supersunnyspeedgraphic - Ben Folds

Oh I could get in a bugbear about this. You're a loyal fan. You spend a lot of money buying "internet only" ep's (paying a fortune in postage from overseas to boot) and then a little further down the line you find out that most of these tracks are collected together on a single disc best of. But wait, don't go, because whilst you may have all of the tracks already you can get an autographed booklet and a free bonus DVD with "classic" video's on it.

Ok, so it can get annoying, but I am here to review the music I suppose, and that is what I will do.

Firstly, despite the blurb that these are all brand new recordings or remasters of the original's we already have, you'd be hard pressed to notice the difference most of the time.

Anyway, if you like Ben's crazy cover versions at his live gigs, you'll enjoy his take on The Darkness' Get Your Hands Off My Woman and Dr Dre's Bitches Ain't Shit (the latter of which works surprisingly well as a piano-driven ballad). His version of The Cure's In Between Days is also to be found on here and is the most straightforward reworking of the three; if you like the original you'll enjoy this too.

And as much as I might frown at the fact that I've got most of these tracks already, Ben has at least had the decency to throw in the best one's from his EP collection. I'm particularly fond of There's Always Someone Cooler Than You, All U Can Eat and Rent A Cop.

Throw in a slice of The Bens, and a soundtrack song from Over The Hedge and you have a collection that is good, if not a must-have (especially if you have any of the afforementioned EP's from which the tracks are taken).

Still if you weren't able to snap up the EP's at the time and you're a Ben Folds fan, well then you'll have nothing to complain about will you?