Considering the long and successful career of Ben Folds, it's about time that the piano pop lifer got his own anthology. A few months ago, we learned that he was planning a hefty compilation; now we have the details of that massive collection, which has been titled The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective and is due out October 11 via Legacy Recordings.
The career-spanning set includes both solo songs and material recorded with his beloved former band, Ben Folds Five. Much of it is previously unreleased. The band even reunited to lay down three new songs ("House," "Tell Me What I Did" and "Stumblin' Home Winter Blues") earlier this year.
The collection will be available as a single disc or three-CD set, and it will include liner notes and track-by-track observations from Folds himself. The first disc is a best-of collection, while disc two is live and disc three is devoted to rarities. Interestingly, the breakup classic "Song for the Dumped" is absent from the best-of CD (although there is a live version on disc two).
All of the tracks were remastered from the original tapes. Folds said, "This is the album I will submit for the next Voyager to be launched into space. It's my best shot at an honest assessment of where I was in each period of my career." See the tracklist below.
This isn't all that Ben Folds fans have to look forward to. When compiling this album, the songwriter ended up with 55 extra songs that didn't fit onto the set. Deemed too good to be put back into the vault, these tunes will be made available through an online "Ben Folds '55' Vault." Anyone who buys the compilation will receive a download code for a bonus five-song EP taken from these tracks, while the remaining 50 will be available for purchase on the website.
The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective:
CD 1: The Best Imitation of Myself:
1. "Brick (Radio Mix)" (with Ben Folds Five)
2. "Annie Waits"
3. "Philosophy" (with Ben Folds Five)
4. "Underground" (with Ben Folds Five)
5. "Landed" (Strings Version)
6. "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" (with Ben Folds Five)
7. "Don't Change Your Plans" (with Ben Folds Five)
8. "The Luckiest"
9. "Smoke" (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra)
10. "Rockin' the Suburbs"
11. "Kate" (with Ben Folds Five)
12. "Gracie"
13. "Still Fighting It" (Extended Version)
14. "You Don't Know Me" (with Regina Spektor)
15. "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You"
16. "Still"
17. "From Above" (with Nick Hornby)
18. "House" (with Ben Folds Five)
CD 2: Live (1997 - 2011):
1. "Julianne (with Ben Folds Five)
2. "Video (with Ben Folds Five)
3. "Song for the Dumped" (with Ben Folds Five)
4. "Missing the War" (with Ben Folds Five)
5. "Mess" (with Ben Folds Five)
6. "Magic" (with Ben Folds Five)
7. "Selfless, Cold and Composed"
8. "Zak and Sara"
9. "Girl"
10. "Just Pretend" (with the Bens)
11. "Fred Jones Part 2" (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra)
12. "Careless Whisper" (featuring Rufus Wainwright)
13. "All U Can Eat"
14. "Long Tall Texan"
15. "Army" (with Ben Folds Five)
16. "Battle of Who Could Care Less" (with Ben Folds Five)
17. "Kylie from Connecticut"
18. "Effington"
19. "Picture Window"
20. "Sentimental Guy"
21. "Not the Same"
CD 3: Rarities (1991 - 2011):
1. "Unrelated (Demo)"
2. "Best Imitation of Myself (Demo)"
3. "Rocky (Demo)"
4. "Boxing (Demo)"
5. "Julianne" (with Ben Folds Five)
6. "Evaporated" (with Ben Folds Five)
7. "Alice Childress"
8. "Barrytown" (with Ben Folds Five)
9. "Amelia Bright" (with Ben Folds Five)
10. "Tell Me What I Did" (with Ben Folds Five)
11. "Rock Star (Demo)"
12. "Losing Lisa (Demo)"
13. "Break Up at Food Court (Demo)"
14. "Wandering (Demo)"
15. "Hiro's Song (Demo)"
16. "The Secret Life of Morgan Davis (Alternate Mix)"
17. "Such Great Heights (Alternate Mix)"
18. "B*tches Ain't Sh*t"
19. "Time (Alternate Version)"
20. "Sleazy"
21. "Because the Origami" (with Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman, Damian Kulash)
22. "Stumblin' Home Winter Blues" (with Ben Folds Five)
The career-spanning set includes both solo songs and material recorded with his beloved former band, Ben Folds Five. Much of it is previously unreleased. The band even reunited to lay down three new songs ("House," "Tell Me What I Did" and "Stumblin' Home Winter Blues") earlier this year.
