The Album Review Club - Week #195 (page 1310) - A New World Record - ELO

Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds

(note to self: when looking up the latest album on Spotify a day or so after nomination, look here for the album title before typing in "Saving Silverman" and wondering if I've been relegated to YT again for the week. Thankfully not... and onto the show)

A lot of the reasons I both like and dislike certain songs on this selection have already been covered, most of the "likes" found in MCD's original write-up.

"Jesusland" is the peak of the album as others have commented, and I'll even say the opening line of the song is the one that got me in a singlular vocal delivery and I knew the song was going to be special. The backing harmonies too there were great, and the 2004 post-election reference to the makeup of the US hasn't really changed much save for an upside down Bible photo op and so many other things we just don't have time for. But I digress, the line of the song was "Billboards quoting things you'd never say". Made me smile there and strong both musically and lyrically overall.

But there is too much sameness on the songs, and I more felt like I was at one half of a dueling piano bar with only one side playing, mostly in a loop with the same song structure. The drums and bass were nice on the songs, but the cello when it showed up courtesy of David Henry, was the best part.

If I was "Gracie" Girl, I'm not sure I'd want my song in between all those broken relationship songs about snooping in the diary or "bye bye, good-bye, I tried". Still, I actually like the homage to his daughter and found it well written. Hopefully that has aged better than "You to Thank" in the irony department.

I also enjoyed the well written "Late" as a tribute to Elliott Smith. The final two tracks also paid off musically in both "Time" and "Prison Food". Al Yankovic's backing vocals in "Time" was actually very good, and on my first listens I was thinking "this has to be the closer", until I kept seeing "Prison Food" still remaining, which went down better than I thought it would given its topic on the state of a broken marriage.

I remember hearing "Brick" from Ben Folds Five back in the late 90s, but not sure I ever gravitated towards listening to more of his music despite his lengthy string of releases, both as a group and solo. Parts of this was a welcome listen, but with a bit too much of sameness found, this is a 6/10 for me.
 
Ben Folds is an inconceivably selfish twat, but he’s a talented selfish twat. As such, he is a good-sized cut above loathsome middle-of-the-roaders like the odious lightweight Billy Joel (I was sharpening my knife during the clues in case we really did get “The Bridge”) or the unlistenable tunelessness of the eminently punch-worthy Dave Matthews.

In many respects, Ben is like a Liverpool fan — his problems never seem to be his fault (“Give Judy My Notice”) and he acts like run-of-the-mill human experiences like aging (“Bastards”), dealing with religious hicks (“Jesusland”) and having a daughter (“Gracie”) have only happened to him.

That said, the man can turn a phrase now and again; couplets like “The Whiz Man won’t ever fit you like the Whiz Kid did” are a stroke. And on any topic he’s able to craft a song that feels self-contained — to me, there’s nothing drone-like nor boring. While my favo(u)rite stuff from “Whatever and Ever Amen” I like more, this record is IMO much more consistent.

I think the finest thing here is the one song that sounds like a thank-you note rather than a fuck-you note, and that’s “Late”. It’s a wonderful tribute.

But what’s really, REALLY infuriating is that nearly every song has the same issue — a bright, punchy piano hook that borders on delightful or even beautiful, followed by choruses and other-instrument solo bursts that are consistent aural letdowns. If Ben could actually rely on halfway competent backup singers to harmonize with him, some of these tunes could lift right off the ground. If the slide guitar were better utilized, or if his peanut-butter-handed drummer could actually play a fill that didn’t sound like a 12 year-old on his first kit bought at Wal-Mart, that would be great too. But alas.

In the end, my criticism of its flaws are harsh because I’m left with the feeling that this could have been so, so much better musically with just a little advice from a good producer, or a slightly better band, or a simple nod in the direction of pop convention. Hell, if Eminem can make the self-involved “Lose Yourself” an all-time anthem, Ben Folds could have turned “Landed” into a classic too.

Normally I only give integer scores but this is a 6.5/10 because I liked a lot of it, but in this case that 6.5/10 really means 65% or a barely passing grade, because were I to mark it up like a teacher, I’d write “Some great ideas, but needs more effort. You can do better.” But a lot of twats don’t pay attention to teachers. Alas again.

