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Ben Folds Five

post #1 of 17
10/8/03 at 1:16am
Thread Starter 
Does anyone miss this band. They were superb musicians. I know Ben Folds has now gone onto a solo career and that band was essentially just a vehicle for him anyway, but Darren Jesse and Robert Sledge complimented Folds so well. The last CD 'Reinhold Messner' was pretty damn good, it was a shame they broke instead of creating more music like that. Anyone here agree/disagree.
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post #2 of 17
10/8/03 at 10:44am
I agree. Folds' solo stuff is still damn good, though. Good enough that I won't be heartbroken if the group never gets back together.
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post #3 of 17
10/8/03 at 3:36pm
i agree with GraveDigger. his stuff is fantastic, though his solo stuff works just as well. but i still miss the band.
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post #4 of 17
10/8/03 at 5:20pm
Criminally underrated group. I think not a week goes by where I don't pull out the ol' BF5 DVD and shed a tear at their passing. Folds' solo stuff is pretty sharp, but I miss those vocal harmonies and Sledge pounding the shit out of that bass . . .
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post #5 of 17
10/8/03 at 5:32pm
Yeah, I miss the harmonies the most.

Is that the Sessions at West 54th DVD, Natural? I've heard that DVD is just amazing. It taunts me every time I (rarely) step into Best Buy.
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post #6 of 17
10/8/03 at 6:52pm
Yeah, I went to go see these guys in Greenville, NC, sometime after their first album had come out...'96, I think. I was a huge fan from that night forward. I am sure it is only a matter of time before we see them get back together, even if only for a project or two.
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post #7 of 17
10/8/03 at 8:51pm
Quote:
gravedigger[/I]
Yeah, I miss the harmonies the most.

Is that the Sessions at West 54th DVD, Natural? I've heard that DVD is just amazing. It taunts me every time I (rarely) step into Best Buy.
Indeed it is, my morbidly-monikored friend (sorry, in a 60's TV Batman kinda mood). A DAMN good DVD, great setlist for the longtime friends, all members are right on their game, and the coolest part of the whole show is this . . .

Sessions At West 54th was usually a reserved kinda set. Bands would do their thing and people would sit there and clap respectfully. Not this one.

By the time they get to "Underground", there's a flock of alterna-kids dancing away in the background, a young couple sharing a dance on the other side of the hall and the people who aren't dancing are all smiling from ear to ear or laughing their asses off at the band's antics. Man, it looks like one of those gigs that would've just been magic to experience in person.

<sigh>

Great. Now I'm at work AND sad. frown
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post #8 of 17
10/8/03 at 9:11pm
Thread Starter 
I have that DVD too and does indeed rock. I like the version of 'Song for the dumped' with Rob starting it off with a funky bass riff and Ben joining him by raking the microphone over the piano. It's a great performance all round.

The bonus materials are also pretty cool with hysterical little skits here and there and a fucking kick-ass 'Song for the Dumped'.
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post #9 of 17
10/8/03 at 10:42pm
The skits on 'Spare Reels' are priceless (I ordered a 2nd copy of Mesner from the states when it first came out just so I could get that video). Especially the one where they meet "Kev The Australian Stuntman". Dunno if you've ever met many Aussies, but that is the most spot-on characterisation I have ever seen.
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post #10 of 17
10/9/03 at 12:54am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I thought that was pretty goddamn funny too. I'm actually from Sydney,Australia so I understand all too well.
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post #11 of 17
10/9/03 at 12:46pm
I so miss BF5.

His solo stuff is impressive, but mannered. With the band, he let his freak flag fly a little more convincingly (in my opinion), and the combined energy of the three of them were unique, in a way that the studio folk from Rockin' the Suburbs can't touch.
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post #12 of 17
10/9/03 at 1:27pm
I agree that the rock stuff doesn't rock quite as well on the solo album, but I saw the band on their last tour, and you could tell they were on the way out. It was completely without energy, and it's not like they were just playing the slow stuff from their last album. EVERYTHING sounded less enthused. It's probably a good thing they broke up.
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post #13 of 17
10/9/03 at 5:53pm
Thread Starter 
I read an interview a few years ago and they explained why they broke up saying that the energy just wasn't there anymore, they had nothing for a new album and it just wasn't as fun anymore, so they went their seperate ways.

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post #14 of 17
10/9/03 at 8:37pm
Quote:
Jesse Custer: Carnivale Roustabout:
I so miss BF5.

His solo stuff is impressive, but mannered. With the band, he let his freak flag fly a little more convincingly (in my opinion), and the combined energy of the three of them were unique, in a way that the studio folk from Rockin' the Suburbs can't touch.
Folds played virtually every instrument on every track on the solo disc.
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post #15 of 17
10/28/03 at 11:51pm
I saw one of BFF's final shows in Milwaukee and got to meet them beforehand. Since then, I have been to 6 Ben Folds solo shows. Folds seems to have become really full of himself and his solo shows completely lack the spontaneous fun that Ben Folds Five exhibited. I miss not only Ben Folds Five, but Ben Folds pre-ego.
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post #16 of 17
10/30/03 at 6:35pm
The band had a crazy dynamic that Folds by himself does not have. However, I think that his solo CD is better than Reinhold Messner could ever aspire to be. I'd love to see them back together though, but I'm not losing sleep over it.
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post #17 of 17
10/30/03 at 7:05pm
I thought about the army.
Dad said, "Son, you're fucking high."
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