30th ANNIVERSARY - 2xLP BLACK VINYL

The debut album from piano-playing Ben Folds' smart-ass trio is a potent, and extremely fun, collection of postmodern rock ditties that comes off as a pleasantly workable combination of Tin Pan Alley showmanship, Todd Rundgren-style power pop, and myriad alt-rock sensibilities. The gimmick here is that not a single guitar was used on the 12 songs; but the way that Folds and his bandmates unravel their instruments (piano, bass, and drums make up this combo), even the most hardened noise enthusiasts will hardly miss it (it's the melodies that carry this album, and Folds has plenty of them up his sleeve). Some of it is a bit coy -- Folds plays the joker as much as he does the musician -- but with the dead-on "Underground," they manage to skewer, and pay loving tribute, to the oh-so-hip indie scene from which they came.

Ben Folds Five 
A1 Jackson Cannery
A2 Philosophy
A3 Julianne
A4 Where's Summer B.?
A5 Alice Childress
A6 Underground
B1 Sports & Wine
B2 Uncle Walter
B3 Best Imitation Of Myself
B4 Video
B5 The Last Polka
B6 Boxing
Shelved First Attempt 
C1 Underground
C2 Julianne
C3 Uncle Walter
C4 Alice Childress
C5 Evaporated
D1 Dick Holster
D2 Philosophy
D3 Boxing
D4 Emaline
D5 The Last Polka
D6 Eddie Walker