Five piano-driven rock songs that are incredibly underappreciated

The great thing about rock music is its umbrella can include many different subgenres. Rock is not a sound, but an attitude. Jazz is art. Country music is too limiting sonically and in terms of great musicianship, but rock has no limits.

This means an instrument like a piano can be as powerful, and rock as hard, as a guitar. It is all in the approach. And the artists that follow knew exactly how to approach each tune.

Plus, not all the tracks are straight-forward rockers. The first one is, but one takes liberties with the melody and one is more of a ballad. But make no mistake that without the piano, the songs would have failed.

Five piano-driven songs that rock

Ben Folds Five - "Song for the Dumped" (1997)

This song was released as the last single from the Ben Folds Five's second record. The track is the epitome of what the rest of the record sounds like: Punk-infused piano rock that is as angry as the song title implies. There are moments of tenderness on the record, such as the outstanding single, "Brick," but there might be few songs in the history of rock that scream punk with a piano more than "Song for the Dumped."

The lyrics are classic Folds (who, let's be honest, is really the band, especially as the "Five" included in the band's name was truly only three people with Folds being the main songwriter and creator of the songs) as they are at times funny, hurt, angry, and biting. The song lets you know where it is coming from right away with the opening stanza, "So you wanted/To take a break/Slow it down some and/Have some space/Well f**k you too."

If you have ever been hurt, felt wronged, or want to scream but aren't a fan of black metal, this is the track for you. Folds remains as funny and biting today, but his albums, which are not released very often, are more tempered in the aggressiveness of the music. This is old Ben Folds and possibly his best version. Classic.