Where Have You Gone, Ben Folds?

ALBUM: Way To Normal
ARTIST: Ben Folds
RELEASED: September 30, 2008



Oh, Ben. What happened? What happened to the days of songs like "Eddie Walker" or "Fred Jones Pt. II" or even "Army?" Or that version of "Careless Whisper" in Central Park that made me want to whisk Rufus Wainwright onto the dance floor?

I understand that things got a little crazy in your personal life in the past year and I feel obligated to give you lots of leeway on that.

I also understand that you fell off the stage and bumped your head. But how hard? Did it knock your constraints loose? Possibly your judgement? Where's that Ben Folds sound?

Well, let's be honest, Ben Folds isn't walking throught that door or typing this URL and pressing enter. So there's no need of asking these questions of him. But these are all questions I asked myself as I went through three songs before being able to listen to one in its entirety.

One must first understand my true love affair with Ben Folds. I was originally a fan of "Brick" because it was the only song of the original five on the radio. How predictable of a young high schooler daring to be muscially hip! But as I soon discovered "Ben Folds Live" my sophomore year of college, everything in life changed. For the next seven years, I found myself standing in front of an overpriced keyboard either online or at a local music store at least ten times. I wanted to be Ben Folds.

So with such an affinity for all things Folds, it was a shock to my system when "Way to Normal" never clicked at all. I heard a majority of the album's songs originally at a show on December 17, 2007 at Exit/In in Nashville, TN. And while all the new songs were definitely entertaining due to either lyrics or Ben and his band's infamiliarity with the new material, there was just something missing. And it's something they were unable to iron out when transferring it all to the album.



In my opinion, it just sounds gimmicky. It's like Ben decided he needed to sell CD's to all the people who only bought tickets to hear "Bitches Ain't Shit" rather than the loyalists who know every word to songs like "Emaline" or "Magic." And out of this horrible lapse in judgement came songs like "Bitch Went Nuts" and "Errant Dog." Even listening to them now (just to make sure I still agree with my original opinion), these songs are absolutely horrible. These songs could seemlessly play over top of any Weird Al Yankovic video.

Now Ben does prove to still "have it," on a few songs. "Cologne" displays Ben's uncanny lyric ability to explain his surroundings and thoughts in a truly conversational yet surreal manner. Sadly, the chorus is unable to ever reach the liftoff its countdown alludes to. "Kylie from Connecticut" is probably my favorite song on the entire album and it's conveniently hidden as the second to last song. Another Ben lyric trademark, explaining a situation between two people that we don't know but feel we have all our lives by the end of the song.

While the rest of the album straddles a line of respectability/horridness, the total project really lacks what I've always looked for in a Ben Folds CD. There's always been a few hokey songs sprinkled on all his albums, but there's not the solid anchor to keep this grounded. If Ben was looking for irony in this release, he definitely accomplished it in the album title. He's a long way from "Normal" or pleasurable listening experience.

RATING: $$ of $$$$$ on the Tangent Lyrics "Buy it Now" Scale.