The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective
For *The Best Imitation of Myself*, Ben Folds compiled his sneering work with Ben Folds Five and his poppier solo output up to 2011. Of course, there’s the early (and stirring) “Brick,” which tells the story of a high school girlfriend having an abortion; the unstoppably rollicking jam “One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces”; and old-school rock ‘n’ roller “Kate.” “Landed” makes an appearance with a sweeping string section, and the vibrant “From Above” zooms along on sparkling piano riffs.
When Ben Folds emerged from the alt-rock scene of the mid-’90s, he stood out from the pack by writing some of the prettiest piano-pop melodies since the heydays of Joe Jackson and Billy Joel, and by penning lyrics that were sometimes ridiculously acerbic. Those two facts weren’t coincidental. It may have been because…
For a music geek growing up during the 1990s, Ben Folds Five could not have come along at a better time.