Saturday, June 15, 2013

Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman

The prospect of a double disc Ben Folds solo album sounds like a gift from up above. Unfortunately the reality of this album is something less than its promise. When you go double disc, you better have written at least three discs worth of material because albums are generally made more awesome by what they exclude as much if not more than they are by what they include. In listening to this album, I felt like there was one solid disc's worth of material here. All the rest could be released later as b-sides and later on a rarities compilation where the pressures of cohesiveness are not as great.

Lest I knock this thing to the point that it sounds like it has no redeeming qualities, I must point out that "Landed" is one of Ben Folds' sweetest melodies and that the heartfelt "Late" is a perfect epitaph for Elliott Smith. If this were one disc, it would be one of Folds' best, but he doubled down and it didn't quite hit the way he wanted it to.

Baleeted? No, but I am tempted to recompile this album as a single disc.


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