In early 2012, more than a decade after breaking up, alt-rock heroes Ben Folds Five reunited to create their first studio album since 1999’s much-acclaimed The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. While touring in support of The Sound of the Life of the Mind, the Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based trio recorded their performances, then assembled the highlights for a new live album that showcases their signature piano-fueled, melody-soaked, endlessly catchy yet whip-smart sound.
Formed in 1994, Ben Folds Five broke into the mainstream with their 1997 sophomore release Whatever and Ever Amen (a platinum-selling effort featuring the heartwrenching hit single “Brick”). Although the band split up just one album later—leaving frontman/pianist Ben Folds, bassist Robert Sledge, and drummer Darren Jessee to pursue their own musical projects—their six-year stint earned them an ardent following and worldwide regard as a dynamic, can’t-miss live act.
Offering up 15 tracks recorded around the world, Live deftly captures the joyfully frenetic energy of those onstage performances. Opening with a stomping rendition of “Jackson Cannery” (the first track on the band’s 1995 self-titled debut), the album balances hits both major and minor (“Brick,” their 1995 breakthrough single “Underground”) with fan favorites like “Song for the Dumped” and “Narcolepsy.” Also delivering four songs from The Sound of the Life of the Mind, Live ultimately serves as a career retrospective for a band that began as college-radio darlings and fast ascended to MTV superstardom—without ever shedding the nerdy charm and harmony-sweetened sound that originally made them so beloved.
