Ben Folds Five, “The Sound of The Life of The Mind” (ImaVeePee Records, 2012)

    From 1993 to 2000, at a time that was dominated by heavy-riffing guitars and rapping, Ben Folds Five took to the music scene with a different kind of sound. Releasing three albums during their time together, pianist-vocalist Ben Folds, bassist Robert Sledge, and drummer Darren Jessee introduced us to a sound that featured jazzy piano licks, heavily distorted bass riffs, cool drum fills, three vocal harmonies, and humorous, and occasionally serious and angst, lyrics. The band called it quits in 2000 and each member went on to successful solo careers, but now they are back and they sound better than ever on their first album since 1999, “The Sound of The Life of The Mind.”
    Before this, the band had reunited only once since their break-up when they were asked to do a concert for Myspace’s “Front to Back” series where they played their last album, “The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner,” in it’s entirety. However, in 2011, Folds was recording a couple new songs for a greatest hits album he was doing and he decided to call Sledge and Jessee up to see if they would want to play on the new songs. They did and the session went so well that they decided to record a whole new album.
    The album starts off with “Erase Me.” It has everything that you would ask for in the classic BF5 sound, jazzy piano licks, heavily distorted bass, cool drum licks, and the three vocal harmonies. The sound of the bass on this song makes it sound very much like if it were something Danny Elfman had written. It’s heavy and it’s also very catchy. The second track on the album is “Michael Praytor, Five Years Later,” which is a very strong song and shows how tight every member is playing together almost as if they never broke up. The lyrics tell the story of a man named Michael Praytor, who would be seen every five years and his life is going downhill with his wife kicking him out and Folds sings to him at the end of the song, “Guess I’ll see you around.” “Sky High,” with lyrics written by Jessee, is the slow song about a man who is dealing with pain, but it features a beautiful piano melody. The title track of the album, with lyrics by Nick Hornby, who also wrote lyrics for Folds’s 2010 solo album “Lonely Avenue,” is a very strong song as well with lyrics telling the story of a girl who is interested in reading books about history and science while her friends are out acting like crazy teenagers.
    The next track “On Being Frank” is a lovely song with a sweet piano melody and is wonderful lyrics by Folds. The following track, “Draw A Crowd” is a catchy, upbeat song with an awesome piano lick, almost very similar to “Jackson Cannery” from their 1995 debut “Ben Folds Five,” and a humorous chorus where they sing, “If you’re feeling small, and you can’t draw a crowd, draw dicks on the wall.” It’s probably the funniest lyric in a Ben Folds Five song since “The Song For The Dumped” from their 1997 album “Whatever & Ever Amen.” “Do It Anyway,” which is the single for the album, is next with it’s country sounding vibe and all of the band members are completely in sync with each other. This one is pretty memorable. “Hold That Thought” is sort of the same level as “On Being Frank,” but it is also a very great song. “Away When You Were Here” follows afterward and it is a very beautiful song with Folds’s beautiful lyrics and piano melodies, as well as a string section which accompanies the song. The lyrics tell the story of a father who died young and the son is trying to be what he never was, which was a true father. The final track on the album is “Thank You For Breaking My Heart,” which is probably the saddest song on the entire album. However, it shows off Folds’s classical-like piano skills. In a way, this song relates to “Brick” from “Whatever & Ever Amen” because that song also had sad lyrics.
    “The Sound of The Life of The Mind” is a great return for Ben Folds Five. The entire album features the awesome rocking songs and humorous lyrics that everyone remembers them for, including their emotional, quieter songs. Folds, Sledge, and Jessee sound totally in complete sync together as if they never broke up. Yes, they broke up a long time ago, but that’s all in the past. Everyone grows up and changes, but on this album, it sounds like all members of the band have matured both lyrically and musically. In the end, “The Sound of The Life of The Mind” is a great album and let’s hope they continue to make more great music together.