a review<\/a> for Ben’s album
\nRockin’ The Suburbs<\/i>. I read how much Jason liked it, and
\nbeing the fan of piano based rock\/pop that I am, decided to buy it.
\nFlash forward to the present, two albums and one amazing concert
\nlater, and here I am to heap even more praise on Mr. Folds.<\/p>\n\nBen Folds Live<\/i> (which I am now going to refer to as
\nLive<\/i> from now on) is a series of performances from his 2002
\nsolo tour. That’s right folks, it’s just Ben and his piano for the
\nentire album. That may turn many people off, but they would be the
\nones to miss out. It is here that Folds truly cements his place as
\nthe best rock pianists out there today.<\/p>\n
There are a lot of live albums out there that sound just as
\nsterile as an album recording, leaving listeners wonder if some
\nlive recordings are just songs that someone in a studio added claps
\nto.
\nLive<\/i> is an exception to the rule. Despite the fact the songs
\nare taken from various different performances, the album flows as a
\nsingle show. Adding to that vibe is the audience participation
\nFolds encourages. He recruits his fans to sing the harmonies on the
\nsuperb “Not The Same,” and create a “bitching horn section” as
\nFolds himself puts it during “Army.” These are the little touches
\nthat make live albums worth getting, the moments that immerse you
\nin the experience.<\/p>\n
All that I’ve mentioned so far is pretty much window dressing,
\nit comes down to the music in the end. Fortunately, that is no
\nproblem for Folds.
\nLive<\/i> features some of the most compelling piano work I have
\never heard. On “Zak and Sara,” Fold attacks the keys with a
\nferociousness you wouldn’t think possible. Then, on the next track,
\n“Silver Street” he completely shifts gears and plays a soulful,
\nbluesy number. Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” is covered here, and Ben
\nperforms it better than Elton can these days. Folds even dips into
\na little improv on “Rock This Bitch.” This allows for
\nLive<\/i> to have some variety, which is needed for a solo piano
\nalbum.<\/p>\n
Folds ability to write hooks and melodies comes through just as
\nstrongly solo as it did when he was with Ben Folds Five. “Brick” is
\nstill an aching, poignant ballad. “One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn
\nFaces,” remains a rave up rocker. “The Luckiest” is just as
\nemotional a tribute to his children as it was on
\nRockin’ The Suburbs<\/i>. This truly is a testament to the power
\nof Folds songs. His solos are just as captivating. My personal
\nfavorite is the bluesy solo he injects into “Army” right before the
\n“horn break.” “Philosophy” features the longest solo on
\nLive<\/i>, and it is a tour de force. Folds is all over the map,
\nplaying with various different styles, and even throws in bits of
\nother songs. It’s one big mish-mash, but it works.<\/p>\n
\nLive<\/i> has quickly skyrocketed to the top of my favorite live
\nalbums of all time. It’s a showing of immense talent and song
\nwriting. Folds fans will already know this, but
\nLive<\/i> will give novices a chance to recognize how good Folds
\nreally is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7015],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38047","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-ben-folds","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38047"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38047"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}