Ben Folds and his band the Ben Folds Five are celebrating 30 years of music with a very special anniversary release of his debut album “Ben Folds Five”.

The anniversary release features a remastered edition of the original album and the band’s mythical shelved first attempt, recently rediscovered on digital audio tape in Folds’ personal archives.

The release is available on 2CD’s and a double vinyl LP.  There is also a digital download edition of the album.

A total of 1,000 vinyl albums that have been signed by the band members – Ben Folds, Robert Sledge,  and Darren Jessee – is available exclusively at uDiscoverMusic.com.

The 30th Anniversary release is available at Ben Folds Five – “30th Anniversary”

In the liner notes, Ben Folds notes, “here’s my 59-year-old self’s take on the album we made when I was 28: Overall, it’s good!  It’s NOT the kind of record you’d hear produced these days. It’s pretty rough and tumble, mostly in a good way. And it’s emphatically unique. It’s from an era when you could still identify a band by the instrumentalists, before you’d even hear the vocalist. I don’t think that’s been a thing since computers allowed us to get things just right.  This first Ben Folds Five record doesn’t even TRY to do the things most might aspire to, with or without the technology, and that’s one of the first things I hear while listening. Many indie rockers of the 90s claimed to be raw and not care. We actually lived that, though it’s just not obvious because it’s based around piano and complex songs, which was an odd combo for better or worse – wow. I’m hearing a record that really just puts it out there, and I’m glad we did all of that. It also probably stunted the potential for the record in terms of commercial appeal. Who knows? But I’m all for it, at least for this first album… The “and all” that, along with the warts, means it’s a real snapshot of a time period. That’s rare, so I give this album a thumbs up, and now I’ll go back to not listening to my own music.”

Speaking on the “Shelved First Attempt”, Folds adds, “the budget from Caroline Records, as I recall, was about $14k, all-in. We spent all of that in a proper three-week session in Philadelphia with a proper producer who had a few hits under his belt and who gave us a great deal. This version of the album was shelved and never saw the light of day. We had taken the time we needed and the advice of the very competent producer, but it resulted in an album that didn’t feel like us. I only recently happened to have found a cassette of this shelved album. It’s not bad, though I recall it being hideous… It’s just not crazy like the album we all know.”

An anniversary tour is also in the works…details will be announced at a later date.

Track listing for the Ben Folds Anniversary album:
”Jackson Cannery”
“Philosophy”
“Julianne”
“Where’s Summer B.?”
“Alice Childress”
“Underground”
“Sports & Wine”
“Uncle Walter”
“Best Imitation of Myself”
“Video”
“The Last Polka”
“Boxing”

“SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT”
“Underground”
“Julianne”
“Uncle Walter”
“Alice Childress”
“Evaporated”
“Dick Holster”
“Philosophy”
“Boxing”
“Emaline”
“The Last Polka”
“Eddie Walker”