Ben Folds Five
by Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five by Ben Folds Five
Year: 1995
Release date: 1995-08-08
Overall rank: 2,263rd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 140 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1995 (44th)
Award Top albums of the 1990s (394th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,263rd)

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Ben Folds Five
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Playlist: The Very Best of Ben Folds Five CD EX-LIBRARY
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Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five Live (2013) : 2 LP VINYL RECORD - SEALED : MINT
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Ben Folds Five bestography

Ben Folds Five is ranked 2nd best out of 7 albums by Ben Folds Five on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Ben Folds Five is Whatever And Ever Amen which is ranked number 1397 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,214.

Ben Folds Five album bestography « Higher ranked (1,397th)
Whatever And Ever Amen
This album (2,263rd)
Ben Folds Five
Lower ranked (5,054th) »
The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Ben Folds Five rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,263rd | 1990s rank: 394th | 1995 rank: 44th

Ben Folds Five collection

Ben Folds Five ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 140 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 140 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 
02/21/2026 20:57 Devilwoac  Ratings distribution  1,10497/100
 
85/100
 
12/08/2025 03:09 Kingturtle  Ratings distribution  7,57973/100
 
75/100
 
09/16/2025 10:41 eclab  Ratings distribution  1,55784/100
 
70/100
 
07/02/2025 14:05 habibi333  Ratings distribution  95073/100
 
70/100
 
06/17/2025 20:17 idiotican  Ratings distribution  2,80374/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.9/100, a mean average of 76.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.1.

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Ben Folds Five favourites

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Ben Folds Five comments

Showing all 5 comments |
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Rating:  
75/100
From 10/27/2013 21:34 | #89507
Not quite their peak, but still solid.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 01/06/2013 01:30 | #60287
My personal favorite album Ben Folds has done. It best showcases his piano playing skills and displays just the right amount of sarcastic wit and emotional depth. The Last Polka is especially fantastic.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/13/2011 17:24 | #32827
"jackson cannery" is good, but the ben folds five debut album doesn't truly kick in until "philosophy" ("go ahead, you can laugh all you want, but i've got my philosophy"), a sort-of- parody of all the alternative artists taking themselves and their "angst" so serious. They only bring piamo (ben folds), bass & drums, but it doesn't sound like these sounds are lacking at all. "underground" rocks (which starts out "I was never cool in school / I'm sure you don't remember me / and now it's been ten years / I'm still wondering who to be / and I love to mix in circles, / cliques and social coteries, that's me" and ben sings "And we'll be decked / in all black / slamming the pit fantastic / Officer Friendly's little boy's / got a mohawk / and he knows just where we're coming from" even adding in a cowbell, aka cattle call). Ben Folds was the best, most playful piano player since the billy joel & elton john 80s hey day. (tori's good too, but her piano work is more elegant and brooding.) Ben Folds had a way of accessing sentimentality and longing without being sappy, injecting quirkiness in the lyrics and varying the piano arrangements, which shows on numbers like "alice childress", "best imitation of myself" ("i feel like a quote out of context") and "boxing" ("Ambition has given way to / desperation and I / lost the fight for my eyes").
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 12/01/2010 22:49 | #16735
CONTEXT: Ben Folds Five's debut stood out in the alternative rock scene because it lacked guitars and included wry, humorous lyrics. A breath of fresh air. MUSIC: Ben Folds loves to show off his piano skills, and for the most part, it serves his songs well. The hooks are punctuated by lively drums and aggressive, fuzzed-out bass. LYRICS: Many songs are character studies that also touch on common themes of failure and redemption. HIGHLIGHTS: Philosophy, The Best Imitation of Myself
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 06/03/2008 22:33 | #712
Between this and Whatever and Ever Amen, this is the better album. I'm surprised I had to add it to the database.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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