Ben Folds Five
Whatever And Ever Amen
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Ben Folds Five
Whatever And Ever Amen
Sony, 1997
RiYL: Elton John, Jellyfish, Sean Lennon |
But faced with the prospect of a sophomore release, the band has chickened out. Whatever And Ever Amen is as commercially and critically successful as its first, but lacking in stylistic deviation.
The album's first track, "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces," scorns the general public that teased the singer in high school, a subject already explored on the band's first and biggest single to date, "Underground."
Sure, "Battle of Who Could Care Less," is as good as anything the band has released yet, and the pensive "Brick" became one of the bigger modern rock singles of 1998, but Amen dips into the reserves one too many times. Songs like "Song For The Dumped" and "Steven's Last Night In Town" could have too easily been outtakes from the band's first record, echoing lyrical substance as well as musical construction.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.