Music in the mid-2000s seems more diverse and stratified. But in the general guitar-bass-drum format of '90s alternative rock, the
Ben Folds Five piano-and-rhythm show really was an anomaly. This is a point of pride for
Folds in his notes for the expanded, newly remastered edition of
Whatever and Ever Amen, his band's 1997 commercial breakthrough. "We...had moved my baby grand all by ourselves for three years into every punk rock club in America that didn't want us there," he writes. "Singing Broadway harmonies and playing pretty chords to upset the indie kids." "Brick" was the unlikeliest of hit singles, a sad piano story nevertheless propelled by its poignant chorus and
Folds' delivery as the slacker forced by circumstance to grow up fast. And a
Todd Rundgren/
Joe Jackson nod like "Selfless, Cold and Composed" wasn't going to be mistaken for some of the louder songs of the era. But
Whatever still had loads of alt-rock swagger, mostly in
Folds' smart, smug lyrics. In that category, "Battle of Who Could Care Less" was a masterpiece. "You think Rockford Files is cool/But there are some things that you would change," he sings over a track mixing '70s pop schlock with grimy '90s rhythm. "So think about your masterpiece/Watch The Rockford Files/Call to see if Paul can score some weed." The 2005
Whatever and Ever Amen is remastered, and features testimonials from bassist
Robert Sledge and drummer
Darren Jesse in addition to
Folds' notes. It includes seven B-sides and non-LP tracks, the highlights being a Japanese-language version of "Song for the Dumped" ("You bitch" evidently doesn't translate), "For All the Pretty People," and a cover of
the Flaming Lips' classic "She Don't Use Jelly," and features an enjoyable, previously unreleased version of "Video Killed the Radio Star." And now we meet in an abandoned studio; we hear the playback and it seems so long ago. ~ Johnny Loftus