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misinfo: hall of shame |
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benfolds.info |
Hall of Shame
I wanted to call this section something else, but it was not very nice. This is just a place to point out particularly grave offenses or random prose that drives me up the wall.
Greta Globosky's review of Rockin' the Suburbs first caught my attention due to her complaint about Ben "ranting and raving about his economic status." What? I was further enraged by her somewhat idiotic manner of describing why she doesn't like the album:
The light music is just not my scene. It bores me when I listen to music and feel like I should be standing in an elevator. Most of the songs from the album are pretty slow and similar. That's why I liked the song, "Rockin' the Suburbs." It's really upbeat, catchy and happy. I like that.
So, if you're going through a rough or depressing stage in your life, or just feel like crying along with some music, go out and buy "Rockin' the Suburbs." But if you're as happy-go-lucky as I am, I suggest you go out and just buy the single.
– Pittsburgh Post-GazetteUPDATE >> I almost feel bad for picking on Leslie Hoffman, the arts and entertainment editor for The Pitt News (University of Pittsburgh). The key word in that sentence is "almost." Ms. Hoffman genuinely seems to enjoy Ben's music and always gives a positive review, but her attention to detail is somewhat lacking. Make that non-existent.
Here's a little Leslie List:
- Refers to "Uncle Walter" as "Uncle Alfred"
- Refers to "Whatever and Ever Amen" as "Forever and Ever Amen"
- Refers to "Still Fighting It" as "Still Losing It"
- Misspells Darren Jessee's last name
- Twice mentions that Ben played in Pittsburgh in early October (2001), but he actually played there on September 9th.
Yes, I pick on Leslie Hoffman. And I'm a nice person, so I feel a little bad... but there are a couple of reasons I do it anyway. It all started with Uncle Alfred... that might be the funniest thing I have ever seen. The fact that the mistakes keep on coming is even funnier. One might think I am being nit-picky (which I am, for the purposes of the website), but this kind of stuff does matter. Sure, many people won't catch or even care about these mistakes. However, after so many glaring mistakes (in more than one article) on a topic with which I am familiar, how can I trust anything that author has to say about a topic that is foreign to me? The answer is, I can't. That said, the unintentional comedy factor makes Leslie's articles worth reading every time. << UPDATE
Random "The Alternative Lifestyle Magazine" (UK) manages to annoy me with the writer's opinion, lack of knowledge of the subject, and bad grammar... all this in about seventy-five words:
The only track that really registers the first couple of times through is title track (and oddly first single) Rockin’ the Suburb’s. It deals with the disenfranchisement that Ben Folds believes Nu-metal kids feels, even going as far as to feature an amazing impersonation of Zak De La Rocha. On the whole, though, this album is hugely indifferent. The piano playing is merely nice and the backing band lacks any kind of stand out qualities.
– Random MagazineAn all new low. However, using even less words, NOW Toronto grates on me nearly as much.
The January 18, 2001 entry at "I Hate Music" can't be classified as misinformation, since everything expressed is a matter of opinion. That said, any fan who reads this will agree it belongs in the Hall of Shame. For example:
A group so terrible, so screamingly bad, so unutterably unconscionably murderously smugly awful that it alone makes a stinking mockery of the very notion of human progress and the concept of 'good'. A group so godawfully useless that I had blocked their very existence from my memory and it has taken several sharp corrective blows with a steel mallet to restore the details. I am of course talking about Ben Folds Five.
– I Hate Music (click for entire entry)Other articles and reviews irritate me merely for their choice of words. Along with the entire text of Entertainment Weekly's review of Rockin' the Suburbs, these make my stomach turn:
Outfitted in the slacker-meet-dot-commer's casual Friday uniform, the piano man of pop...
- The Globe and MailGet down with your bad self, Benjy.
- Winnepeg SunProzac Nation has found its John Philip Sousa.
- PeopleSometimes he used his feet to stomp the piano for tunes like “Song for the Dumped,” and “Army.” But at other times, he singled out one piano and made love to the microphone.
- Leslie Hoffman, Pitt NewsGee, Leslie, thanks for the mental image. (Hello again, by the way.)
If you liked that, you better thank Chris Blohm in advance:
Watch out, heathens, here comes some IRONY to suck the shit from your honky white trash ass!
- Chris Blohm, Rock CityI don't think I can express my thoughts on this any better than Greyseal outlined hers: "Ok, first. EWWWW. Second, Blohm, you're a moron. Third. EWWW."
I try my best not to point out grammatical flaws (considering my own are probably littered throughout this page), but this one got to me:
Ben Folds Five was the black sheep of the '90s "120 Minutes" crowd. One could argue that what made them stand out was the group's brazen attempts to create the perfect piano-pop song. Or maybe it was the fact that they looked likes dorks.
- MoreTV32.comOh yeah? Well, you... you... you look likes a dork, too!
benfolds.info
