The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

Ben Folds Five

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 27, 1999)
• Original Release Date: April 27, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000IMYT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (249 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,313 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Simultaneously challenging and accessible, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner is a song cycle about death and dying, people, relationships, optimism, innocence--you name it. On his first two albums, Ben Folds was quick to toss off bombs of blame (most notably on the vitriolic "Song for the Dumped"), but here he aims most of his criticism at the mirror. On the wondrously snarky "Redneck Past" he sings, "My ex-wives all despise me / try to put it all behind me / but my redneck past is nipping at my heels." Apparently he doesn't have a chip on his piano any more. The production is lush and ornate, with strings and horns embellishing Folds's usual quota of to-die-for hooks (which he seems to dash off as effortlessly as postcards from the beach). An obvious point of reference is Pet Sounds, but Ben Folds Five widen their scope to also include hints of Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, and even Queen, whose influence is front and center on the bombastic opener "Narcolepsy," a virtual homage to "Bohemian Rhapsody." Other highlights include "Army," a hilariously detailed indie-rock answer to Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant." --David Menconi

Mojo

A significant development...underneath, it's still the BFF in all their ragged, all-boys-together glory, it's just that bit better.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest CDs ever. . ., September 21, 2003

By	E. Callaway (Grand Rapids, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is easily the finest album that Ben Folds Five ever made. Like many records considered "a Classic," there are few songs that stand alone as being extremely powerful, though as a whole it is a masterpiece. Not that this trio has ever been known for making happy music, but this record is downright somber at times. The tracks are interlaced with one another, with single phrases of one song, being the main subject of the next. Going from track to track there is a coherence seldom found in popular music.

While an amazing range of emotions are expressed throughout the album, regret is a central theme. Regretting choices that were made and regretting the choices that passed him by, the character that Ben creates is amazingly introspective. There is little of the sometimes childish finger-pointing that went on over the previous works of Ben Folds Five.

The second track, "Don't Change Your Plans," is an amazing self contradiction in that the song's main character is in love with a woman whom he credits with saving him, but he is unwilling to "move to L.A." to be with her. He says he must be "why my heart says I outta be, it often makes no sense in fact, I never understand these things I feel. . . I love you, goodbye."

"Mess" is probably the best song on the record. He goes over all the things that he did to ruin a past relationship and commits himself to do things differently in his new relationship. This is probably one of the most lyrically strong songs on the record. "There are rooms in this house, that I don't open any more . . . dusty books and pictures on the floor. . ."

"Magic" is striking in its arrangement that smacks slightly of Simon and Garfunkel. "Army" is funny, not in a laughter sense, but in a facetious way. "Your Redneck Past" is born straight from a phrase in "Army" about his "redneck past nipping at [his] heels." "Your Most Valuable Possession" is a spoken word song that is recorded as if were on his answering machine. It is absolutely wonderful, and the music behind the words is rather cool.

The last three songs pull the album to a close that gives the album a very complete feel. "Regrets" culminates a life that was full of missed opportunity as laziness. So many things left undone. "Jane" is a good song that talks to a girl who is in a position to make better choices than had been discussed over the rest of the album. "Lullaby" is a great end to the record. It is a bit campy, and not wonderful, but it makes for a great closing.

Reinhold Messner is peppered with rather impressive orchestral accompaniment that is not pretentious or over produced like much of today's pop music. This album stands as the best effort in the Ben Folds catalog and stands firm as a record that could be placed along side of records like Pink Floyds "Dark Side of the Moon" and "the Wall" as albums best listened to as a whole.

epc

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music for deep people, December 27, 1999

By	Nathaniel Goold (Derby, Kansas) - See all my reviews

This, musically and lyrically, is one of the best albums I have had the pleasure of listening to. This is the album that got me hooked on Ben Folds Five.

I think that after the success of "Whatever And Ever, Amen" and with all it's energy, the group decided that it was time to do what they've always wanted to do: create a lush, full, and orchestral album that would make it's listeners feel the raw power and emotion that is Ben Folds Five.

Unlike their last album, which was full of anger, bitterness, and sadness (and much more energy), the boys went a bit more underground and mellow. Despite all of that, they didn't lose their sense of humo(u)r (i.e. "Redneck Past," "Army').

Other gems on the album include Darren Jesse's masterpiece "Magic" and the meloncholy "Don't Change Your Plans."

I loved this album after the first listen and I continue to adore it. Unfortunately, the album hasn't been embraced very well by either the public or hardcore Ben Folds Five fans. It's unfortunate because this isn't just mindless rock. It's real music. These guys have brought back the art of storytelling in music and I hope that they continue to create music worth listening to.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A melancholy work of great creativity, October 10, 2001

By	Navin Prasad "designer" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the last work of Ben Folds Five before they broke up, and in my opinion their most mature and cohesive album. The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner is loosely a concept album, and is one of those discs that you may not like upon the first listen, but that will slowly grow on you until you love it, not because of increasing familiarity, but instead because of the increasing depth that is found from repeated listening.

And upon this first listen, one of your first complaints may be that this doesn't sound like Ben Folds Five. That is true. Where are the tight drum beats and distorted bass? I agree it's unfortunate that the other band members aren't "used" to the extent they were in earlier albums. This album really doesn't sound like older BFF stuff except for "Army," but that doesn't mean it's worse. Ben has expanded the sound by foregoing the usual piano timbre on several songs and instead using a Rhodes piano or a special tack-hammer piano which gives the notes a muffled, percussive sound. This works to awesome effect on "Hospital Song," which was originally several minutes longer and was cut down for some untold reason (I still long for the full version to this day!).

The band has fused even more eclectic styles together and made their music the most progressive it's ever been. The incredible outro of "Regrets," for example, can only have been inspired by the slow groove of Pink Floyd. I also enjoy the jazzy bits in this song and "Your Most Valuable Possession (which is also my least favorite track, though).

I really like the feeling of melancholy that pervades the album. Also of note is that bassist Darren Jessee wrote "Magic," a great song about the death of a loved one. Up until then Ben wrote practically everything. In the end, all these songs have surprising depth, and the listening experience is a satisfying one. If you want to be introduced to Ben Folds Five, I suggest you first try their superb "Whatever and Ever Amen," one of the best albums of the nineties.