Customer Reviews

The Bens

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although there are only four songs on this EP, they are all four very nice and catchy tunes from Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, and Ben Lee. My favourite is "Bruised" which is mostly Ben Folds. It isn't a world changing heavy song ripe with meaning, but is an infectious pop song about the perils of love. If you listen to this song a few times, you'll find it hard to get out of your head.

"Just Pretend" is an acoustic song with sweet harmonies quite reminiscent of early Crosby, Stills and Nash. It is further evidence that these guys should indeed do a full album together.

"Xfire" (Crossfire) is an electronic song markedly different from the others, and reminded me of some of the better hits of the 1980s (think - Gary Numan - "Cars")

"Stop" is the odd track but still a good one as it takes the listener on a rollercoaster ride with the tempo shifting wildly from slow to fast before coming to an abrupt halt.

Overall, a must have for any fan of Ben Folds.

This is a great EP if you are a fan of all of or any of The Bens (Ben Folds, Ben Kweller, and Ben Lee I believe is the third). It is a lot of fun. Track two (XFire) makes me laugh everytime I listen to it. I do wish there were more songs, though. It would have been nice if they would have at least done one more song to end the EP that was like the song they wrote to start the EP.

I love Ben Folds. He may just be my favorite current song writer. Lennon/McCartney and Brian Wilson being my all time faves. I'm a little familiar with Kweller and Lee, the other two Bens, but neither of them ever thrilled me. This disk sounds like they had a good time making it, but not like a lot of thought was put into the songs. None of the tracks are as good as Ben Folds alone, and I'd gather that both Kweller and Lee are better when they are left to do their own thing without the "supergroup" lineup. I've had this for about a month and am only listening to it for the 3rd or 4th time. Again, not horrible songs, not unlistenable, but nothing here is very memorable to me. Possibly worth the 7 or 8 bucks the disk costs, but I expected a little more from a "supergroup" outing like this. Maybe for me, it just can't possibly live up to the kind of songwriter Ben Folds has become. Definitely feels like he's just hanging around with these other Bens killin' time.

Ben Folds, Ben Lee, and Ben Kweller got together for a few days in the Spring of 2003 and recorded a 4-track EP at Folds' Nashville studio.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Just Pretend
2. X-Fire
3. Stop!
4. Bruised

This is a MUST HAVE for any fan of either of the three multi-instrumental/multi-talented Ben's.

All three are good artists. It's a novelty, plain and simple. The songs are fine, but, as another reviewer put it, not memorable. Get it if you are already a huge fan of one or more of these artists. It shouldn't disappoint. If you're new to any of these Bens, start with their solo works.

This CD was on sale after the Bens show I went to in Melbourne and of course I couldn't be bothered lining up for it. Totally regretted it and have been thinking about it ever since. Thank goodness for the internet.
This is what happens when 3 individually kick-arse artists come together to form a 3 headed mutant awesome music machine. Four beautiful tracks, but have to say, I can't go past Just Pretend.

If you can get your hands on it, I suggest that you do so. If you like Ben Folds, Ben Lee, and/or Ben Kweller, you will love this CD!

Ben Folds can do no wrong. This is a great disc, go get it. You won't be disappointed. Don't buy it from Amazon.com, you will be grossly overpaying for it. You can buy it along with Ben's other EPs off of his website for less than 7 bucks plus shipping.

I love Ben Folds, and the two other Bens involved are pretty good too. That leaves me wondering how exactly three massively talented people can come together and poop out something that is massively worse than anything any of the three have produced alone, and the only answer I can come up with is that they just rushed it. Just sat there and made stuff up without giving it any time to gestate, without taking the time to step back and ask whether it's actually any good. The songwriting is repetitive and formulaic, the instrumental performances are unimpressive, and the singing is just passable. I'd love to see these guys get together for a project that they actually put some effort into it, because this was not it.