The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner
by Ben Folds Five

From Brad1770 11/16/2018 07:28 | #224996 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

'The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner' has been a beloved piece of my CD collection since it came out in 1999 however it has been recently (2018) that I became aware of a theory that this particular album is a concept album with clear narrative

The theory IMHO is sound and goes something like this:

Track 1 ("Narcolepsy") to Track 5 ("Hospital Song") are presented from a character in the present day with the character ultimately dying in "Hospital Song" . Close scene 1 / Side A

Open Scene 2 / Side B:
The character now reflects back on his life , both good and bad on tracks suck as "Army" , "Redneck Past" , "Regrets" , "Jane" {Love} and a final good-bye "Lullabye"

Listen to the whole album with this in mind and it fits perfectly

Easily BFF's best work. Not as lighthearted as their previous works, but it is able to be serious without being completely depressing. "Army" and "Your Redneck Past" proves that they're still the same band, though. This album shows the group at their peak.

From junodog4 10/27/2013 21:33 | #89505 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Thoughtful and serious, but not quite as good.

From paladisiac 12/12/2011 14:50 | #32748 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

This album's a little more serious, or sullen if you may, than their first two. Take "don't change your plans" which finds Ben Folds in the autumn of love sitting on his suitcase with the end of the relationship in sight, closing the song "i love you, goodbye". i love the tragic beauty of "mess", with the line "But I don't believe in God / So I can't be saved / All alone as I've learned to be / In this mess I have made ". Ben's head is filled with utilizing his "most valuable possession" (his mind), "regrets" and general absentmindedness ("narcolepsy"). "army" is like a rockin' weird al song, starting "well, i thought a lot about the army. / dad said 'son, you're f*ckin' high'. / and i thought, yeah there's a first for everything / so i took my old man's advice." then "grew a moustache & a mullet, got a job at chic'fil'a. / citing artistic differences, the band broke up in May." with the piano of an old wild west saloon near the bridge. With that song and "your redneck past" you know he still brings some upbeat humor.