Ben Folds Five (album)

Ben Folds Five is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Ben Folds Five, released on August 8, 1995. A non-traditional rock album, it featured a sound that excluded lead guitars completely. The album was released on the small independent label Passenger Records, owned by Caroline Records, a subsidiary of Virgin/EMI. Ben Folds Five received positive reviews, and spawned five singles. The record failed to chart, but sparked an intense bidding war eventually won by Sony Music. Several live versions of songs originally released on Ben Folds Five reappeared later as b-sides or on compilations.

Reception
Ben Folds Five received positive reviews from NME, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Entertainment Weekly. Michael Gallucci praised the album as "a potent, and extremely fun collection of postmodern rock ditties that comes off as a pleasantly workable combination of Tin Pan Alley showmanship, Todd Rundgren-style power pop, and myriad alt-rock sensibilities." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice selected "Boxing" as a "choice cut". The Record concluded that the "performances are often mannered, the arrangements busy and tiring, and Folds's Joe Jackson Redux isn't anything close to the Bold New Sound it has been trumpeted as."

Personnel

 * Ben Folds – piano, vocals
 * Darren Jessee – drums, vocals, percussion
 * Robert Sledge – bass, vocals
 * Ted Ehrhard – violin, viola on "Boxing"
 * Chris Eubank – cello on "Boxing"

Production

 * Producer: Caleb Southern
 * Mixing: Marc Becker
 * Photography: Alexandria Searls

Certifications
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