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 The Re-Release Was Worth It Nov 05, 2009
I'm of the school of thought it was a good idea to release some of Ben's efforts from his internet EPs. It's nice to have them all in one place, and, more importantly, most of the versions here are superior to their originals. In Between Days is more vibrant, There's Always Someone Cooler Than You now has some nice piano breaks interspersed in the choruses, we get a nice phone-free version of Dog (though I like both versions), strings are added to Learn To Live, giving it an even more classic feel, and even the fantastic Bruised from 'The Bens' effort is here as well. In my opinion though, the highlight of the album is the re-working of the cover of The Divine Comedy tune 'Songs Of Love' There's so much more life to this version than the original cover--it's simply a joy to listen to each and every time. Even if you've bought the separate EPs, if you're a Folds fan, Supersunnyspeedgraphic the LP is still very much worth it.
 Could've / Should've Been Better Mar 12, 2009
"What could've been." That's my three-word review for Ben Folds' latest album, Supersunnyspeedgraphic. To start the gripes off right, what's with the effortless title? And the album's artwork? Thrown together, possibly by a middle school Photoshop student. A damn shame, I say, considering the origins of the songs.
In 2003 Folds gained unlimited access to a studio and recorded a no frills EP with Ben Kweller and Ben Lee under the name of "The Bens." Along the way he had an idea: "Why not record just for fun and sell whatever comes out online as MP3 files for a buck a piece?" The result is a series of four Eps, all of which were also eventually released as CDs via Folds' website.
Says Folds about the releases, "As time went on a part of me that's still stuck in the old school wanted a copy I can hold, break, scratch, throw away or use underneath the leg of the coffee table. Something I can't delete; a full-length long play record album. To be in the store!" Hearing this (after buying all of the 5-song EPs, mind you) I was excited at Folds' appreciation for the diminishing art of actual album craft ... and then I saw the pre-release tracklist. Ugh.
How Folds can leave "Wandering," his best ballad since "Brick," off of SuperSunny is bewildering. How can he include his embarrassing Dr. Dre cover and not one of his most brilliant songs ever is offensive. This is the guy that released Whatever and Ever, Amen and Rockin' the Suburbs - two seamless full-lengths - how can he botch this, a surely classic album? Well, he did, says the obsessive, opinionated music aficionado.
To most, Supersunnyspeedgraphic is just another killer Ben Folds album. And fine, it does have a lot of good tunes on it, but again, "What could've been." Starting off with a cover of The Cure's classic "In Between Days" is a fine choice, considering he meets the "if you gotta do it, do it better or do it different" criteria for a cover song. Folds - believe it or not - does it better, changing Robert Smith's new wave cult favorite into a timeless pop song.
The next four songs, "All You Can Eat," "Songs of Love," "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You" and "Learn to Live with What You Are" are classic post-Suburbs Folds, arguably creating the best top five tracks on any of his albums.
The seven tracks that follow are spotty. Had Folds chosen different songs (ahem, "Wandering") from his EPs - and maybe even "Heist," "Still" and/or "Family of Me" from his rececnt Over the Hedge soundrack - he'd have on his hands his fourth great album. Instead, we get a thrown-together time killer to hold us over until Folds' upcoming studio album. Oh, whatever and ever could've so easily been. (Greg Locke)
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Ben Folds is a foul mouthed song writing great Feb 22, 2008
Ben Folds seems to like to run the scales from the pretty to the profane. This is fine except there doesn't seem to be a reason for the profane other than Folds thinks it cute to write songs with bad words in them. His talent is such that this sort of acting out for his own proposes seems beneath him and his conciderable skills. Since these are older songs from an earlier part of his career my feeling is he has indeed moved beyond this sort of childishness and with later works like "Songs For Silverman" he now is in full flower. So, while this older CD of internet "goodies" is interesting it's also very hit and miss both lyrically and tunefully...
This was the first Ben folds or Ben Folds Five CD I ever bought. Dec 16, 2007
This was the first Ben Folds CD (or even Ben Folds Five) CD that I ever purchasted. I really started to dig his music after hearing so much of it on Satellite Radio. So since this is the CD that started me off to eventually purchasing all of the remaining Solo CD's as well as Ben Folds Five CDs that have been released (even "Fear of Pop"...heck I even purchased William Shatner's "Has Been" as Ben Folds did much work on that album). Great tunes on this CD include "There's always someone cooler than you", "All u can eat", and "rent a cop". Ben folds is an amazing piano player singer/songwriter.
1 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 Ben's Shot Jun 19, 2007
I loved Ben Folds Five, Ben's CD's since the breakup of the Fantastic 5 have gotten worse and worse, he has lost his edge and is too full of himself, making fun of people is cute when your an up and coming new band, but the routine is old. This CD is just o.k.
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