Whatever and ever, Amen (Whatever And Ever Amen - Ben Folds Five)

Member Name: davepridd

Product:	Whatever And Ever Amen - Ben Folds Five
Date:	07/07/00 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good songs, playing, a bit unusual

Disadvantages: Sounds a bit like pub-rock in places

I don't know why the group are called 'Ben Folds Five', as there are only 3 of them, but never mind. They are certainly one of the more innovative groups at the moment as their music is based around piano, with only several tracks containing guitar. However, don't let this put you off, because it is mainly up-tempo, with few ballards, and Ben Folds is an extremely talented pianist, showing off his skills on tracks such as 'One angry dwarf and 200 solemn faces'. Although they are not a very well known group, singles 'Brick' and 'Battle of who could care less' did quite well in the charts, and they are the sort of tunes which are likely to stick in your head.

The music is definately the main attraction, but Ben Folds has quite a good voice and writes funny lyrics, even if he can get a bit bitter about his old enemies, screaming 'f*** you, bitch' on one track. Despite the limited instrumentation, there is quite a variety of sound with 'Steven's last night in town' having quite a 20s feel to it, and relationship songs such as 'Brick' or 'Smoke' are very beautiful and melodic. The only problem is that to a UK audience, some of the major key, up-tempo numbers can't help but sound a bit like Chas & Dave, which is a bit unfortunate, but this shouldn't put you off because it is a great album in general.

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