I can't let the year go by without throwing out a few lines of opinion on Ben Folds Five's latest album, The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. Strangely enough, I almost let this review go -- I got the album too far after its release date, and was having too much fun listening to it as a fan to want to sit down and criticize it.

Looking back at my recent music reviews, though, many of which mourn the loss of poetry, inspiration, oomph in modern pop music, I decided to put my money where my text is. I decided to write about something I actually do like, something that not only occupies a snug and warm place in my CD player, but that makes me sing along, read the lyric sheet, listen for certain drum fills and bass figures. Ben Folds Five, that most unpredictable of bands, has made the album I'd predicted it could make (but probably wouldn't): a hard rock masterpiece (okay, "masterpiece" is a journalistic crutch these days, but find me a better word and I'll give you a cookie) with no guitars, and one that draws from a stupendous range of pre-rock and non-rock sources.

"Reinhold Messner" starts with "Narcolepsy," which right away offers up musical references to Queen, Wings and Todd Rundgren, and by the time the drums come raging in at the chorus, it's obvious the band is so much more than a '70s tribute act. The sound revolves around pianist Ben Folds' enthusiastic tenths, and it's a stunning, expansive, clean sound that, when played fast, is dripping with Jerry Lee Lewis damage, and when in slow, shuffle mode, bows to Randy Newman. "Don't Change Your Plans" is a step towards seriousness from a band that sings of nose rings, mosh pits, and of girls who look like Axl Rose. Even though I appreciate Folds' ability to take a piss at himself in spite of his great talent, I'm always a little saddened that he has to do it on record ("Messner"'s "Army" is the weakest track, and the lyrics are a pastiche of Gen-X buzzwords like "screenplay," "band," "artistic differences," and "get it done yesterday.") "Don't Change Your Plans" is a straightforward love song, a yearning for independence and a sense of place ("the leaves are falling back east/that's where I want to stay.")

Even their goofiness is getting better, surprisingly. On their last album, "Whatever and Ever Amen," the clever-guy shtick was nearly relentless, with lyrics like "give me my money back, you bitch/and don't forget to give me back my black t-shirt" (from "Song For The Dumped") casting a nasty vibe over an album with some otherwise pretty tunes. On "Messner," Ben Folds Five starts off with a side of serious ballads (including the loud/soft/loud power-ballad "Narcolepsy") and earns its listeners' trust before bringing out the jokes. "Your Redneck Past" asks, "Who do you wanna be/Billy Idol or Kool Moe Dee?" over a staccato piano/bass/drums machine-gun beat, and adds, "Roots/the funny limbs that grow underground/they keep you from falling down/don't ya think that ya need 'em now?"

The most startling thing about "Reinhold Messner" is the Pink Floyd homage at the end of "Regrets" (an uptempo jazz-rock piece with a multi-octave bass line leading the way.) What's startling? Well, you try to write a song (or a piece of a song) that can be played as a sort of blindfold-test, as it were, along with "Dark Side of the Moon" -- and write it without any guitars. Add strings, fuzz bass, wide-open harmonies, etc. It's hilarious, and fuckin' impressive, too. Hats off to producer Caleb Southern.

"Lullaby" ends the album in a major key, and it's the stuff of moonlight and dreams and . . . James Earl Jones (every dream has at least one piece that can't be interpreted, mind you.) It's a nice nightcap, one that goes down so easy it doesn't even register at first, although it's quickly becoming one of my favorite tracks on "Reinhold Messner."

I thank the members of Ben Folds Five for getting their shit together and giving us the rock classic I knew they could deliver.