Ben Folds By Track – Track #11

See here for the idea behind this series of blogs. Here we go onto the next tracks from the Ben Folds (Five) catalog. This is the last track on the albums “Songs for Silverman,” “Way to Normal,” “Lonely Avenue,” and “The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner.” The Track Twelves will feature the other three albums, and the final scores on that particular blog will only be an average of the number of songs on the album.

1. “Lullabye” from “Reinhold Messner” – I don’t know why I like this song so much, but it is by far my favorite of the Track Elevens, if not the best ending track from a Ben Folds album. I wish I could get on a flight with James Earl Jones. It sounds pretty fun. My favorite part of the song, however, is the refrain.
2. “Belinda” from “Lonely Avenue” – A song about the subject of the song, if that makes any sense. A great piece of writing by both Nick Hornby and the arrangement by Ben Folds. This song really caps off the strong second half of this album.
3. “Kylie from Connecticut” from “Way to Normal” – Almost by default, this song has to be placed in the top half of the Track Elevens. I will admit, however, that I didn’t really like this song at first, but it has grown on me over the past few years.
4. “Last Polka” from “Ben Folds Five” – If this song is actually a polka, I must be confused what a polka is. I like this song, at least as compared to some of the other Track Elevens, and it leads well into Track Twelve on this album. Lots of strong piano playing on this track.
5. “Missing the War” from “Whatever and Ever Amen” – Another slow starter, but really picks up towards the end of the first verse and into the chorus. Decent overall song.
6. “Fired” from “Suburbs” – An alright song, but due to other circumstances, this album ends on Track Ten. Track Twelve will explain why.
7. “Prison Food” from “Silverman” – Another weak song from an overall weak album. It starts out slow, but picks up towards the second half. Still not really a favorite though.

Average ranking by album to this point:

1. “Rockin’ the Suburbs” – 2.7 (30)
2. “Whatever and Ever Again” – 3.6 (40)
3. “Way to Normal” – 3.8 (42)
4. “Lonely Avenue” – 4.2 (46)
5. “Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” – 4.4 (48)
6. “Ben Folds Five” – 4.5 (49)
7. “Songs for Silverman” – 4.7 (52)

Until next time…