Album Review: Ben Folds/Nick Hornby “Lonely Avenue”

Album Review: Ben Folds/Nick Hornby “Lonely Avenue”
Album Review: Ben Folds/Nick Hornby “Lonely Avenue”

Album Review: Ben Folds/Nick Hornby “Lonely Avenue”

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Fans of Nick Hornby’s books and criticism or Ben Folds’ songwriting will be disappointed to hear that their new collaboration Lonely Avenue is not a “classic album.” Jim DeRogatis is not a fan of Folds, but admits he’s got serious chops. But the compositions are all over the place. And worse are Hornby’s lyrical contributions. He panders to the worse cliches, especially on tracks like “Levi Johnston’s Blues,” which, yes, is about that Levi Johnston. Greg Kot was “appalled” by this project, and got the sense that the sometimes condescending lyrics were just crowbarred in. Both Jim and Greg give it a Trash It.