The Daily Campus

I love Ben Folds. Ever since my friend introduced me to Whatever and Ever Amen in 1998, I've been a rabid fan. I went to see him twice last Spring and heard "Errant Dog," "Hiroshima," "Effington," and "Free Coffee" live. They were all great, but Free Coffee was BY FAR the best. The piano sounded amazing in concert and I was really looking forward to the track on the album.

Well, I got the album this week, and the other three songs sound pretty much the same as they did live... too much so, in some respects. Ben's other albums were much more polished; it was part of the fun of going to see him live, to get that contrast.

As for Free Coffee on the album, it sounds... well, awful. I thought I'd blown out my speakers at first, but it's the overbearing maraca, which you could barely heard live. It makes the song sound really staticy, and the melody and words really lose a lot of their punch. After hearing how amazing it COULD sound in concert, the album version is a let-down, sadly.

For the rest of the album, it's not Ben's best, but his best is so good that it doesn't have to be in order to be worth listening to.

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