Way to Normal
Studio album by
Ben Folds
ReleasedSeptember 17, 2008
RecordedBen Folds' Recording Studio,
Nashville, TN
GenreAlternative rock
LabelEpic
ProducerDennis Herring
Ben Folds chronology
Supersunnyspeedgraphic, the LP
(2006)		 Way to Normal
(2008)		 Stems and Seeds
(2009)
Alternative cover
Cover for the fake leak version of the album
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(62/100)[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AbsolutePunk56%[2]
Allmusic[3]
The Austin Chronicle[4]
The A.V. ClubC+[5]
Drowned in Sound(8/10)[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[7]
musicOMH[8]
Paste8.9/10[9]
The Phoenix[10]
Pitchfork Media2.7/10[11]
PopMatters[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
Spin(6/10)[14]
Uncut[1]

Way to Normal is the third studio album by Ben Folds. It was released in Japan on September 17, 2008, in Australia on September 27, in UK and Europe on September 29, and in the US on September 30.[15] The album is Folds' highest-charting solo album in the US, reaching #11 on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release.[16]

A music video for "You Don't Know Me" was directed by Eric Wareheim, featuring Wareheim himself and his comedy partner Tim Heidecker.

In 2009, Folds re-released the album in less compressed audio quality as Stems and Seeds, adding various bonus tracks and providing "stems" for fans to create their own remixes.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ben Folds

Way to Normal
No.TitleLength
1."Hiroshima (B-B-B-Benny Hit His Head)"3:38
2."Dr. Yang"2:30
3."The Frown Song"3:38
4."You Don't Know Me" (featuring Regina Spektor)3:12
5."Before Cologne"0:54
6."Cologne"5:03
7."Errant Dog"2:24
8."Free Coffee"3:08
9."Bitch Went Nuts" (length includes a 52-second pregap)3:58
10."Brainwascht"3:49
11."Effington"3:33
12."Kylie from Connecticut"4:43
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Way to Normal"4:10
2."Free Coffee Town"2:42
3."Frowne Song (Feeble Anthem)"3:50
4."Cologne" (piano orchestra version)6:08

Personnel

  • Ben Folds - piano, Moog synthesizer, Wurlitzer, mellotron, vocals
  • Jared Reynolds - electric bass guitar, backing vocals (holding coffee cup on album cover)
  • Sam Smith - drums, backing vocals (holding umbrella on album cover)
  • Dennis Herring - drums on "You Don't Know Me"
  • Regina Spektor - vocals on "You Don't Know Me"

Production notes

The album is named after Normal, Illinois, as referenced in the track "Effington". "Effington" refers to Effingham, Illinois.[17]

The song "Hiroshima" is about a time when Folds fell off the stage during a concert in Hiroshima, Japan. The subtitle "B B B Benny Hit His Head" is a reference to the Elton John song "Bennie and the Jets". John says "B B B Bennie" during the main chorus, which Hiroshima's subtitle mimics. Both songs have a fake audience in the background, as well as having a similar melody with different timing.

The metallic percussive effect on "Free Coffee" was achieved by placing Altoids tins on top of the piano strings and feeding the audio output through a distortion pedal; Folds demonstrated this in live performances of the song.[18] (See prepared piano)

"Dr. Yang" was used in the trailer for the 2011 film, Mars Needs Moms.

"Before Cologne" was used for the introduction of the iPhone 4S and in a commercial for the Honda Accord in 2015.

