Ben Folds - "Way to Normal" and "Stems and Seeds"

Released: September 2008 and February 2009, respectively
Format: standard album (CD or download), latter with bonus DVD-ROM

Songwriting: 7
Performance: 8
Recording: 4 and 7, respectively
First Impression: 6
Staying Power: 7

In "Way to Normal", Ben Folds rocks the keys again with a collection of very catchy pop songs. Though it is not quite comparable to some of his outstanding back catalog, it should appeal to anyone who likes their rock with a generous helping of grand piano and grandstanding. The only major drawback is the horrid, loud recording. The fans were brutally scathing in their complaints about this. But of course Ben was too sexy to care, right?

Wrong! Ben actually listened to his fans, going back to the studio to produce a "demastered" version of the same album, with a much higher recording quality. He also included a collection of Internet releases and B-sides as a bonus CD. In case that wasn't enough, he threw in a DVD-ROM containing multitrack session recordings of all the songs from "Way to Normal", so that fans with audio mixing software such as Garage Band could remix them to their hearts' content. The result is "Stems and Seeds".

Suggested Sample Track: "Dr. Yang" (make sure it's the version from "Stems and Seeds")

Recommendation: If you're not familiar with Ben Folds, but enjoy older Elton John or Billy Joel recordings, then you would do well to give "Stems and Seeds" a spin, along with the excellent back catalog of Ben Folds Five (note the longer name).