Ben Folds Five Debut One of the Best Albums from the 90s

The early days of MTV2 introduced me to Ben Folds Five. I received the station through my big satellite dish, and I rushed home to see what new videos would be played. I felt the same eagerness to get home to watch music videos as I did fifteen years earlier when MTV was born. Now however I was rushing home from work instead of school.

My favorite video from that time was "Uncle Walter" by the Ben Folds Five. The humor in the video reminded me of episodes of The Monkees" and Beatles films such as Help and Hard Day's Night. The music, featuring demonic piano playing from Ben Folds and fuzzy electric bass from Robert Sledge, sounded better than most of the stuff record companies had been putting out for over a decade.

I took advantage of an opportunity to listen to samples from the rest of the Ben Folds Five album while browsing in a Barnes and Noble store. The music and punky vocal delivery attracted me immediately. I purchased the album right then, and I have not regretted it.

The Ben Folds Five debut album from 1995 is filled with rollicking piano tracks fronted by great lyrics. The best song, "Where's Summer B," contains the line, "The hardback café closed down, Now we got office town." The song dedicated to author Alice Childress ends with the irony of the peace-loving optimist getting beaten up and mugged in the city. "Philosophy" is an insightful look at how society tends to ignore the man with vision while worshipping those who exploit his ideas.

The band released a few more albums before disbanding in 2000, and even had a smash hit with the single "Brick" from their second album, Whatever and Ever Amen. In spite of that success and increased radio play, though, the group's follow up albums lacked the excitement of its self-titled debut album.