The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
"'Reinhold Messner' is the name that me and my friends in high school used on fake IDs. We had this poster board of an Arizona driver's license when we were 17, and the name was Reinhold Messner, who was actually born in ' 62 or something absurd. We all had it. And so it would be a chain of five 17-year old guys going to bars at night with the same name. That's where the name comes from. Reinhold Messner is the patron saint of underage drinking."
-Darren
"It's pretty different. I think it's pretty broad. I think it's a real record, instead of making a pop record. I think it's a real attempt at making an honest record. I guess it's more of an English kind of record instead of an American record, in a way."
-Rob
(Ben Folds Five: Sad Clowns and Disgruntled Journalists - Ink 19 - August 1999)
This CD is considered "more mature" than the band's other CD's. It doesn't have as many happy, jumpy songs, but it is certainly a masterpeice. It is an album to listen to if you are feeling very calm; it doesn't seem to have as much energy as the other CD's. It was produced and recorded by Caleb Southern in Los Angeles, Hoboken, NJ, and New York City from November 1998 to January 1999. It was released on April 27th, 1999, at least in North America. There are a few guest musicians: Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, John Mark Painter, from Fleming and John, Jane Scarpantoni, Antoine Silverman, Mark Feldman, and Lorenza Ponce.