Fake leak

On July 16, 2008, an anonymous user posted what they claimed was a "leak" of Folds's latest album on two fan sites. The file contained nine tracks along with a PDF of supposed cover art, and was a mix of what appeared to be legitimate songs from Way to Normal and bizarre pastiches of foul-mouthed humour and melodramatic pop. Accordingly, the online forums became full of debate as to which were real and which were fake until August 12, 2008, when Folds admitted on Triple J radio that many songs in the leak were fake. He claimed that he and the band recorded fake versions of songs from the new album when they "had a night to kill in Dublin", and had a friend leak it to the public "to give them something to listen to".[19]

After confirming that the leaked "Brainwashed", "The Frown Song" and "Free Coffee Town" were fake, he said that they would be used as B-sides and bonus tracks on future releases. A few days later, in a Rolling Stone article, Folds discussed the differences between the real album cuts and the fake leak cuts.[20] All nine tracks were released on the 2009 compilation album, Stems and Seeds. The "long way to go" coda of the "fake" track "Way to Normal" was later adapted into "Long Way to Go", a song on Folds' 2015 album, So There.[21]

Leak track listing

All tracks are written by Ben Folds

Way to Normal (fake leak)
No.TitleLength
1."Brainwashed"3:36
2."Way to Normal"4:10
3."Lovesick Diagnostician (Dr. Yang)"2:53
4."Free Coffee Town"2:42
5."Bitch Went Nutz"3:53
6."Frowne Song (Feeble Anthem)"3:50
7."Cologne" (piano orchestra version)6:07
8."Hiroshima†"3:38
9."You Don't Know Me†" (featuring Regina Spektor)3:10
  • † - Real version of song featured on main album[20]
  • "Cologne" (piano orchestra version) is a bonus track on the iTunes version of the album. "Bitch Went Nutz" was available to those who pre-ordered the album.

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
2008 US Albums Chart 11[16]
2008 UK Albums Chart 70

References

  1. 1 2 "Critic Reviews for Way To Normal". Metacritic. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ adrianhughes (November 22, 2008). "Ben Folds - Way to Normal - Album Review". AbsolutePunk. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  3. ↑ Way to Normal at AllMusic
  4. ↑ Caligiuri, Jim (October 24, 2008). "Ben Folds: Way to Normal (Epic)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  5. ↑ Phipps, Kevin (September 29, 2008). "Ben Folds: Way To Normal". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  6. ↑ Beanland, Chris (September 26, 2008). "Ben Folds - Way To Normal / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  7. ↑ Spier, Ben (October 3, 2008). "Way to Normal Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  8. ↑ Murphy, John (September 29, 2008). "Ben Folds - Way To Normal". musicOMH. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  9. ↑ Borzyczkowski, Ralph (September 29, 2008). "Ben Folds: Way To Normal". Paste. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  10. ↑ Lundy, Zeth (September 23, 2008). "Ben Folds: Way To Normal". The Phoenix. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  11. ↑ Currin, Grayson (October 28, 2008). "Ben Folds: Way to Normal". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  12. ↑ Schiller, Mike (September 30, 2008). "Ben Folds: Way to Normal". PopMatters. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  13. ↑ Rosen, Jody (October 2, 2008). "Ben Folds: Way To Normal". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  14. ↑ Zimmerman, Shannon (September 30, 2008). "Ben Folds, 'Way to Normal' (Epic)". Spin. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  15. ↑ "'Way To Normal' UK Release Date: 29th September". The Suburbs. August 1, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
    - "Bigger than Elvis: Ben Folds". Archived from the original on May 14, 2008.
    - "Muziek". Myspace. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  16. 1 2 "T.I. Debuts Big Atop Billboard 200, Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  17. ↑ Amter, Charlie (October 21, 2008). "Small town Mayor to Ben Folds: We will bury you". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 15, 2009.
  18. ↑ Ackerman, Jack (February 12, 2009). "Nassoons join Ben Folds onstage at McCarter - The Daily Princetonian". Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Ben Folds Interview". Triple J. August 12, 2008. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2008. Alternative URL
  20. 1 2 Downs, David (August 13, 2008). "Why I Leaked It: Ben Folds Comes Clean About His Fake (And Real) New Album, "Way To Normal"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
  21. ↑ "Song of the Day #3,375: 'Long Way To Go' – Ben Folds". Meet Me In Montauk. 30 September 2017. Retrieved July 16, 2018.


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