Whatever Ben Folds, Thank God!

In late 1995 I was turned on to a trio called Ben Fold Five.  I had a friend who showed me a episode of 120 Minutes on MTV that he videotaped.  He showed me the episode because one of the live performances was a group I liked.  120 Minutes was a two hour show on MTV at Midnight on Sundays.  It featured Indie-Rock/Alternative Rock artists that I never or rarely heard of. It's the show that featured Radiohead, Portishead, Massive Attack, Bjork, and countless others before they became achived mainstream success.  After watching the episode I decided to tape the shows for myself.  On the episode he showed me was a trio called Ben Folds Five.  It was a music video for one of their songs and found it odd that it was a trio, but they have five in the name of their band.  It was unique and good because there was no guitar and the main instrument was piano.

After about two years I saw him play on 120 Minutes promoting a new album.  I liked what I heard two years ago and now this stuff sounds great.  The music was catchy and not over the top, but made me want to hear more.  I finally splurged and I pick it up with excitement and anticipation.  Once I heard the opening notes on the piano I knew that this was unique and different and so addicting.  The three members seemed to mesh together quite nicely and the lyrics of the songs were catchy and funny.  Ben Folds seemed to speak his mind.  I liked that in a group and it had a sense of Punk Rock to it.

Song after song it became apparent that Ben Folds did not want to be pushed around.  In 1997 I went to see the group for myself in a club setting.  It took them a while to get on stage.  There were two opening acts that were good, but like myself and the crowd they wanted The Ben Folds Five.  I went with the same friend who turned me on to them.  After the performance I wanted to see them again.  Sadly, we never made it to see Ben Folds Five, but did see Ben Folds in the fall of 2002.  What I liked about both shows was Ben's dry sense of humor both in the songs he wrote and performed.

Over the years I followed Ben Folds musical career and even in college his little underground following continued.  I had two friends who were also fans of Ben Folds.  One friend used the song "Kate" as her theme song for their radio show.  In 2002 These two friends and a few others took a small road trip to see Ben Folds Solo.  It was just as good if not better then the Ben Folds Five show.  The music had a profound effect on us as fans.  Ben Folds made such an impression that every time he had new music for us, we jumped on it.

There are a lot of great songs on Whatever and Ever Amen.  Songs on here are not easy to forget too.  It's songs like "Kate" and "Steven's Last Night In Town", "Battle of Who Could Care Less""and "Brick" are songs that are quickly on repeat.  Other songs like, "Song for the Dumped" and "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" are songs that after a few listens you would know the words.  His music is quirky and funny, but great and pretty special.  He firmly believes that humor and great lyrics are part of any album.

Ben Folds might be a product of the 1990's but his music is timeless and not dated.  I know I still crank it upon hearing his music on the radio.  It does not get played too often, but when it does it brings a smile to my face.   He rocked without having screaming guitars or singing.  He did it on his own terms and we loved him more and more.  Once again if you own this album  check it out and just remember how great for that short moment he really was.  Enjoy!!!