I have a terrible confession to make. Until recently, I had barely ever listened to They Might Be Giants' albums in their entirety. Don't get me wrong, I listened to their music almost constantly, just not in the form of the individual albums. When I first got into the band, I borrowed all my boyfriend's albums one at a time in sequence, and listened to each one twice, almost ritualistically, in my car. Then I bought myself the Dial-A-Song collection and listened to nothing but that for several months. At some point after that I took my boyfriend's entire TMBG collection, uploaded it onto my computer and proceeded to make a series of mix CDs from them. The first was a two disc set of all my favorites that weren't on Dial-A-Song. The second was another two disc set of all the sort of next rung of songs that hadn't made the cut on the first set. And finally there was a three disc set of everything else I figured I'd care to listen to regularly.
I did gradually acquire a few albums of my own. My original intention was to get things my boyfriend didn't have on their own. I bought Misc T and Lincoln because he only had them on the Then collection. I bought the ABCs CD/DVD combo because he only had the individual discs without the bonus videos (at the time I was working on credits for the wiki and needed the bonus tracks in order to do their credits). I got the User's Guide solely to see the liner notes. I got Flood because a co-worker wanted to hear some of their music and I didn't have any with me. And for one reason or another, I bought Here Comes Science over and over and over again. Oh, and I got Factory Showroom for Christmas last year.
But just recently I have gone through a rash of album acquisition and have FINALLY started listening to the music in the order it was intended to be heard. Let me tell you, it was an eye opening experience (or rather ear opening) to realize the other day that I haven't heard the album version of She's Actual Size since my initial run through the albums two and a half years ago. I still don't have all of the records. I am missing No!, 123s, Severe Tire Damage and the Pink Album (gasp, I know). I've been rescuing poor abandoned used copies of the albums as I find them and haven't come across those yet. But I do finally feel like I am plugging up a gap in my fandom street cred that has been shaming me for years.
Of course this shameful admission is just the introduction to me talking about favorite albums for Audience Participation. I figured I'd use a nice traditional topic to get back into the swing of things on the participation entries since I have been so lax in doing them while I was writing beaucoup recaps.
So here follow my top five favorite They Might Be Giants albums.
5. Flood - How can you not love Flood? It's just a fantastic album. I've heard all the crap about how you're not a real fan if Flood is your favorite album but honestly, I think that's bullshit. Just because it is the most well known, doesn't make it any less brilliant an album. And it is a brilliant album. So many good songs. And I have a special fondness for it due to the number of times I've seen it performed live. Forward, backward, with pledge breaks, with puppet breaks, and hilariously mixed up the album if practically perfect anyway you arrange it.
4. Factory Showroom - For a long time, I thought this was my favorite album. In fact, I think my badly-in-need-of-updating wiki user page still says that it is. But I think that was because I hadn't listened to all of the albums enough. I love the album. It's just not my most favorite. I think I am more attached to individual songs on the album than the album as a whole. I believe I picked it originally because it had the greatest concentration of songs that I loved on it. And because it seemed like an underdog album that a lot of people didn't like as much. I am a sucker for underdogs.
3. TIE - Here Comes Science and Here Come the 123s - I know. I'm cheating. But I just can't chose between them. They are both wonderful. I will defend the awesomeness of the children's music to the death if I have to. There is a very good chance I would not have become a TMBG fan were it not for 123s. And I feel like HCS is the first album I saw to fruition as a fan. I think the albums would have made it onto this list for Seven, Nine Bowls of Soup, Meet the Elements and Paleontologist alone. Damn, those are some good tunes.
2. John Henry - Until I was about halfway through writing this post, this was going at the top of the list. But I was thinking about it and thinking about it and suddenly realized that just wasn't right. I love the bombasticness of John Henry and the sometimes jarring changes in tone between the songs. I love the full band sound and the horns and the way the album flows from Subliminal to End of the Tour. I love the shear quantity of fantastic songs on it. I love that it has so many songs on it, I regularly forget what's on the back half of the record. So guys? When are we getting our John Henry show?
