No. 13: Ben Folds

Ben Folds has been around for awhile. When he first came out he was in a band called Majosha. Some of his earliest songs like "Emaline" and "Video" came from this group and he picked up his signature sound from these days. Folds was quoted once as calling his music "punk rock for sissies." He is a troubadour of the piano and it carries most of his songs. Over the years, Ben Folds has put out some pretty solid records that shaped my musical taste and made me start listening to music that was a little away from the mainstream. Sure songs like "Brick," "Song for the Dumped," and "Battle of Who Could Care Less" breached the radio waves, but back in the day Folds was still an artist that few delved deep into. Following his career through the early days with Ben Folds Five up until his first solo disc Rockin the Suburbs you could see that he was really honing his craft. While some saw Rockin as a little too commercial and got pissed that an artist would change lyrics or remix a song for a movie (Over the Hedge), if you really listened to Folds through the years you could see that he hit his high point on that record. Songs like "Fred Jones, Pt. 2" and "The Ascent of Stan" are Folds at his finest hour, and he played all the instruments on that record.

That being said, Ben Folds has gotten old. His last two albums Songs for Silverman and last year's Way to Normal were what I would call "Dad Rock" or songs that your Dad might listen to and think he was cool. They really lack that depressing and melancholy feeling you would get from his older songs while at the same time being rocked. He still uses sarcasm, but before it came off funny and now it comes off corny. Hey, not every artist can have longevity. If he sticks to an older set list it should make for a great show, but if it's littered with Dad rock then go find some band that's actually trying to make you think still. You can always throw in one of his CDs on a road trip if you want to get nostalgic.