Ben Folds Five are marking 30 years of their debut album with an expanded reissue. Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) arrives September 4, putting the 1995 original side-by-side with a previously-unreleased recording: Ben Folds Five\u2019s abandoned first attempt of the record.<\/p>\n
That shelved version, produced by Dave \u201cStiff\u201d Johnson, was recorded during a three-week studio session in Philadelphia before the band ultimately scrapped it. Folds only just recently uncovered the sessions on a cassette in his personal archives. The reissue includes early, alternate takes of seven songs from the finished album, an early rendition of \u201cEvaporated\u201d that would later resurface on 1997\u2019s Whatever and Ever Amen, and three outtakes that never made the original tracklist: \u201cEmaline,\u201d \u201cDick Holster,\u201d and \u201cEddie Walker.\u201d A lead single, \u201cUnderground (Shelved First Attempt),\u201d is out today.\n<\/p>\n
Among the product suite is an additional bonus for fans of the group: A limited edition version of the record, signed by all three members of the band. It\u2019s exclusively available on uDiscover Music and there are only 1,000 copies available.<\/p>\n
Released in 1995 amid a surge of demand for grunge and pop-punk, Ben Folds Five stood out for their commitment to piano-driven power-pop. Tracks like \u201cJackson Cannery,\u201d \u201cPhilosophy,\u201d and \u201cUnderground\u201d helped the trio build a devoted following and a distinct point of view.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHere\u2019s my 59-year-old self\u2019s take on the album we made when I was 28: Overall, it\u2019s good!\u201d Folds writes in the anniversary editions liner notes. \u201cIt\u2019s NOT the kind of record you\u2019d hear produced these days. It\u2019s pretty rough and tumble, mostly in a good way. And it\u2019s emphatically unique. It\u2019s from an era when you could still identify a band by the instrumentalists, before you\u2019d even hear the vocalist. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s been a thing since computers allowed us to get things just right.\u201d (Speaking directly to the shelved version, he added: \u201cWe had taken the time we needed, and the advice of the very competent producer, but it resulted in an album that didn\u2019t feel like us.\u201d)\n<\/p>\n
Beyond the reissue, the band\u2019s original lineup \u2014 Folds on piano and vocals, Robert Sledge on bass, and Darren Jessee on drums \u2014 will reunite for their first live shows together in more than 13 years soon. Further details are yet to be announced.\n<\/p>\n