1. The Else - I did not like this album the first few times I heard it. I actually liked the bonus disc better than the album. I came into the fandom with this album and I feel like we've matured together. Now I love it whole heartedly. It is more cohesive than any previous TMBG album, darker, grittier. I feel like this, even more than The Spine, is my band with my guys. And unlike any other album, there is not a single song on it that I don't care for. I love every single one. I put this in the stereo, crank up the volume and I am instantly in a better place. I am curious to see if the new album feels as much like my album as this one does. Who knows? Maybe I'll have to revise this list next year to include it ;-)
Before I sign off, I'd like to take the opportunity to wish a very Happy Birthday to my beloved boyfriend. You're older than you've ever been but getting better every day :-) Thank you for being you and for not giving up in trying to convince me that I really would like this band. I'll post a picture of the cake I made him after he sees it. I think you guys will enjoy it.
Participation commence!
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Is it bad that I feel like I can't do a top five? No particular order, but here are a few...
ReplyDeleteI don't care what anyone says, I really do love Mink Car. And I used to hate Mink Car. Mink Car seems... everything seems to come together. The album art looks the way the album sounds: clear and clean-cut, and just... new? The songs have the uniqueness of the usual TMBG album, but it sounds a lot more mature. It's the dawn of a new era of TMBG, I think.
And then John Henry. I also didn't care for John Henry initially either. I think around May I put this in my car and just played it through. And I just kept playing it through, through most of the summer I think. I think this is also a turning point in their career; John Henry is a little bit edgy, a little darker than their previous efforts. Plus, lots of horn section goodness. John Henry's sound isn't as clean-cut as Mink Car, but that's the idea: edgy and almost... foreboding? It has a mood to it.
I told people Lincoln was my favorite TMBG album for a very long time. While still riding off this past summer's John Henry kick, a friend texted me in early September just to state how much he loved Lincoln, how Lincoln, in his opinion, was probably their best. So I went back to my old favorite. I have a lot of mixed memories tied to Lincoln. However, when I recently turned back to it, I fell in love with it all over. It's different than the Pink Album, but it still has the early duo feel to it... maybe I'm a sucker for turning points in bands' careers. Lincoln manages to balance what the wiki likes to call "funny but sad." Although I wouldn't call "They'll Need A Crane" or "I've Got A Match" or even "Ana Ng" funny. But you know what I mean, right?
And as much as I'd love a John Henry show, I'm rooting for a Lincoln show. Who's with me?
I find it interesting that you picked The Else as your overall favorite. I was so excited to buy The Else, and I wasn't disappointed, just... it grew on me. I remember I was a little unsettled during my first listen through, but when I first heard "The Mesopotamians," I thought, "This is the band I know." I'm still not fully sold on The Else, but I do appreciate it more now. I have the same "I have to be in the mood for this album" relationship with The Else as I do with The Spine.
Hooray for the return of audience participation! This feels so, so wrong because I feel awful picking 5 (I realized I left out Lincoln, which is terrible) but it'll have to do.
ReplyDelete5. The Else. Second-highest concentration of songs I love, and the only reason it's not higher is because it doesn't contain any single tracks I feel particularly religious about (a la John Henry).
4. John Henry. If they were planning a John Henry show in Australia, I would purchase plane tickets immediately. It took me quite a while to warm up to it, but I'm glad I did.
3. The Spine. My deal with The Spine is actually a lot like your deal with Factory Showroom -- I am very attached to individual songs on this album, but the more I think about it, the more I realize it's probably not fair to call it my favorite.
2. Apollo 18. I go back and forth on this album, but right now it's on the list.
1. The Pink Album. I think this album has the highest concentration of songs I love on it. It was also the first vinyl album I acquired, so I was forced to listen to every track.
I think it's a great reflection on TMBG that it is so difficult to choose a favorite album, and that the number one choice seems to vary so much amongst fans. If I have to name a favorite, it would probably be John Henry. I think the reason is that it has so many great songs that aren't their greatest songs and therefore don't get played live as often so don't become subject to the glaze-over effect that I sometimes get upon repeated listening to their most famous songs. So for this reason it is my favorite one to listen to. However, I think that their BEST album is Lincoln.
ReplyDeleteI like your introduction and I like reading everyone's reasons for their favorites. As I'm sure I've said before, I have trouble picking favorites of ANYTHING (let alone TMBG music), so I don't know that I'll be able to complete this particular audience participation challenge. I may try to at least list some of my favorites, if possible, in no particular order. But for now I just wanted to comment and say that I'm really excited to know that some of you have TMBG albums on vinyl. I really want to get at least a couple of them on vinyl (I'm thinking The Pink Album would be a good one) but I've never bought any records before, so I'm looking into it. I'm not sure if I should have Barnes and Noble order one, try to find one on ebay or another website that sells used items, or what. Anyway, kudos to everyone on your lists. Good reading. :)
ReplyDeleteCathy, that's a really excellent explanation of one of the reasons I love John Henry so much. Istanbul and Particle Man have totally drifted into glaze-over territory for me.
