10 Must-Have Albums

2. Lonely Avenue - Ben Folds

There are very, very, very few musicians that can match the level of musical ingenuity of Ben Folds. Mr. Folds has albums upon albums of beauty - not in the classical sense of musical beauty, though. When with his band Ben Folds Five, he was known for being a goofball. He went solo and, well... he's still a goofball. For Lonely Avenue, Folds teamed up with author Nick Hornby (High Fidelity), who wrote the lyrics for all the songs. Hornby would email his words to Folds, who would add music and turn them into a song. Why did the two work together? Apparently Hornby was listening to Ben Folds Five's debut album in 1995 while he wrote High Fidelity, and - coincidentally - Ben Folds was reading High Fidelity while writing several songs later on in his career. This fate drew the two together, and Folds - yet again - released an absolutely flawless record, putting his unique flair to Hornby's mind-boggling words. The album is a success in every way imaginable. It's something that goes beyond explanation. You just need to listen to it. Here's 'Claire's Ninth' from Ben Folds's (and Nick Hornby's) album, Lonely Avenue: http://youtu.be/Incb78QEsKo