The criticism of Ben Folds has always been that he's too clever for his own good; critics have picked away at his penchant for sly humor. While he has written such cuttingly witty songs as "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" and "Army" (both of which make an appearance on this album), he can also paint poignant portraits of desperate characters, and even bare his own soul and write in a deeply personal style.
One really does get a chance to hear all sides of one of the most talented songwriters around today on his latest release, "Ben Folds Live."
The album chronicles this spring and summer's "Ben Folds and a Piano" tour, which came Dartmouth's way last May. Through the album, Folds' only instrumental accompaniment is his fingers on a Baldwin piano. This works on two levels.
First, it allows Folds to show off his extensive talents at both delicately caressing and furiously pounding the keys (sometimes in the same song). There are several tracks on the album on which Folds really cuts loose in hispiano solos.
On the aforementioned "Dwarf," Folds accelerates his playing at the end to breakneck speed. During "The Last Polka," Folds pounds the keys with such force that it's a wonder he didn't break a metacarpal or two.
But the real showcase for his piano mastery is "Philosophy." During this classic from his first album with the Five, Folds goes so far as to tap on the microphone and strum the piano strings to create a sort of "drum break" in the middle of the song. And as if that weren't enough, he manages to break into Dick Dale's "Miserlou" (otherwise known as the theme from "Pulp Fiction") and plays with machine-gun rapidity.
Secondly, the lone piano shows what an adept songwriter Folds is as each song is stripped down to its bare elements of lyrics and melody. There are several songs that are made that much more emotionally powerful with this simple arrangement.
The performance of "Jane" -- from the Five's "The Autobiography of Reinhold Messner" -- tugs at your heart strings in a way that makes the original arrangement look ornate. The same is true with this new version of Folds' one Top 40 hit, "Brick," before which Folds opens up and explains what his original inspiration for the song was.
The album also manages to show how much audience participation is a part of a Ben Folds show. During "Not The Same," he gets the audience to sing the backup vocal part, and he creates a "bitchin' horn section" by dividing up the audience into saxophones and trumpets during "Army," a stunt Folds pulled in Spaulding last spring.
There are several pleasant surprises on the album. Folds offers three new songs. "Silver Street" sounds like a Randy Newman-penned jazz ballad about someone whose life has passed him by, a song encapsulated by the lyric "It's hard for a man to stay cool."
"One Down" bitingly satirizes Folds' own conflict with Sony/ATV Songs, his former publishing company. "Rock This Bitch" is a funny spur-of-the-moment improvisation in response to an audience member's exclamation.
Folds also covers Elton John's classic "Tiny Dancer" with just as much poignancy as the good knight, lending it a vulnerability that wasn't in the original version. And for you Cake fans, John McCrea makes a guest appearance, singing backup on "Fred Jones Part Two".
The bonus DVD offers 35 minutes of concert footage that include several fun moments. You can see the minute-long album cover shoot featuring Folds striking several amusing poses in the middle of his show at Avalon in Boston.
For "Tiny Dancer", Folds does his best Sir Elton impression, donning sparkling oversized spectacles and turning to the audience with his mouth gaping wide open.
The highlight of the DVD, however, has to be his minor-key, power ballad version of "Song for the Dumped," which is so uproarious that I wish it had been included on the album itself.
The fact that the only criticism of the album is that a song wasn't included is evidence to what a quality listen this is. Performing songs that range from the touching to the silly, Ben Folds proves why he is both one of the best songwriters and best entertainers on the music scene today.
