Personal Notes:

Whatever and ever Amen was the break through album for the band. The mega-hit "Brick" captivated many with its slow melodic flow and driving lyrics. It was followed up with the succesful "The Battle of Who Could Care Less" single. This 1997 LP brought many to a higher respect for Folds and the gang.
Craig Ferraro

Professional Thoughts:

"Boldly hacking his way through the muck-infested swamplands of post-Nirvana alternative rock, Ben Folds comes to save the day with an album of pure pop delights that provide a welcome alternative to "alternative." Despite the name, the Ben Folds Five is a trio consisting of Folds on piano and vocals, a bassist and a drummer. There are echoes of everything from vintage Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson to Hoboken-based popsters like the dB's and Freedy Johnston in the band's frothy compositions. And there are no guitars.
Bassist Robert Sledge is on a one-man mission to bring back the fuzz-bass, utilizing the '60s bass technique to fill out the sound of the trio, and sometimes sounding more like a guitarist or keyboardist. Folds is an accomplished pianist, and has no qualms about giving the instrument the rock and roll spotlight that it's often denied. Ignore the knee-jerk Elton John comparisons. Folds may be equally influenced by show tunes and the Beatles, but WHATEVER rocks more convincingly than a gaggle of guitar-worshipping grunge puppies."
CDnow.com

Ranked #27 in the Village Voice's 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
Village Voice 2/24/98

Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1997."
Q Magazine 1/98, p.112

3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...Folds has written another batch of sweet songs and supports each with disciplined, downright patient arrangements....This is about as close to bliss as the radio gets."
Rolling Stone 4/17/97, pp.78-80

9 (out of 10) - "...WHATEVER AND EVER AMEN, signals a welcome return to rock as physical comedy. Like his sad-clown elders--Elton, Randy Newman--Folds knows that intense sincerity and oafish glitz are hardly incompatible. In fact, that's something we used to call entertainment..."
Spin 5/97, p.110

"...Guitarless, cool, and compositionally overqualified, BFF have everything you'd want out of a rock band right now except a wah-wah pedal." - Rating: A
Entertainment Weekly 3/28/97, p.68