The Sound of the Life of the Mind

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Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide
Outside of a one-off new track that appeared on Ben Folds' 2011 Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective compilation, it's been an awfully long time since the Ben Folds Five have graced listeners with a full-on dose of their signature blend of winsome nostalgia and collegiate snark. Funded through the direct-to-fan/fan-funded music platform PledgeMusic, with a portion of the funds delegated to a music education and music therapy charity chosen by the trio, the ten-track The Sound of the Life of the Mind represents the Ben Folds Five's fourth studio album and first set of new music in 13 years.
All Music Guide - James Christopher Monger
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Editorial Reviews

All Music Guide
Outside of a one-off new track that appeared on Ben Folds' 2011 Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective compilation, it's been an awfully long time since the Ben Folds Five have graced listeners with a full-on dose of their signature blend of winsome nostalgia and collegiate snark. Funded through the direct-to-fan/fan-funded music platform PledgeMusic, with a portion of the funds delegated to a music education and music therapy charity chosen by the trio, the ten-track The Sound of the Life of the Mind represents the Ben Folds Five's fourth studio album and first set of new music in 13 years.
All Music Guide - James Christopher Monger
Outside of a decent yet forgettable, one-off new track that appeared on Ben Folds' 2011 Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective compilation, it's been an awfully long time since the Ben Folds Five have graced listeners with a full-on dose of their signature blend of nostalgia and snark. Sound of the Life of the Mind, the trio's fourth studio album pretty much picks right up where 1999's Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner left off. Anchored by the instantly familiar interplay between Robert Sledge's distorted bass, Folds' percussive yet always melodic piano, and Darren Jessee's meaty yet always lyrical drum work, the first two cuts -- the funereal, art-punk-infused "Erase Me" and the retro-pop gem "Michael Praytor, Five Years Later," the latter of which sounds like it was egregiously left off of Jellyfish's Spilt Milk -- sound like they arrived via wormhole. The band has always been at its best when allowed the freedom to run around and kick stuff, and those tracks, along with the frenzied "Do It Anyway" and the propulsive title cut, which was co-written with Lonely Avenue collaborator Nick Hornby, are right in the band's wheelhouse, but Folds' has made a name for himself as a proper AOR balladeer since the group's demise, and the Sound of the Life of the Mind reflects that change, allowing for a ballad-to-rocker ratio that slightly favors the former. Of those slower numbers, the lovely and unguarded "Away When You Were Here" packs the most punch, but it feels like something off of Songs for Silverman rather than Whatever and Ever Amen, and like the pretty yet forgettable "Sky High," it kills the momentum that was so skillfully applied before it. That said, sarcastic, sweet, subversive, geeky, and awkward are hard vibes to juggle, but Folds, Sledge, and Jessee manage more times than not to keep all of the pins in the air, which after more than a decade apart, is pretty remarkable.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 9/18/2012
  • Label: Sony Legacy
  • UPC: 887254641025
  • Catalog Number: 546410
  • Sales rank: 2,648

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Erase Me (5:15)
  2. 2 Michael Praytor, Five Years Later (4:32)
  3. 3 Sky High (4:42)
  4. 4 The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind (4:13)
  5. 5 On Being Frank - The Love Sponge Strings (4:33)
  6. 6 Draw A Crowd (4:14)
  7. 7 Do It Anyway (4:22)
  8. 8 Hold That Thought (4:14)
  9. 9 Away When You Were Here - The Love Sponge Strings (3:31)
  10. 10 Thank You For Breaking My Heart (4:50)
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Album Credits

Performance Credits
Ben Folds Five Primary Artist
Ben Folds Indexed Contributor, Piano
David Angell Violin
David Davidson Violin
Kristin Wilkinson Viola
Robert Sledge Bass
Darren Jessee Drums
Sari Reist Cello
Technical Credits
Paul Buckmaster String Arrangements
Stephen Marcussen Mastering
Ben Folds Composer, Producer, String Arrangements, Back Cover Photo
Joe Costa Engineer, Back Cover Photo
Joe Pisapia Producer
Darren Jessee Composer
Leslie Richter Engineer
Eric Joyner Paintings
Aunt Ro Executive Producer
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