Whatever and Ever Amen

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Whatever and Ever Amen
Whatever and Ever Amen cover
Studio album by Ben Folds Five
Released March 18, 1997
Recorded September-October 1996, Chapel Hill, NC
Genre Alternative Rock, Piano rock
Length 49:20
Label 550
Producer(s) Ben Folds, Caleb Southern
Professional reviews
Ben Folds Five chronology
Ben Folds Five
(1995)		 Whatever and Ever Amen
(1997)		 Naked Baby Photos
(1998)


Alternate cover
Cover for remastered version (2005)
Cover for remastered version (2005)

Whatever and Ever Amen is the second album by Ben Folds Five, released in 1997. A remaster was made available on March 22, 2005, including improved sound quality, seven bonus songs and a large anti-piracy message on the back of the case. All of the extra tracks had been previously released (as b-sides, soundtrack contributions, etc.) except for "Video Killed the Radio Star," a Buggles cover song and live staple of Ben Folds Five. The secret track, previously 5m28s into Evaporated on the original Whatever and Ever Amen album, exists in the negative space of track 1 on the Digitally Remastered version.

The album, recorded in Folds' rented house in Chapel Hill, has several lo-fi occurrences. A phone ring can be heard at approximately 2:54 in "Steven's Last Night in Town"; Ben Folds has said the ring was a friend calling from Minnesota, but it came at such a perfect timing, the band decided to leave it in the song. Robert can be heard laughing slightly after it rings as well. Crickets can also be heard in the background of "Cigarette"..

Contents

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Original release

All songs written by Ben Folds except as indicated.

  1. "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces"
  2. "Fair"
  3. "Brick" (Ben Folds/Darren Jessee)
  4. "Song for the Dumped" (Ben Folds/Darren Jessee)
  5. "Selfless, Cold and Composed"
  6. "Kate" (Ben Folds/Darren Jessee/Anna Goodman)
  7. "Smoke" (Ben Folds/Anna Goodman)
  8. "Cigarette"
  9. "Stevens Last Night in Town"
  10. "Battle of Who Could Care Less"
  11. "Missing the War"
  12. "Evaporated"

[edit] Remastered version

  1. "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces"
  2. "Fair"
  3. "Brick"
  4. "Song for the Dumped"
  5. "Selfless, Cold and Composed"
  6. "Kate"
  7. "Smoke"
  8. "Cigarette"
  9. "Stevens Last Night in Town"
  10. "Battle of Who Could Care Less"
  11. "Missing the War"
  12. "Evaporated"
  13. "Video Killed the Radio Star"
  14. "For All the Pretty People"
  15. "Mitchell Lane"
  16. "(Theme From) Dr. Pyser"
  17. "Air"
  18. "She Don't Use Jelly"
  19. "Song for the Dumped (Japanese version)"

[edit] Personnel

[edit] The band

[edit] Additional musicians

[edit] Production

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1997 The Billboard 200 42

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1997 "Battle of Who Could Care Less" Modern Rock Tracks 22
1997 "Brick" Modern Rock Tracks 6
1998 "Brick" Adult Top 40 11
1998 "Brick" Top 40 Mainstream 17
1998 "Song for the Dumped" Modern Rock Tracks 23

[edit] Miscellanea

  1. The lyrics for "Cigarette" were inspired by a newspaper article about a man who sought a divorce from his wife after finding out she had a brain tumour, on the basis that she was not the same person he had married. The track was followed by the "sequel" track, "Fred Jones Part Two".
  2. On the final track ("Evaporated"), a voice shouts "Look, man, I got your hidden track right here, pal! Right here! Listen! Ben Folds is a fuckin' asshole!" some time after the actual song fades out. This is ostensibly a parody of "hidden tracks", which were somewhat common in the mid-1990's.

[edit] See also

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