Whatever and Ever Amen by Ben Folds Five

Whatever and Ever Amen, the second album from Ben Folds Five, came out on 550 Music on March 18, 1997, and it's a record that made a piano trio sound like the loudest, cheekiest band in the room. Ben Folds pounds and tickles the piano and sings lead, Robert Sledge's bass buzzes and growls, and Darren Jessee keeps the drums nimble, with all three piling on harmonies.

The songs swing from smart-aleck rave-ups to hushed confessionals and back. "Battle of Who Could Care Less" is a jaunty, shrugging singalong, and as the lead single it got plenty of play on alternative radio and MTV, reaching number 22 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 26 in Britain. "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" is a bratty, barrelhouse stomp, "Song for the Dumped" is a snarling, bitter stomp with the piano beaten half to death, and "Brick" slows everything down to a sad, spare ballad that became the band's biggest hit, a top-40 record in numerous countries.

It's piano pop with a punk heart and a sense of humor, and underneath the wisecracks there's real ache. A remastered edition in 2005 added extra tracks, including a cover of the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star", long a fixture of the band's live show. Next came Naked Baby Photos.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.