Customer Reviews

Supersunnyspeedgraphic - The LP

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This collection of songs very easily could have never seen the light of day, having been available already on four separate online-only releases. However, it is a great assistance to connoisseurs of fine music that this work is now available in one easily-accessible disc. Supersunnyspeedgraphic represents the creative work of Ben Folds over the last few years in a better manner than could have been done otherwise, and it fits perfectly alongside his other flawless productions. The album contains tracks that are well-written lyrically, as well as a number of songs displaying masterful musical technique. The album is worth purchasing for the cover of Dr. Dre's "B****es Ain't S***" alone, but you'll be equally surprised by the number of fine quality tracks that exist in addition to the slow rap extravaganza.

I've been a rabid fan since Whatever and Ever Amen (Ben Folds Five). Here's the thing: you COULD go and buy the 3 EP's, and I have all of them, but I also bought this (Supersunnyspeedgraphic) and believe it or not I am glad I did. Unlike another reviewer here, I actually thought the remixing and addition of bass and extra piano and some other instrumentation really helped most of these songs, gave them a more "full," professional sound. And I gotta say, as a whole this album is much more fun than Songs for Silverman, which should have been a lot better given how good these Internet-only EP's were. Anyhow, as you can tell, I will buy anything and everything with Ben's name on it, and I found enough good stuff on this one to justify the purchase. Unlike others, I love "All You Can Eat"'s social commentary. The Dr. Dre cover, of course, is hilarious and memorable, while the Cure cover is near perfect. Buy this, it's a lot of fun, and even though the other reviewers are right about the album feeling disjointed, song for song it's better than Silverman....that's gotta be worth something.

The first couple songs are a bit mediocre on the first go. However the rest of the album makes up for it, beginning with the infamous B.tches Ain't ..... I outgrew rap a long time ago, but hearing this song was refreshing. It's amazing how alternative rock can make such a decadent song sound so good. Along with BAS, the remaining pieces are worth listening to more than once. I must have listened to this album about 10 times consecutively. If you're down on your luck and just want to relax to laid-back humorous and inspirational music, just put in Ben Folds.

With a great, Krupa-esque drum groove and swingin' horns, "Rent a Cop" is a blast. "All U Can Eat" is another story. Where the earlier "Uncle Walter" was real, knowing, and very funny, "All U can Eat" is the kind of smug, simplistic cant about SUVs and Wal-Mart that you'd expect to hear from the tote-baggers down at Starbucks - but the music is cool. Interesting covers - "Bitches" is amazing and weird as Folds proves that the emotional content of a song comes at least as much from the music as from the lyrics.

Yeah, it gets a 3, but remember: A Ben Folds 3 is most people's 5.

Wandering and Kalamazoo? These are the works of genius needed to spark this baby. Kalamazoo is particularly eclectic and sad... or at least give us the original Give Judy my Notice

Adelaide is great stuff as is Rent a Cop and Bruised and Still, and B**ches is hilarious, but this compilation feels like and odds and sods. Still any Folds is good Folds. Full SuperD EP is highly recommended

I've noticed a lot of reviews compare the songs on SSSG-LP to the original versions released as internet only EP's. I haven't heard all the original versions but I have heard a few and their not all that radically different from those on this LP.

The quality and variety of the songs are high and varied, more like Rockin' The Suburbs than the more recent Songs for Silverman album. There's the energetic `In between days, Cooler than you, Rent a cop and Dog;' the ballads Learn to live with what you are, Bruised and Still; and the covers `Get your hands off my woman and the achingly honest version of bitches ain't s**t (one of the best covers - ever.) Peppered through out these songs is plenty of rude words aswell, something I sorely missed on the Silverman album.

There's no mistaking the feel of this appropriately labelled LP though because it definitely is not an album. The track listing seems alittle off, the songs don't lead into each other at all and has an overall feel of patchiness. It is a collection of songs and my only complaint is that as such, they could of fit another 4 or 5 tracks from the EP's on this disk.

Overall get this if you are a Folds fan and don't have the EP's, otherwise I wouldn't worry. 4 stars.

This is yet another great ben folds cd. All the songs are great. If you have liked other ben folds music, you must buy this on too!

For those (like me) who didn't buy Ben Folds' EPs, this is the catch-up disc. Solid throughout, but with more profanity than I would have liked. Folds' songwriting always shows great maturity. He doesn't need the R-rated material. For fans of Billy Joel and Elton John.

Ben Folds single-handedly proved that good music can be successfully released online with his series of internet-only EPs, but at the last minute decided to release his best tracks from the experiment as 'Supersunnyspeedgraphic.' Consequently, this truly is more of a compilation of tracks, more than a single, cohesive work. Folds' case isn't helped by the fact help that a whopping one-third of the tracks are covers, albeit very good ones. Connected it's not, but 'Supersunnyspeedgraphic' is still full of fantastic songwriting, unexpected covers, and mind-blowing piano playing.

Standout tracks: Bruised, Rent A Cop, There's Always Someone Cooler Than You

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.