Way to Normal [fake]: Ben Folds

Just a quick update, owing to the fact that I’ve finally got round to “absorbing” the fake version of the latest Ben Folds album.  I posted about the “official” release last week, and included a link to a torrent for the “fake” version of the album that Folds “leaked” on to the ‘net to fool his fans.  I also predicted that the joke cut would be much better than the official version; and I was right!

Obviously it doesn’t stand up as an album in it’s own right (it’s the cheesiest thing I’ve heard in ages), but as long as you’re aware it’s a pastiche when you’re listening then it’s amazing.  It’s such a good parody of Folds’ style you could be forgiven for having fallen for the scam before it was exposed.

There’s nothing here for people who aren’t already fans of Folds, but that just comes with the territory.  If you are familiar with Folds’ repetoire, however, I’d strongly recomend giving this “fake” album a listen.  I personally found it a much more rewarding experience than the album proper.

Ben Folds – The Bitch Went Nuts [Fake]

 

Way to Normal: Ben Folds

Heavens, Ben’s gotten a little sweary with this one! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for expletives, but I can’t help but feel Folds’ getting a bit old for this s**t.

Anyway, in short, this album’s all substance and no style.  A lot of people bemoaned the lack of the trade mark Folds humour in his previous album Songs for Silverman, and they’ll all be pretty pleased with Way to Normal; there’s chuckles aplenty.  Sadly the humour comes at a cost: the jokes and ideas come at the expense of scansion and melody.  This album’s far too wordy and disjointed to stand up as a truly great album; something Folds has already shown he’s capable of.  This one’s just a little too contrived, and a little over-produced too.  There’s far too much vocal compression on his vocal, and it sucks the life out of the recordings.  This is particularly apparent on the otherwise-pretty-good duet with Regina Spektor, You Don’t Know Me.

All things considered, the biggest joke about this release isn’t even on the record.  Folds leaked a copy of the CD onto the net, to be lapped up by fans.  It turned out to be the result of a eight-hour session where he and his band mates recorded 6 “fake” songs as a joke at the fans expense.  Priceless!  You can hear the full story here.

Listening to the legit. CD release, however, I can’t shake the feeling I’ve been given the “joke” record by mistake.  While there’s nothing particularly exciting about the music on this record (it’s all good, just nothing we haven’t heard before) it is a truly entertaining listen.  I found myself actually chuckling aloud on a couple of occasions.

The word on the street, though, is that the fake album is actually better! I’ve not listened to it yet myself, but for those of you who are curious here’s a link to a torrent for the fake release (and as Folds released it himself, it’s a 100% legal download)… I guess that it’s got a bit more sparkle and a bit more edge to it, as it’s bypassed the “production” prossess that has so mired the official version.