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Ben Folds Five - The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold MessnerPosted by Michael Bond on May 04, 1999 at 21:29:14: I knew it would happen. I knew it the moment Ben Folds started talking about how great William Shatner was, and doing that odd little Fear of Pop project. And then the Burt Bacharach special. Come on. Someone please tell Ben Folds that there is a limit to how much of this we can take. Sure, at first it was ironic, even a bit cool. Hey, there's that piano guy playing lounge-jazz with William Shatner on Conan! Until you realize that he's serious. He really does like cheesy pop. He really does like fleugelhorn solos! He really does like Burt Bacharach!! Is this the great geek-rocker we heard on their 1995 eponymous debut? What happened? I have to admit, I loved their first album - Ben as the witty prankster channeling Jerry Lee Lewis with songs about his penis and old boxers, Darren and Jesse providing great background to fast-paced frantic fun for the entire family. And their second wasn't bad either - a little older, a little more emotional, not quite as sharp but great nontheless. Add a rockin' live and rare album, and there's a pretty nice body of work for only three albums. And now they've made every art-rocker's wet dream: the concept album. Reinhold Messner is that record, sort of a Tommy by Randy Newman and Bruce Hornsby, or like a Rolling Stone reviewer put it, "Billy Joel's lost prog-rock opera." The album does have that sort of Billy Joel ballad feel to it, but the incredible compostion efforts given to the music add a complex layer of depth, bringing the songs to a height piano-pop rarely sees. A four-piece orchestra, synthesizer beeps, plus the distorted fuzz of bassist Robert Sledge give the tired soft-rock chords another dimension, while the syncopated rythm of Darren Jesse adds life to what could have been just another soft and easy romance album. Instead, it ends up working. The band spends so much time in the studio, delicately adding layer by majestic layer, that the end project comes out to be something much more than another collection of lovesick ballads. Although quite different than the feel of previous efforts, this album does develop its own strangely attractive feel. It's not often that we see an alt-pop easy listening CD hit the racks with such a big push. And Why? Well, it does have one truly upbeat song. Army, the first single, is the only song on the album calling back to the older, smart, rockin' doo-wop pop that gathered their early fan base. However, it is a sad sign when this throwback to their earlier style is the best tune on the album. All in all, the album does fit together, and creates a style that hasn't been heard since the symphonic pop of late-sixties Bacharach. Whether this fits your tastes or not, it is different. But the question remains: Is it better?
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