The collection will be available as a single disc or three-CD set, and it will include liner notes and track-by-track observations from Folds himself. The first disc is a best-of collection, while disc two is live and disc three is devoted to rarities. Interestingly, the breakup classic "Song for the Dumped" is absent from the best-of CD (although there is a live version on disc two).
All of the tracks were remastered from the original tapes. Folds said, "This is the album I will submit for the next Voyager to be launched into space. It's my best shot at an honest assessment of where I was in each period of my career." See the tracklist below.
This isn't all that Ben Folds fans have to look forward to. When compiling this album, the songwriter ended up with 55 extra songs that didn't fit onto the set. Deemed too good to be put back into the vault, these tunes will be made available through an online "Ben Folds '55' Vault." Anyone who buys the compilation will receive a download code for a bonus five-song EP taken from these tracks, while the remaining 50 will be available for purchase on the website.
The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective:
CD 1: The Best Imitation of Myself:
1. "Brick (Radio Mix)" (with Ben Folds Five)
2. "Annie Waits"
3. "Philosophy" (with Ben Folds Five)
4. "Underground" (with Ben Folds Five)
5. "Landed" (Strings Version)
6. "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" (with Ben Folds Five)
7. "Don't Change Your Plans" (with Ben Folds Five)
8. "The Luckiest"
9. "Smoke" (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra)
10. "Rockin' the Suburbs"
11. "Kate" (with Ben Folds Five)
12. "Gracie"
13. "Still Fighting It" (Extended Version)
14. "You Don't Know Me" (with Regina Spektor)
15. "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You"
16. "Still"
17. "From Above" (with Nick Hornby)
18. "House" (with Ben Folds Five)
CD 2: Live (1997 - 2011):
1. "Julianne (with Ben Folds Five)
2. "Video (with Ben Folds Five)
3. "Song for the Dumped" (with Ben Folds Five)
4. "Missing the War" (with Ben Folds Five)
5. "Mess" (with Ben Folds Five)
6. "Magic" (with Ben Folds Five)
7. "Selfless, Cold and Composed"
8. "Zak and Sara"
9. "Girl"
10. "Just Pretend" (with the Bens)
11. "Fred Jones Part 2" (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra)
12. "Careless Whisper" (featuring Rufus Wainwright)
13. "All U Can Eat"
14. "Long Tall Texan"
15. "Army" (with Ben Folds Five)
16. "Battle of Who Could Care Less" (with Ben Folds Five)
17. "Kylie from Connecticut"
18. "Effington"
19. "Picture Window"
20. "Sentimental Guy"
21. "Not the Same"
CD 3: Rarities (1991 - 2011):
1. "Unrelated (Demo)"
2. "Best Imitation of Myself (Demo)"
3. "Rocky (Demo)"
4. "Boxing (Demo)"
5. "Julianne" (with Ben Folds Five)
6. "Evaporated" (with Ben Folds Five)
7. "Alice Childress"
8. "Barrytown" (with Ben Folds Five)
9. "Amelia Bright" (with Ben Folds Five)
10. "Tell Me What I Did" (with Ben Folds Five)
11. "Rock Star (Demo)"
12. "Losing Lisa (Demo)"
13. "Break Up at Food Court (Demo)"
14. "Wandering (Demo)"
15. "Hiro's Song (Demo)"
16. "The Secret Life of Morgan Davis (Alternate Mix)"
17. "Such Great Heights (Alternate Mix)"
18. "B*tches Ain't Sh*t"
19. "Time (Alternate Version)"
20. "Sleazy"
21. "Because the Origami" (with Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman, Damian Kulash)
22. "Stumblin' Home Winter Blues" (with Ben Folds Five)
