Former Ben Folds Five frontman Ben Folds spent the better part of early 2002 touring the United States solo, accompanied only by a tech crew and his family performing selections from his catalog of songs that span a over decade in the music industry. These shows were recorded, and culled from them is Ben Folds Live, a career retrospective that's as fresh on the piano now as it was when we first heard these songs blasting from the Chapel Hill, North Carolina trio's debut album back in 1995.

Many fans balked at the over produced sound of Fold's 2001 solo debut Rockin' the Suburbs had, longing for the days of houses utilized as recording studios and low budget production values. Those fans will have nothing to worry about when picking up Ben Folds Live, the entire record was recorded on a single 8 track.

The first thing you'll notice when picking up the album is the clever take on Fold's old band's logo. The 'F' in Five is flipped upside down, making a quasi-L. If you look closer, you can make out the audience flipping Ben off. This is the sort of tongue in cheek humor Folds fans have come to love.

The first pressing of the album also comes with a DVD with 35 minutes of additional music. Most of the tracks on the DVD are also on the record, but a few fan favorites were added in for extra value. "Eddie Walker," "The Ascent of Stan" and "Song for the Dumped (in D Minor)" make for a thought provoking and side splitting adventure through the Ben Folds Live concert experience.

The record itself consists of 17 songs, which spans radio hits like "Brick," "Army" and previously unreleased material like "Silver Street" (originally only available on bootleg copies of the Ben Folds Five demo tapes from 1994) and Fold's cover of the Elton John classic "Tiny Dancer." The album really shines when Ben is allowed to play with his own songs, for the first time performed as he originally wrote them: on the piano. Songs like "Narcolepsy," "Fred Jones Part 2 (featuring Cake frontman John McCrea reprising his supporting role from the album)," "Best Imitation of Myself" and "The Last Polka" sine in this bare bones format.

Ben Folds Live is a must have for fans of Ben Folds, with or without the Five, but it also serves as a wonderful introduction to pop music's craftiest songwriter, and the best piano man this side Jerry Lee Louis.