ReplyDeleteJamie, I got all of mine on either gemm.com or eBay. You can find most of them for a pretty reasonable price (and of course The Else was printed on vinyl anyway).
Ooh -- I'm a newbie to this blog, but I'll play. I agree that this is a tough assignment. There are gems on each and every TMBG album and as the albums have spanned my entire teen through mid-adult life, some hold contextual meaning to me as well as direct musical appeal. But -- I'll do my best to pick a top five.
ReplyDelete(5) Here Come the 123's. Great, solid album with a lot of excellent songs. I love singing and dancing along to this album with my kids. Seven was my 4-year-old's first ever favorite song (currently, unfortunately, he's partial to Bastard Wants to Hit Me, aka "The Crazy Bastard Song". Does that make me a bad parent?).
(4) Since you cheated, I will too -- a tie here between Lincoln and the Pink Album. These were the albums of my high school years and the ones I had on vinyl (pretty sure I had Flood on cassette). They also contain the greatest number of songs covered by the a cappella groups from my college years. :-) Overall musically, I think I prefer Lincoln, though Puppet Head and Don't Let's Start will always hold a special place in my heart as I remember watching MTV for hours waiting to see their videos.
(3) Here Comes Science. Love this album for so many reasons (not the least of which is that it's about _science_). And my kids love it too, which adds to its appeal. The songs have sparked many a conversation about science in my house, which is golden to a homeschooler.
(2) The Spine. High concentration of gems on this one. Museum of Idiots, Broke in Two, Experimental Film, Thunderbird, Bastard Wants to Hit Me, Memo... these all near the top of my (rather long) list of favorites.
(1) The Else. What can I say? I think these guys just keep getting better with age. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if their next album bumps 123s off my top 5 list (Canajoharie puts it off to a good start). The Else is musically interesting and sophisticated. I love the rich sound and the stick-in-your head melodies. And while I certainly have my favorites, there's not one song on it that I _don't_ like. Plus it came with Cast Your Pod to the Wind (which I didn't formally consider for this assignment, but is nearly equal to The Else in awesomeness).
I love that everybody's list is so very different and everyone has such different reasons for loving this album or that.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I agree with Megan. Your reasoning on John Henry is spot on. There isn't a single song on that album that I have gone into glaze-over on. It's full of great songs that aren't the greatest songs.
And Rebecca, I am SO glad I am not the only one that loves the children's music. I was getting worried. You have also, in one of your explanations, given me a great idea for another Audience Participation entry so thanks for that!
Okay, I'm getting involved in the fun. I made sure to make my list before seeing Rebecca's, because I was curious about the natural overlap.
ReplyDelete5) They Might Be Giants. There's a fine line between crazy and goofy, but this album finds them firmly on the crazy side. That's the right side. This album is all over the place, and a great ride.
4) Apollo 18. Apart from hosting some of my favorite songs, I'm glad they started injecting more of a rock sound into their songwriting. I can live without the whole Catching On Fire to Darkened Corridors deal, but I feel Space Suit gives some final redemption. It sounds like a Mission of Burma instrumental.
3) Here Comes Science. I wish this album stayed stronger through the end, but generally the songwriting is undeniable.
Not too much separates those three from each other, nor from other albums that arbitrarily didn't make the cut, like The Spine and Flood and Mink Car and Lincoln, any of which could, on a different day, have bumped one of those three off. But my top two are solid.
2) Here Come the 123s. No desire to skip any of these tracks. And this album doesn't trigger one of my most common complaints about TMBG songs: great ideas in songs that end prematurely. I'm not left feeling like the songs are too short.
and lastly, 1) Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sarah McLachlan. From the opening strains of Plenty to the trance-like meditation of the title track, Sarah shows a command… just kidding. 1) The Else. No need to elaborate. I'm just glad I was on record mentioning this as my favorite album on the last post so I'm not pegged as a follower :-) .
I have decided that there is no possible way I can do this. I may have a couple of albums I like a little less than the rest, but there's no way I can pick five favorites. I did enjoy reading everyone's lists, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the record-buying info, Megan. :)