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Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants - Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants Audio CD

A fair review of the They Might Be Giants "Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all They Might Be Giants reviews here, or go back to the They Might Be Giants tabs.

Band: They Might Be Giants
Title: Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants
Rating:

Release Date: 2002-09-17
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Birdhouse in Your Soul 2: Ana Ng 3: Don't Let's Start 4: Boss of Me (Theme From Malcom in the Middle) 5: Older 6: Istanbul (Not Constantinople) 7: Doctor Worm 8: Guitar 9: Dr. Evil [From Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me] 10: New York City 11: Particle Man 12: Cyclops Rock 13: Minimum Wage 14: Man, It's So Loud in Here 15: We're the Replacements 16: Why Does the Sun Shine (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) [Live] 17: Your Racist Friend 18: Bangs 19: Snail Shell 20: Twisting 21: Another First Kiss 22: They'll Need a Crane 23: Statue Got Me High 24: (She Was A) Hotel Detective 25: Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head 26: I Palindrome I 27: She's an Angel 28: How Can I Sing Like a Girl? 29: James K. Polk 30: Meet James Ensor 31: Mammal 32: Pet Name 33: No! 34: I Can Hear You 35: Spider 36: I Should Be Allowed to Think 37: Fingertips 38: She's Actual Size [New Live Version][#] 39: Spy [New Live Version][#] 40: Stormy Pinkness [Live in Berlin 1989][#] 41: Exquisite Dead Guy 42: Robot Parade [Adult Version] 43: Boat of Car 44: S-E-X-X-Y 45: Number Three 46: End of the Tour 47: They Might Be Giants 48: Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal 49: Nightgown of the Sullen Moon 50: Snowball in Hell 51: Purple Toupee 52: Cowtown

TMBG-Dial-A-Song- So much in one small package
It spans there entire collection from the start to it's release. Wether your just starting out or have been a TMBG fan since the start (like me) I feel this collection is a great value. If I can't decide which THEY to put on the player, I stick one of these CD's in. I know I'll hear all my favo's anyway. If your new to They, this is the best place to start. I feel this really is the BEST of TMBG's stuff. You would need to buy each of the early albums to cover all the songs you get in this collection. THEY are always a good value, but this CD takes the cake.

Excellent Introduction to a Musical Multiverse
Had the rock star in the picture been, say, Mick Jagger, I would have been completely mortified, but when I look at this picture, I see three smiling, happy people who get a big kick out of life, and as a dad I am delighted to see my daughters having so much fun. Attached by a magnet to the front of my filing cabinet at work is a picture of John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants with his arms around the waists of my two older daughters.

I am also delighted to announce the availability of this splendid 2-CD anthology, which spans the band's career so far. If you have never heard of TMBG, I am not sure that my radically underdetermined linguistic explanation of their simultaneously deeply sinister and oh-so-cuddly musical amalgam will even begin to describe them. Perhaps a clue can be found in the titles of the songs; surely there is a method--or is it a madness?--underlying such titles as "I Palindrome I," "The Statue Got Me High," "How Can I Sing Like a Girl?," "James K. Polk," or perhaps the titles of their two biggest "hits" so far, "Boss of Me (Theme from Malcolm in the Middle)" and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)?" Sometimes it seems as though TMBG's music is all about non sequiturs and existential pseudo-facticity, but then they can turn right around and break your heart with a song such as the sweetly Elvis-Costelloish "Another First Kiss," or raise your psychosocial consciousness with the biting commentary of "Your Racist Friend" (reminds me of the time Declan McManus visited Columbus and got clocked for making a most impolitic remark about Ray Charles, come to think of it), or just make you smile as you listen to the 11 musically revealing drum solos included in a dynamite live rendition of that old TMBG classic, "She's Actual Size. "

With 52 cuts and an informative booklet that gives a nice overview of the band, Dial-A-Song serves as an excellent introduction to They Might Be Giants' musical multiverse. They'll expand your minds but leave your daughters unharmed. I'm listening to them as I type this--"Man, It's So Loud in Here!".

