Just thought I would officially finish this series with my impressions of the final rankings, which you see here:

Final rankings by album:

1. “Rockin’ the Suburbs” – 2.8 (33)
2. “Whatever and Ever Again” – 3.5 (42)
3. “Way to Normal” – 3.8 (42)
4. “Lonely Avenue” – 4.2 (46)
5. “Ben Folds Five” – 4.2 (50)
6. “Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” – 4.4 (48)
7. “Songs for Silverman” – 4.7 (52)

These rankings ended up being right in line with how I would rank these albums, if I were to do something crazy like that. In future years,though, and with future albums, these rankings may not hold. I guess that’s a blog for some date far in the future. All I know is that I am super excited for the concert on December 14th, and the music is only part of the reason. I’ll be sure to post a full review when I get back.

Until next time…

See here for the idea behind this series of blogs. Here we go onto the next tracks from the Ben Folds (Five) catalog. As this is the last entry in this series, I would like to thank you all for reading these little blog posts. If you like what you have read, feel free to read some more of my writing and leave comments (once I actually figure out how to turn them back on and avoid Chinese spam comments). I also encourage you to go find you some Ben Folds on iTunes or Amazon or, if you still live in the 20th century, a music store, and listen with my comments in mind. On with the show.

Note: As previously mentioned, only three of the seven albums “rated” have Track Twelves, so all ratings at the end are the average ratings over however many tracks that they have.

1. “Boxing” from “Ben Folds Five” – For some reason, this song mentions Howard Cosell, but I still think is one of the stronger BFF tracks, if not Ben Folds overall. The a capella version that he put on that album is also excellent.
2. “Evaporated” from “Whatever and Ever Amen” – Good song in its own right, but I think it is number two mainly because of my feelings toward the next song. Call me petty, but this is my list. Make your own list if you want to hate.
3. “Luckiest” from “Suburbs” – This song used to be among my favorites. It was even chosen as the song that I danced with my new wife when I got married. Had all sorts of great meaning to me. Then that marriage ended and I don’t think I’ve listened to the entire song since. Such is life. However, I still do like the song. It has all sorts of great imagery and what not. I just have a hard time listening to it.

Average ranking by album to this point:

1. “Rockin’ the Suburbs” – 2.8 (33)
2. “Whatever and Ever Again” – 3.5 (42)
3. “Way to Normal” – 3.8 (42)
4. “Lonely Avenue” – 4.2 (46)
5. “Ben Folds Five” – 4.2 (50)
6. “Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” – 4.4 (48)
7. “Songs for Silverman” – 4.7 (52)

Until next time…

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…

See here for the idea behind this series of blogs. Here we go onto the next tracks from the Ben Folds (Five) catalog. Since some of the albums will only have 11 tracks, this might be those albums last chance to improve their overall “score.”

1. “Saskia Hamilton” from “Lonely Avenue” – According to Nick Hornby, Saskia Hamilton is a real writer, and he wrote the lyrics to the song as if there was a fan of her that is semi-stalker creepy about her. The music that Folds placed with the lyrics is what really completes the song in my opinion.
2. “Effington” from “Way to Normal” – “Effington” is not the name of the town that is on the way to Normal, Illinois. It is actually Effingham. Either way, I do like this song. Folds wrote the song, or at least came up with the idea while driving past the aforementioned Effingham while on tour or something. The a capella version of this song is good and features his children.
3. “Rockin’ the Suburbs” from “Suburbs” – Folds went a little outside his comfort zone on this song, including the first appearance of electric guitar on a Ben Folds song. The song is alright, and the version he wrote for “Over the Hedge” is also okay, but I don’t think it will stack up well against the other Track Tens.
4. “Battle of Who Could Care Less” from “Whatever and Ever Amen” – Great song to follow “Steven’s Last Night in Town,” and some of the best song writing from the BFF days.
5. “Time” from “Silverman” – This song is probably best known (maybe) for the background vocals provided by “Weird” Al Yankovic. If you can call any song featuring those two performers as being famous.
6. “Jane” from “Reinhold Messner” – I don’t know how to really describe this song, but the melodic feel of the song really fits well with the last three tracks of this album.
7. “Video” from “Ben Folds Five” – Another nondescript song from the BFF days. Apparently, this was one of the earliest written BFF songs according to other interviews that Ben Folds has given.

Average ranking by album to this point:

1. “Rockin’ the Suburbs” – 2.4 (24)
2. “Whatever and Ever Again” – 3.5 (35)
3. “Way to Normal” – 3.9 (39)
4. “Lonely Avenue” – 4.4 (44)
5. “Ben Folds Five” – 4.5 (45)
6. “Songs for Silverman” – 4.5 (45)
7. “Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” – 4.7 (47)

Until next time…