Despite all I’ve written, and despite the fact that I think S4S loses some steam toward the end (though “Prison Food” is a credible CSNY rip), I will probably stick with this record I suspect, as I do with, say, I-Empire by Angels and Airwaves, because the hooks are simply too good not to hear again, whatever I think of the guy who wrote and plays them.
 
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FogBlueInSanFran said:
Normally I only give integer scores but this is a 6.5/10 because I liked a lot of it, but in this case that 6.5/10 really means 65% or a barely passing grade, because were I to mark it up like a teacher, I’d write “Some great ideas, but needs more effort. You can do better.” But a lot of twats don’t pay attention to teachers. Alas again.
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Googled ‘integer’ and had fond memories of a maths (math) lesson staring out of the window watching the 5th year girls playing netball.
No fond memories of this weeks album sadly. Not really my cup of tea. I’m sure he’s a talented guy, but I found it all a bit boring and one paced. Mrs Daze told me to put something else on and I’m not one to disagree with her. 4/10
 
GornikDaze said:
Googled ‘integer’ and had fond memories of a maths (math) lesson staring out of the window watching the 5th year girls playing netball.
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Sounds innocent until later in the Ben Folds song it's revealed you were in fact the English teacher. Plinky plonk piano and peanut pinky drum fill and we hit the middle eight:

Mr Daze taught us that day
in a singular way
handcuffed in shame
That Peter was his name
Last name File
Lever Arch File
Peter File

Chorus
End
 
threespires said:
Agree Newman extremely good at those soundtracks.

Think the Friends reference somewhat harsh, there's really not much within popular culture that competes with the crassness of that particular show.
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I absolutely despise it lol.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
In many respects, Ben is like a Liverpool fan — his problems never seem to be his fault (“Give Judy My Notice”) and he acts like run-of-the-mill human experiences like aging (“Bastards”), dealing with religious hicks (“Jesusland”) and having a daughter (“Gracie”) have only happened to him.
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You want some???.But then being compared to Ben isn't too bad, could have been Thom Yorke!

Not so much Joel-esque, as Newman-esque in my view as so much of what makes this is Ben's turn of phrase. They pop up all across this choice and coupled with some obviously good tickling of the ivories, makes for a very enjoyable offering. It's a 7 from the Derry jury....must run now as flight to lovely Manchester beckons.
 
Sorry I've left myself quite pushed for time this week but even with the luxury of a week I'd struggle to find much to say about this. I'm not a big fan of piano music and I found some of the flourishes a bit overdone although obviously he can play a bit. Interesting to note this is the second week running that the character of the artist has come under the spotlight a bit, I can't remember if the word smug was applied to him as well as Edwyn Collins but the gist seemed to be similar.

Some nice moments on this but not enough to really engage me and neither was any of it terrible. Sort of neither here nor there really.

I did listen to the Billy Joel album and I'm kind of glad to say that I didn't like that any more, possibly a bit less than this.

At its most memorable this reminded me of the theatricality of 10cc but overall will soon be forgotten. a very middle of the road 6
 
Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman

I think many get caught up with the personality of the singer and this distracts them from their listening pleasure - First and foremost Ben Folds has a natural knack for finding a melody - that's a massive plus.
There's some humor amongst some heartfelt stuff lyrically and the piano driven sound gives this a distinct vibe.
The first 3/4 tracks are strong especially 'Jesusland' and 'Landed' after 'Gracie' it could have done with a break away from the piano and the one track pace become a bit tiresome, nevertheless this was good, polished and nice on the ear.

6/10
 
BlueHammer85 said:
Not managed to have a listen yet but I’ll give it a 10/10. Good pick!
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BlueHammer85 said:
Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman

I think many get caught up with the personality of the singer and this distracts them from their listening pleasure - First and foremost Ben Folds has a natural knack for finding a melody - that's a massive plus.
There's some humor amongst some heartfelt stuff lyrically and the piano driven sound gives this a distinct vibe.
The first 3/4 tracks are strong especially 'Jesusland' and 'Landed' after 'Gracie' it could have done with a break away from the piano and the one track pace become a bit tiresome, nevertheless this was good, polished and nice on the ear.

6/10
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Just to double check, I am taking your final score rather than your first one? Away to recalculate the average then..
 
