Naked Baby Photos

This offering from the confusingly-named trio contains a handful of new songs, live versions of several songs from the group's last two albums and odds and ends like demo and 45 versions of other tunes. Whether you're already a fan or not, NAKED BABY PHOTOS provides a fine representation of the band's sound. Focused on singer-songwriter Folds's punchy, melodic pop, the trio's sound updates the tradition of '70s artists like Todd Rundgren with a punkier, more aggressive '90s style. As usual, the arrangements are dominated by Folds's hard-hitting piano work and Robert Sledge's muscular fuzz-bass riffs. Humor abounds here, especially on the rap parody "For Those Of Y'all Who Wear Fanny Packs", but the band's real strength lies in Folds's skilled pop songcraft.

Melody Maker (1/10/98, p.36)
- "Ben Folds Five is Nick Drake strutting with the Bee Gees while Ozzy beheads everyone else on the dancefloor. Blood spurts, tears fly....Ben Folds is the grenade and the pin, his music's the sound of an explosion in your heart."

Magnet (3-4/98, p.65)
- "...Consider this an instant history of a band on the verge of breaking big..."