It's not exactly Billy Joel territory, but it's what makes Ben Folds Five's music more interesting than its sources. At least it used to. In the record company-provided background notes, Folds admits that he wrote much of the material in the studio. Sadly, it sounds that way. That Folds has pulled together as much good stuff as he has on the album is a tribute to his talent as a musician, but Reinhold Messner can't be called his finest moment.
T HERE ARE SOME highlights.
But the best things about Ben Folds Five are definitely musical, not lyrical. He truly seems to have nothing to say, a creative void that could be the inevitable result of being in a highly successful rock band that's always on tour. Elsewhere, the banality of his thoughts mars an otherwise accomplished work. Sadly, the two songs, which are the best lyrically, aren't the best musically. No doubt Folds loves his father dearly, but this isn't really something we should be asked to listen to along with him.