the minor hit "Army," which showcases the acid wit that helped the band earn its following. Sadly, in retrospect, this album has the feel and texture to make it seem like BFF's Swan Song, which it ended up being. But what a way to go out (even if they did call it quits a year-and-a-half after its release)!Free Music Review: i need a second opinion, i don't believe that it's true...
Hit: 5 Stars
This is not my favorite BFF album. But it's the best. Reading through the reviews on this page, i have come to notice a sharp difference in opinion on the trio's final offering, mainly centred around the quality of the middle section of the album. It is interesting that 'Regrets' does not seem to be a particularly popular track, when, in my opinion it is a superb outpouring of a confused and disillusioned childhood. When i listen to this track, i feel like i can associate with it entirely. It would appear that most people can't handle the change between the earlier stuff, and this more acomplished material. More fool them. From the powerful opening of 'Narcolepsy' through the silliness of 'Your Redneck Past' until the beautiful simple melody of 'Lullabye', this album reeks of cleverly written lyrics, and well-rounded musicianship. Anyone who can equally pull off 'Army' and 'Magic' on the same album gets credit from me. But then, I always have liked them.
Incidentally, I saw them on their last tour - touring this album, and it was quite easily the most entertaining live performance i have ever seen. The silliness was weaved in effortlessly with the outstanding music (much like this album) and Ben Folds Five guaranteed their place at the top of my list..
Free Music Review: Reality, what a concept!
Hit: 5 Stars
OK, OK...This is a concept album right? Like 2112 or Kilroy Was Here? No? It's a concept in the sense of a song cycle told from a common perspective, bringing a sense of loose narration and arranged as such to create an arc (a beginning a middle and an end) to said narration? Ala Pet Sounds or ELO's Discovery? Again, no. To say that Ben Folds Five are more mature is to say they were not all that mature to begin with. So what IS the dealy-yo? Well, if you prefer to find out what an album is "about" or "like" before giving it a "listen", you probably would make a guess at pretensions of grandeur and Benny's part. Pervasive strings and horns, Synth bass, "Dark Side of the Moon" vocal stylings...A GONG? Yes, it's true these things do exist, but these are the works of a group quite clearly taking the liberty of the first shot at themselves in a world of Pop-stardom. Now, we're past that, what of these songs? They ROCK! In a teenage-locked in my room-with the headphones on-no one understands ME-kind of way. I dare you to hear "Don't change your plans" and NOT have a new favorite song that seems to have a whole unspoken life of its own. You only get to hear the best part.