Shelved First Attempt is, as the title might suggest, a version of Ben Folds Five’s eponymous debut album that eventually got scrapped in favour of the version we know and love today. This version, long speculated about by fans of the band, has finally been released for the 30th anniversary of the band’s debut (which, for a three-piece called “Ben Folds Five,” has hilariously been released 31 years after the album originally came out; the commitment to questionable mathematical skills is duly noted).
Ben Folds Five have always been one of my favourite bands, and as a mega-fan this release is a massively interesting, missing piece of their history. The story has always gone around that they recorded the “Shelved First Attempt” with producer Stiff Johnson, who tempered the band’s wild live sound in favour of less frenetic tempos & carefully considered arrangements. Upon reflection, the band decided the album wasn’t representative of their sound, and eventually re-recorded the album that we know & love in three days with producer Caleb Southern, with all of the fluctuating tempos & raw, live sounds accentuated to the max. To now have the original recordings in full makes for a fascinating listen.
Shelved First Attempt really does sound hugely different to what Ben Folds Five ended up becoming. The songs are, of course, still fantastic, and Robert Sledge’s fuzz-bass stylings come out somewhat unscathed, but you can hear a particular difference in Ben Folds’ vocals, which are strong but missing a certain madness that he captured on the finished version of the record, and particularly in Darren Jessee’s drumming; his usually lyrical, fill-heavy style seems to be hemmed in the most by the production of Stiff Johnson. Some songs feel great in this version, particularly some of the ballads like “Emaline” or “Boxing,” but there is a missing magic throughout this that the band thankfully captured on the real debut album.
Overall, this is a brilliant document to have for fans of Ben Folds Five and a fantastic reminder of how special these songs are. I would recommend listening to Ben Folds Five immediately after Shelved First Attempt to really feel the difference between the two versions and see just how special that first album really ended up becoming.