Five is catchy but `Home Alive' needs a little work
Taking advantage of the rescue of young American minds from guitar worship, Ben Folds Five jangles out of North Carolina with pop songs and a smile. A trio consisting of Ben Folds on piano and vocals, Robert Sledge on bass and Darren Jessee on drums, Ben Folds Five accomplishes the same feat as the Boston-based Morphine -- it plays catchy songs without using a guitar-based three cord hook.
But Ben Folds Five is on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum from Morphine. This album is consistently sunny and sparkling even on the "emotional" songs. Unfortunately, sounding emotional while playing the piano often results in either a song from an "After School Special"or the end of a Guns `n' Roses ballad.
Jazz and classical influences also appear, and they are assimilated into the poppy attitude with great success. This self-titled debut certainly shows the makings of a great band. Anyone attracted to quirky pop music will certainly be interested in this album and should definitely watch for the follow-up.
On a less cheerful note, Home Alive: The Art of Self Defense is really, really long. The Home Alive compilation is a collection of 47 decent, yet unremarkable songs. This two-disk set is dedicated to Mia Zapata, who was murdered and raped in 1993.
All of the proceeds go to "offering affordable self-defense training, personal safety resources and awareness about how to resist violence."
Too many of these songs are run-of-the-mill "alternative" guitar songs. There are a few stand-out songs, such as the offering by the Supersuckers and the surprisingly good Pearl Jam song.
The spoken word pieces and the musical "sketches" are better, with a good piece by Jim Carroll and an amusing story by The Body Has a Head. Zapata herself has an excellent song on the second disk. Many of the poems are serious in nature, dealing with violence and other injustices toward women, which don't always go well with the songs which bookend them.
I really enjoyed some of the tracks on this set and would encourage everyone to listen to it. But there are simply too many ordinary songs to really justify spending over $20 for it.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 29, 1996 issue.
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