Introduction to a brilliant and creative band
I actually remember calling the dial-a-song number in the late 80's. They Might Be Giants is a band I've known about for a long time, and have always been meaning to check out, but never did until now. First let's be clear that, despite the title, this is NOT a compilation of songs from the dial-a-song hotline. That would be an interesting project in itself. As the liner notes to this compilation explain, the lo-fi & low tech nature of playing songs over a telephone answering machine affected the nature of the songs. Songs had to be short. Overly complex harmonics resulted in distortion. Extended instrumental tones were mistaken by the machine as a message-ending beep.

This is a compilation of their regularly released material over 20 years. Not being very familiar with the original releases (yet!), I cannot comment on how accurately this compilation represents their body of work. What I can say is the it's a very enjoyable and intriguing collection of creative, clever, and eclectic songs. Most of the lyrics are full of very quirky, often absurdist humor, and present intelligent and often heartfelt subject matter in unexpected ways. "Out of the box" is a cliche, but is certainly applies to them.

Disc one evidently has the more well-known songs, and there certainly are a lot of good songs. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" was an alt-rock radio hit of sorts in the early 90's and deservedly so. "Dr. Evil" is a great parody of a James Bond theme from the 60's, which was actually the theme of an Austin Powers movie. Unfortunately for my taste around the middle of the CD some of it starts to sound like somewhat generic jangly 90's alt-rock ("Bangs", "New York City"), although the lyrics are always superior.

I actually ended up listening to Disc 2 first and it's the more interesting one, for my taste. It's full of really unusual, quirky songs full of lyrical and sonic surprises. TMBG actually has done some successful children's music albums, and some of these songs appear here, and they are very enjoyable for adults too. "No" is hysterical. Who else but TMGB has a song about a relatively obscure 19th Century president (James K. Polk), AND makes it enjoyable? "I Can Hear You" is brilliant. The lyrics are a series of phrases you might hear through a speaker ("step away from the car", "I can super-size that for you") recorded through what sounds like a tinny intercom. The liner notes explain that it was actually recorded on a wax cylinder similar to what Thomas Edison used. This, and the inanity of the phrases, is a great commentary on our purported "progress"

If you are new to TMBG I can certainly recommend this collection. It's very enjoyable on its own, and certainly has inspired me to check out the original releases. The packaging is very nice, too, and the booklet is very informative and a fun read.

.

Is there a problem?
It is rumored that securing the music rights is the hold-up and that it is allegedly the fault of They Might Be Giants. The rumors are that They Might Be Giants are the cause of the fact that the "Malcolm in the Middle" TV series will not be released on DVD, possibly ever. If that is so, I hope that They Might Be Giants will go count their money again and see if they have enough to reconsider and let "Malcolm" go. The rest of us would love to be able to buy all of the "Malcolm in the Middle" TV shows on DVD so that we can revel in the magnificent hilarity and brilliance of that show, the best TV show ever. I see that They Might Be Giants has "Boss of Me" on this CD compilation and that they show it as "theme song from "Malcolm in the Middle" - which is true, of course. Well, if it was their aim to prove that they are the boss of all of us by holding up the "Malcolm" DVD releases, possibly forever, we concede. They are boss of all of us. Now, please - please - let "Malcolm" go. "Malcolm in the Middle" is a genuine work of comedic art. It is the only reason I ever heard of They Might Be Giants who, if the rumors are true about their role in the non-release of the "Malcolm" DVDs, might consider renaming themselves, They Might Be Greedy. If it is not their fault, then my request is moot.

They might be our new favorite!
"Dial-a-song. My wife and I have been TMBG fans for 20 years; unfortunately we have most of their old (and best) stuff on vinyl. . . " brings all of those songs back to us, along with some new stuff we haven't picked up. Thanks to "NO!", our kids have also become TMBG fans, and have found, just like adult fans like the "childrens'" albums, they like the adult material. Our family faves - "The Guitar," "Birdhouse in your soul," "New York City," and "Twisting. " With not a bad song in the bunch, "Dial-a-song" mixes all of TMBG's musical styles, twists, and quirks into one great album.

You can see a complete list of all They Might Be Giants discography, or go back to the They Might Be Giants tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.