They Might Be Giants - C/D, S/D, OPO etc

yeah...was just listening to that the other day, good one

http://tmbw.net users rank every song (you can see what ranking each song has) but I can't find a full chart anywhere.

Birdhouse is #1, Ana Ng is #2

here it is: http://tmbw.net/wiki/Special:Ratings

pretty cool, especially since they're not really popular enough on ILM to justify a ballot poll (although maybe i'll take the top 50 tracks from that list to do an automated poll or something)

I kind of wish TMBG would do a full CD of the old Dial-A-Song shit. That's p much the best stuff they ever did.

a lot of it is on the Then collection, isn't it? but yeah that would be cool, it was kind of annoying that they did a CD called Dial-A-Song that was just a straight-up best-of.

Those bonus tracks on Then are pretty weird and Residentsy, is there supposed to be much more that kind of thing in the vaults?

Aw, I like mr xcitement! :(

here it is: http://tmbw.net/wiki/Special:Ratings

pretty cool, especially since they're not really popular enough on ILM to justify a ballot poll (although maybe i'll take the top 50 tracks from that list to do an automated poll or something)

― big spiritual hat club (some dude), Saturday, 3 September 2011 21:09 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Brilliant. You/we/I should totally kick off a poll for that top 50.

Super-annoying to see Dr Worm at #4, I hate that song. #5, #6, #8 (!!!!!!) and #13 are nice surprises though. As expected Linnell smashes it.

(not doing the poll now because I'm going to bed and we have fathers day tomorrow for some reason)

Those bonus tracks on Then are pretty weird and Residentsy, is there supposed to be much more that kind of thing in the vaults?

Tons - some website used to be up where you could download a ton of them, lost those MP3s years ago but there were some serious gems. I think they've mined it a few other times -the aforementioned "Wicked Little Critta" was a Dial-A-Song in some form, and "Cyclops Rock" got reworked (and worsened), but I remember just, like, dozens of little thirty-second songs. This could be way off though.

Lol @ some dude trying to school me on Then, tho

I have the TMBG Unlimited series, that's got lots of odds and ends as well, including works-in-progress and outtakes.

Oh, and for the curious, here's a list of all the Dial-A-Songs: http://tmbw.net/wiki/Dial-A-Song

I had the TMBG fleece from that, though it sadly went missing somewhere unknown. :(

And a bit more googling led me to this site but you need to jump through some hoops to download: http://wallywashis.name/mp3/They+Might+Be+Giants/%5Bnon-album+tracks%5D/

at this point i think i'd be willing to argue that factory showroom is their best album. or my favorite, anyway. i remember in high school making fun of my friend for buying it (i had gotten into "cooler" music i guess) but finally listening to it and loving pretty much every song. tons of great melodies on there.

This is Dan, and that's Dan
And that's Marty on the drums to complete the band
And I am John and he is also John
And all of us are wondering when you're gonna die

^ best lyric in tmbg history

Mink Car always grated on me a bit because I read some early press touting it as a return to Flood. That's always dangerous, especially in this case because it pronounces just how hard the album is trying to be Flood. It's got some great songs, but as a piece it just doesn't hold up that well, and it really tails off at the end. Ending with "Working Undercover for the Man"? Seriously?

I was really big into the band back then (I was also 15) and found this album to be a disappointment, but looking back it's really not so bad. If you really get into what they were doing ever since Factory Showroom - like, listen to all the TMBG Unlimited releases, the McSweeney's releases, the internet-only stuff, etc., I really don't think that they lost any talent, they just didn't throw anything away and let the fans see everything they'd done, warts and all. Then when it came to cutting an album they severely overthought everything, put 'new' cuts of 'old' songs that were limp compared to the originals (or demos), and seemed to miss a bunch of their greatest material. You can really make a killer 20-track album from their 1996-2001 output, but Mink Car isn't it.

"Working Undercover For The Man" is one of my favorite later songs!

but yeah it seemed like after they got dropped from Elektra and took those 5 years issuing stopgap projects and kind of figuring out where the next proper album would come out they kind of cycled through a lot of material in different incarnations and ended up with something that just wasn't close to ideal.

Lol @ some dude trying to school me on Then, tho

― delmar dillinger (Whiney G. Weingarten), Saturday, September 3, 2011 1:15 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark

a post w/ a question mark in it is probably not making any haughty attempt to "school you" fyi

new album did not sound good to me. they still have some songwriting chops but the arrangements were weak (too much guitar-based stuff) and the lyrics have gone from weird and clever to straining to be funny. it's like they heard themselves described as a joke band so many times that they started to believe it.

IMO the only one that really 'strains' is Cloisonne, which I'm not really a big fan of anyway. I think it takes a few listens but if you think it's a "joke" record you're probably paying attention to the wrong things.

This is really the first album that shows them doing the things they used to do so well. Like writing good harmonies ("Let Your Hair Hang Down") or neat little lyrical puzzles - "Lady and the Tiger" is really quite brilliant, the lyrics are odd but they make sense and almost become profound the more you think about them (unless you don't know the classic Lady and Tiger story), which the band hasn't really done in a while.

