BEN FOLDS CELEBRATES THREE DECADES OF BEN FOLDS FIVE
WITH SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY EDITION
CLASSIC DEBUT ALBUM FROM ICONIC ALT-ROCK TRIO NEWLY REMASTERED AND EXPANDED WITH PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT FEATURING EARLY, ALTERNATE VERSIONS AND RARE OUTTAKES
“UNDERGROUND (SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT)” PREMIERES TODAY – LISTEN
BEN FOLDS FIVE (30TH ANNIVERSARY) ARRIVES SEPTEMBER 4 VIA CAPITOL/UMe AT ALL DSPS AND ON 2CD AND 2LP VINYL
PRE-ORDERS/PRE-SAVES AVAILABLE NOW
Ben Folds is celebrating three decades in the spotlight with a very special anniversary edition of Ben Folds Five, the now-classic debut album from his iconic alt-rock trio. Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) – which, technically speaking, arrives 31 years after its original August 8, 1995 release – sees the groundbreaking original LP newly remastered and joined by the long-awaited, fan-requested un-vaulting of the band’s mythical shelved first attempt, only recently rediscovered on digital audio tape by Folds in his own personal archives and specially remastered for this release.
This first try of the album, produced by Dave “Stiff” Johnson, includes early, alternate versions of seven tracks from the album, a performance of the beloved song “Evaporated,” which would ultimately be re-recorded for the band’s 1997 sophomore album, Whatever And Ever Amen, plus three rare outtakes that didn’t make the eponymous debut (“Emaline,” “Dick Holster” and “Eddie Walker”). The Shelved First Attempt is being previewed with the fan favorite track “Underground (Shelved First Attempt),” premiering everywhere today.
Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) will be released September 4 via Capitol/UMe on 2CD and 2LP on 180-gram black vinyl, while the remaster of the original album as well as the Shelved First Attempt will both be available to stream and download. A limited amount of 1,000 copies of the vinyl signed by all three band members will be available exclusively at uDiscoverMusic.com
Pre-orders/pre-saves are available now: https://benfoldsfive.lnk.to/benfoldsfive30thPR
“Here’s my 59-year-old self’s take on the album we made when I was 28: Overall, it’s good!” writes Ben Folds in the anniversary edition’s liner notes. “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.” He continues, “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,” adding “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.”
About the Shelved First Attempt, Folds writes: “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.”
LISTEN TO “UNTITLED (SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT)”
PRE-ORDER/PRE-SAVE BEN FOLDS FIVE (30TH ANNIVERSARY)
The original lineup of Ben Folds Five – that is, Ben Folds (piano, vocals), Robert Sledge (bass), and Darren Jessee (drums) – will further commemorate the milestone anniversary of Ben Folds Five with a hugely anticipated series of live performances, their first run of shows together in more than 13 long years. Complete details will be announced soon.
Ben Folds Five was truly unprecedented upon its initial release, landing at a time when grunge and Britpop were both in full swing, rap was reigning supreme, and pop-punk was just beginning to permeate the airwaves. With its complete exclusion of guitars and unvarnished, power-pop-meets-the Great American Songbook musical approach, the album proved an incomparable breath of fresh air and, indeed, caused a sensation at college radio as well in the halls of a record industry eagerly on the lookout for the next big thing. Recorded in just four days with the late Caleb Southern producing, songs like “Jackson Cannery,” “Philosophy,” and “Underground” redefined the possibilities of alternative rock with dazzling showmanship, bold energy and Folds’ already masterful knack for melodic invention and fiercely clever songcraft. Much like the band’s exuberant live show, Ben Folds Five was boisterous, playful, and unlike anything else out there. Thirty years later – thirty-one, but as with the trio’s puckish moniker, who’s counting? – this inimitable band still sounds as novel and one-of-a-kind as it did upon its first arrival, making Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary) a milestone well worth the celebration.
BEN FOLDS FIVE (30TH ANNIVERSARY)
(Capitol/UMe)
Release Date: September 4, 2026
VINYL TRACKLIST:
LP 1 – BEN FOLDS FIVE (REMASTERED)
Side A
1. Jackson Cannery
2. Philosophy
3. Julianne
4. Where’s Summer B.?
5. Alice Childress
6. Underground
Side B
7. Sports & Wine
8. Uncle Walter
9. Best Imitation of Myself
10. Video
11. The Last Polka
12. Boxing
LP 2 – BEN FOLDS FIVE (SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT)
Side C
1. Underground
2. Julianne
3. Uncle Walter
4. Alice Childress
5. Evaporated
Side D
6. Dick Holster
7. Philosophy
8. Boxing
8. Emaline
10. The Last Polka
11. Eddie Walker
CD TRACKLIST:
DISC 1 – BEN FOLDS FIVE (REMASTERED)
1. Jackson Cannery
2. Philosophy
3. Julianne
4. Where’s Summer B.?
5. Alice Childress
6. Underground
7. Sports & Wine
8. Uncle Walter
9. Best Imitation of Myself
10. Video
11. The Last Polka
12. Boxing
DISC 2 – BEN FOLDS FIVE (SHELVED FIRST ATTEMPT)
1. Underground
2. Julianne
3. Uncle Walter
4. Alice Childress
5. Evaporated
6. Dick Holster
7. Philosophy
8. Boxing
9. Emaline
10. The Last Polka
11. Eddie Walker
# # #
ABOUT BEN FOLDS:
Widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of his generation, the Emmy Award-nominated singer-songwriter Ben Folds has created an enormous body of genre-bending music, including pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records.
A New York Times best-selling author, Folds continues working on new compositions for film, TV, and theater. Folds is currently touring as a solo artist, while also performing with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras. A wide range of live dates is scheduled throughout 2026. For complete details and ticket information, please see www.benfolds.com/tour.
In addition to his continually evolving artistic body of work, Folds is a longtime philanthropist and advocate for public funding of the arts in schools and communities as a member of Americans For The Arts and the Arts Action Fund.
