Okay, so Ben Folds Five decided to split back in 2000. Ben Folds has since done quite a bit of solo stuff during the in between years. So, when I first got the news that the Five (which is really three) were returning my only response was this. Then has the months went by I promptly forgot. It happens sometimes. But then I remembered, got the album and I got this happy.
The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind doesn't sound too much like either their self-titled album or Whatever and Ever Amen. You can tell that the last 12 years changed their style choices. If you're familiar with their older stuff you'll know about the reoccurring character named Frank. He makes his return in a song called "On Being Frank" about getting old and how things used to be. The title track has the harmonies that we all fell in love with and a fun beat to listen to. Draw a Crowd sings about the trails of starting a band and the frustrations of drawing a crowd to your shows.
The roll of the Dice gives the album a 7 out of 10. Its a good album and worth getting, but on the whole it doesn't meet with their first two albums.
I was wrong about the Frank thing, the character is Fred Jones. Although, since Ben Folds often uses real people's names in his songs, there is a good chance that they've sung about Frank before.
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