Ben Folds is celebrating three decades in the spotlight by releasing the very special anniversary edition of Ben Folds Five, the now-classic debut album from his iconic alt-rock trio. Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) features the groundbreaking original LP, newly remastered, plus the long-awaited, fan-requested un-vaulting of the band’s mythical shelved first attempt, recently rediscovered on digital audio tape in Folds' personal archives and specially remastered for this release. Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) is out today via Capitol/UMe on 2CD and 2LP on 180-gram black vinyl, while the remaster of the original album as well as the Shelved First Attempt are both available now to stream and download. A limited run of 1,000 copies of the vinyl, signed by all three band members, is available exclusively at uDiscoverMusic.com.
PURCHASE/STREAM BEN FOLDS FIVE (30TH ANNIVERSARY)
This first try of the album, produced by Dave “Stiff” Johnson, includes early, alternate versions of seven tracks from the album, a performance of the beloved song “Evaporated,” which would ultimately be re-recorded for the band’s 1997 sophomore album, Whatever And Ever Amen, plus three rare outtakes that didn’t make the eponymous debut (“Emaline,” “Dick Holster” and “Eddie Walker”). The Shelved First Attempt was heralded with the fan-favorites “Underground (Shelved First Attempt)" and "Philosophy (Shelved First Attempt)."
“Here’s my 59-year-old self’s take on the album we made when I was 28: Overall, it’s good!” writes Ben Folds in the anniversary edition’s liner notes. “It’s NOT the kind of record you’d hear produced these days. It’s pretty rough and tumble, mostly in a good way. And it’s emphatically unique. It’s from an era when you could still identify a band by the instrumentalists, before you’d even hear the vocalist. I don’t think that’s been a thing since computers allowed us to get things just right.” He continues, “This first Ben Folds Five record doesn’t even TRY to do the things most might aspire to, with or without the technology, and that’s one of the first things I hear while listening. Many indie rockers of the 90s claimed to be raw and not care. We actually lived that, though it’s just not obvious because it’s based around piano and complex songs, which was an odd combo,” adding, “for better or worse – wow. I’m hearing a record that really just puts it out there, and I’m glad we did all of that. It also probably stunted the potential for the record in terms of commercial appeal. Who knows? But I’m all for it, at least for this first album… The “and all” that, along with the warts, means it’s a real snapshot of a time period. That’s rare, so I give this album a thumbs up, and now I’ll go back to not listening to my own music.”
About the Shelved First Attempt, Folds writes: “The budget from Caroline Records, as I recall, was about $14k, all-in. We spent all of that in a proper three-week session in Philadelphia with a proper producer who had a few hits under his belt and who gave us a great deal. This version of the album was shelved and never saw the light of day. We had taken the time we needed and the advice of the very competent producer, but it resulted in an album that didn’t feel like us. I only recently happened to have found a cassette of this shelved album. It’s not bad, though I recall it being hideous… It’s just not crazy like the album we all know.” The original lineup of Ben Folds Five – that is, Ben Folds (piano, vocals), Robert Sledge (bass), and Darren Jessee (drums) – will further commemorate the milestone anniversary of Ben Folds Five with a hugely anticipated series of live performances, their first run of shows together in more than 13 long years. Complete details will be announced soon. Ben Folds Five was truly unprecedented upon its initial release, landing at a time when grunge and Britpop were both in full swing, rap was reigning supreme, and pop-punk was just beginning to permeate the airwaves. With its complete exclusion of guitars and unvarnished, power-pop-meets-the Great American Songbook musical approach, the album proved an incomparable breath of fresh air and, indeed, caused a sensation at college radio as well in the halls of a record industry eagerly on the lookout for the next big thing. Recorded in just four days with the late Caleb Southern producing, songs like “Jackson Cannery,” “Philosophy,” and “Underground” redefined the possibilities of alternative rock with dazzling showmanship, bold energy and Folds’ already masterful knack for melodic invention and fiercely clever songcraft. Much like the band’s exuberant live show, Ben Folds Five was boisterous, playful, and unlike anything else out there. Thirty years later – thirty-one, but as with the trio’s puckish moniker, who’s counting? – this inimitable band still sounds as novel and one-of-a-kind as it did upon its first arrival, making Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) a milestone well worth the celebration. BEN FOLDS FIVE (30TH ANNIVERSARY) (Capitol/UMe) | 
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