|
Review : Ben Folds Solo CD Standout Work
By: RACHEL RICHARDSON Satellite Correspondent - Tulsa World
June 1st 2002 6:07pm
The members of Ben Folds Five were the kings of piano pop/rock;
their hooks alternated between catchy and hum-able to pretty and
charming; their lyrics were heartbreak complainings and tales of
random losers, and the whole ensemble was dismissed by the public
after their one hit song, "Brick," in 1997. Now the band has dismantled, and frontman Ben Folds has set out
on his own, braving the often-fatal territory of solo careerdom.
And he's succeeded with flying colors. "Rockin' The Suburbs" is a 12-track sing-along that dances where
the band's last release, "The Unauthorized Autobiography of
Reinhold Messner," had to pause and wheeze. Each track has its own
flavor, like a surplus bag of Jolly Ranchers, with the hard-candy
core that is Folds' unique songwriting. It's hard to differentiate between the self-account songs and
the random-loser songs on this disc, but it's for the better.
"Still Fighting It" and the title track stand out as personal anti-
suburbia anthems, but with entirely different auras. "Still
Fighting It" is unbearably poetic and hopeful while "Rockin' The
Suburbs," the only track lacking the trademark piano, feels like it
could have its own Blink 182-style parody video, though the two are
hardly in the same arena. In the random-loser category, there is "Zak and Sara," complete
with "la-la-la" chorus, "Carrying Cathy" with sweeping
orchestrations, and the dramatic "Fred Jones Part 2" which picks up
where "Cigarette," on the band's "Whatever and Ever Amen" album
left off. Cake frontman John McCrea also makes a cameo in the song on
backing vocals. And as for catchiness, you'll spend the rest of
your day humming the refrain of "Losing Lisa" or "Not the Same,"
both with mediocre verses but unbelievable karaoke potential in the
chorus. If the album ever has a low point, it would have to be "Fired,"
which only fails in its ragtime, jukebox-friendly piano plinking,
but that's easily overlooked. There is a lot more language and electronics on this album
compared to Folds' work with Ben Folds Five. However, neither the
language nor electronics reach a level to be distracting, and in
the case of the title track, the language is mandatory. Though in the end this album will be remembered more for its
tragic release date of Sept. 11 than for its content, it is still a
standout work in music today. His former band might be history, but
Ben Folds is sure to go down in it.
(C) 2002 Tulsa World. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
| 