Mancitydoogle said:
BEN FOLDS SONGS FOR SILVERMAN



Ironically as well as loving my melancholic lyrics I also have penchant for amusing and quirky ones , hence my love for WZ and FOW amongst others.
I also like piano led songs , which brings me to BF I’ve liked most of his output with TBF5 and a lot of his solo stuff ,with the exception of the William Shatner collaboration.Ben is known mostly as a exceptional pianist but he’s actually a
multi instrumentalist, the previous album to this was totally solo.His style is described as classical meets pop.
On this album his mostly uses a bassist and drummer.a few songs are augmented by Bucky Baxster’s pedal ( i knew I could squeeze a bit of country in!)and Weird Al Yankovich which will impress Rob.
His songs are mostly about relationships, love songs break up songs( he’s been married 5 times) and commentary about the US .

A few bits of trivia his mate Glen Phillips of TTWS wrote the song ‘Drive By’
about one of Bens childhood incidents not his own.
He was the Artistic Adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra for 6 years resigning this year when Trump was re-elected.
He plays piano on Whiskeytown’s unreleased album ‘Forever Valentine’

Onto the songs ‘Bastard’ isn’t about his father but about getting old.
‘Jesusland ‘ is an imaginary tale if Jesus visited the Red southern States and was used in the Bill Maher documentary’ Religious ’
‘Just to thank you’ about getting married too quickly.
‘Late’ as I mentioned in the ‘Elliot Smith ‘ nomination was written about him.
‘Time ‘ one of my favourite tracks has a Pink Floyd feel to it
The album closes on a high with ‘Prison Food’

For me theres a consistency in the tracks, the weakest probably being the
Lullaby ‘Gracie’ but I’d probably think differently if I had a daughter.

This was an album I constantly played when I first started seeing my current wife so it does have a personal connection and is an album I get listen to on a regular basis.
His voice may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it fits the songs and there’s very little guitar on this album.
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I feel bad writing my review. I understand what it's like to have personal connections to records, and I can see how this one would be a wonderful soundtrack to someone or something. I will say that I have been playing "Late" on repeat, and "Landed" too. My score of 6.5 is really meant for Ben -- I kept finding myself wanting the choruses to soar more instead of quiet down, and I think some reworking could have made this an 8. Clearly I liked it more than a lot of others here. Can't do much about his penchant to blame his women for screwing up his relationships though.
 
Another total of 14 voters, a fair few down the middle scores, leaves this with a fairly down the middle score of 5.82.

It also coincidentally seemed to have quite a few 0.5 integer scores, while these do happen on occasion, rare that an album has so many. Suggesting perhaps that it either doesn't quite hit a mark or has just enough to tip a mark. Kinda how I felt about the album itself, funnily enough. Plus we got some good discussion on snobbery and didn't get too far into Radiohead talk, so maybe that's something.

We now welcome Grumpy for his first ever go at this. You always remember your first 3!
 
BlueHammer85 said:
Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman

I think many get caught up with the personality of the singer and this distracts them from their listening pleasure - First and foremost Ben Folds has a natural knack for finding a melody - that's a massive plus.
There's some humor amongst some heartfelt stuff lyrically and the piano driven sound gives this a distinct vibe.
The first 3/4 tracks are strong especially 'Jesusland' and 'Landed' after 'Gracie' it could have done with a break away from the piano and the one track pace become a bit tiresome, nevertheless this was good, polished and nice on the ear.

6/10
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While I think he's a twat when it comes to his relationships (and I'm right), I agree with this -- and the music is good enough that I could forgive it and give it a score even higher than you did. But IMO the real reason for my score is what-might-have-been. I just think all the bones are there for this to have been outstanding; it's just not quite there. Actually not a lot of records I know where I'd make that criticism. Often there are great/good songs mixed with bad songs; here, it's each song that is good enough (a rare feat) but each one could also have been better.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
If he goes with something as safe as the former with his first write-up I'm gonna skewer him (before I wax rhapsodic about that particular record, which is one of the first I ever bought and still love).
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Though I know the first ever single I bought, I don't think I could tell you the first album, could narrow it down a fair bit but even then I might be including stuff I nicked off my sister.
 
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