According to Flans it looks like the 'other' tracks from the Join Us session are coming out according in another "B-sides and other stuff" type collection. Really looking forward to that, a lot of those recent comps like "Cast Your Pod to the Winds" and "Venue Songs" have been great

Cloisonné is one of the highlights for me. That song makes me laugh when my mind should be concerned with other things (including listening to other bands)

just saw 'em in Milwaukee on Friday, awesome night - I've seen them after the release of their last three adult albums, and the "so we've got a new album out, and it's called xxxxx" line got such a huge reception this time. there was 6 or 7 new songs which all went over well, a lot of classic old stuff from the first 4-5 albums, including "Ana Ng", which is incredible since they're finally playing it at the same tempo as the studio version. only disappointment was no "Puppet Head" which I've always wanted to see. they brought out sock puppets for "Spoiler Alert" which was amazing. also both the guys (especially Flans) are really, really funny.

According to Flans it looks like the 'other' tracks from the Join Us session are coming out according in another "B-sides and other stuff" type collection. Really looking forward to that, a lot of those recent comps like "Cast Your Pod to the Winds" and "Venue Songs" have been great

― frogbs, Tuesday, October 4, 2011 12:18 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark

this is being released on Tuesday under the title Album Raises New and Troubling Questions btw

"The Sun is a Mass (of Incandescent Gas)" has been in my head for days, god, liked that song once upon a time but for an earworm it's pretty shrill. Tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun.

never much cared for the EP studio version but the live version is always fun imo.

sometimes it's just
the sun is hot
the sun is hot
the sun is hot
the sun is hot
the sun is hot
the sun is hot
the sun is hot
on my head in a loop akjabgfui;abgving

THE SUN IS SO HOT (mental torture)

yeah the Severe Tire Damage version is just stupidly catchy. the original kind of sucks.

In 2004 I worked in a factory over the summer and "She's an Angel" was literally stuck in my head practically every day I was there. Because I'd work at one machine and it would play in my head and then every day afterwards looking at that machine would re-trigger the memory. Like now I still kind of marvel at how many stupidly catchy parts they were able to cram into a two-minute song, but even so, it was like a curse

Listening to "Join Us" now in honor of this thread -- bought this when it came out but never really got into it.

Cliche but correct OPO is "Ana Ng."

Less obvious members of the POX: "Rhythm Section Want Ad," "It's Not My Birthday," "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon," "Pet Name," "Till My Head Falls Off," "Fingertips." But nothing post-Factory Showroom, as far as I'm concerned.

Claim for purposes of discussion: Linnell's 1999 solo record _State Songs_ is as good as any TMBG album.

love all those songs, eephus

The problem with State Songs is that it's cheaply made and doesn't really try to be anything. The songwriting is there though. I just don't really like the high school band feel of it.

My POX would be - She's An Angel, Ana Ng, Don't Let's Start, Narrow Your Eyes, Spiralling Shape, Puppet Head, Birdhouse, We Want a Rock, Sensurround, and See The Constellation. I do feel bad that there's nothing from the last 15 years there as their albums have been pretty good lately, but that early stuff is just ridiculous.

i enjoy singing "Doctor Worm" at my dog, with "Hen" subbed in for worm. After writing them off for years, "You Don't Like Me" off of Join Us is killer grade A material for these guys imo.

Less obvious members of the POX: "Rhythm Section Want Ad," "It's Not My Birthday," "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon," "Pet Name," "Till My Head Falls Off," "Fingertips." But nothing post-Factory Showroom, as far as I'm concerned.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, August 22, 2012 1:01 PM Bookmark

OTM - "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon" would be my OPO. Would have a really hard time with an only-pick-ten but damn that is one amazing track.

"The Sun is a Mass (of Incandescent Gas)"

really annoys me that the internet gives the impression they wrote this song

"A Self Called Nowhere" and "Whistling in the Dark" not getting any love on this thread is baffling to me.

It pains me to say this, given how much I love this record, but "Apolo 18" is surely TMBG's "New Jersey"

Love that record. Not sure it really qualifies for New Jersey status (was it an "event" really?), but it is the point where, if they'd just retired right then, it'd be hard to knock anything in their catalog. John Henry and Factory Showroom both have plenty of great tracks but there's something missing, and I've had no interest at all in checking out the stuff post-Severe Tire Damage.

really annoys me that the internet gives the impression they wrote this song

I don't think anyone really cares that they didn't, especially as the original is nothing special (their studio cover is very close to it and it's pretty dull)

Doctor Casino you should really check out Join Us, it's not *quite* up to the level of TMBG/Lincoln/Flood/Apollo 18, but it's closer than anything else they've done, and it holds up over many listens. Most of it is really good but I really have to nominate "Judy is Your Vietnam" as maybe the best sub-1:30 song they ever did.

yeah Join Us is so good

Listening to that plus the B-sides collection they quickly came out with afterwards was like wow, they finally put all the best songs on the actual album!

all right, what the heck, checking out Join Us now!

'"The Sun is a Mass (of Incandescent Gas)"
really annoys me that the internet gives the impression they wrote this song'

this is better than the impression that barenaked ladies wrote this song, which seems to be what chuck lorre was going for with that terrible theme to big bang theory.

lol

The best post-Factory Showroom song is "A Certain Person I Could Name". That would be in my POX for sure.