"Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants" Review [out-of-date]

Before you read and criticize this, bear in mind I know little about TMBG's material outside this album and Lincoln, and that I like to ramble on a lot. ;) Enjoy!

"DIAL-A-SONG: 20 YEARS OF THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS"
(by THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, released 2002, RHINO RECORDINGS)

CD REVIEW
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They Might Be Giants. Perhaps the most unique band of all-time. They combine their trademark offbeat
melodies with weirdly wonderful lyrics and pristine vocals with the utmost perfection. Whilst not the most
mainstream band, and forever lacking the media attention they deserve (though it could be argued that media attention would ruin their cult status), the two Johns (John Flansburgh and John Linell, the two "members" of the
band) have gained a legendary following with their consistently unique and entertaining output over the last
20 years, and deservedly so. Their songs are so fully-rounded, for many it's a shock to find out they started their career with a "Dial-A-Song" service: you phone their number (still running now!), and their latest musical work of art will play back to you from their answering machine.

TMBG may not have achieved much commercial success over the years, as previously mentioned, but that's not
to say they've had none at all. Birdhouse In Your Soul, their most well-known and arguably their best song,
from 1990 album Flood, has acquired them a wordlwide fanbase, and other hit singles such as "Istanbul Not
Constantinople", "Particle Man" and "Don't Let's Start" have ensured them popularity with all ages for many
years to come.

"Dial A Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants" is a uiquely packed 2-CD set, featuring 52 songs from the band's history from 1982-2002 the band consider their best. Whether these songs really are TMBG's best is of course, debatable and is ultimately down to personal opinion, but I for one think this compilation accurately represents the first 20 years of the band's history.

The package contains the two discs, each featuring 26 tracks, enclosed in two separate mini-digipaks, along with a detailed and fully comprehensive booklet, featuring two essays on the band (one by the band themself) which tell the story of the band from the beginning of their career to nowadays, as well as giving complete lyrics to every song on the compilation.

So, onto the CD's themselves. The first CD opening track was a no-brainer for the CD compilers and the bands: Birdhouse In Your Soul. Their biggest hit yet, and combines the most confusingly complex metaphoric lyrics (if you can't figure it out, it's about a nightlight) with a so-simplistic-it's-unbelievable melody. And it works perfectly. The chorus is very catchy, like any good TMBG song, and the vocals are pristine as you would expect. The Giants' most polished tune. Track 2 brings us to "Ana Ng", pronounced "Anna Eng" for the uneducated, and a rather unusual tale of a Japanese girlfriend. The lyrics as ever prove witty and observational ("their voices stick like a backwards record", "water spirals the wrong way out of the sink"), and the melody is a lovely blend of instruments.

Next up is "Don't Let's Start", the band's first single, and in my opinion, still one of their best. The record, from what I can tell, lacks any real focus, but the catchy choruses and indiscernible, metaphoric lyrics are still present and correct. "Boss Of Me" follows, and if you wonder why it sounds familiar, it's the theme to Fox comedy Malcolm Of The Middle. One of the catchiest songs on the compilation, the lyrics aren't as complex, nor the song as unusual, as many of the band's other records, but it's still a great catchy number.

Number five, "Older", is one of the worst songs on the album - it's unfortunately very bland, and whilst it's slightly humourous, it soon becomes a bore, and is one to skip. (After all, do you usually enjoy someone telling you "you're older than you've ever been, and now you're even older" over and over again?) Thankfully it's under two minutes long, and the occasional music that is used is very fitting. "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" follows, another opne of the Giants' chart hits, and whilst the song is in my opinion a little overrated, the lyrics flow thick and fast, and the instruments used are a perfect fit to this speedy number. A good one.

"Doctor Worm" is one of TMBG's more unusual offerings, lyrics-wise, and the song appears to be about a worm who wants people to call him Doctor Worm. Whether or not the entire song is a metaphor, or just plain fun, is down to you... I really have no idea. What I do know, however, is that this is another three minutes of listening pleasure - the lyrics are interesting, and often funny, and the instruments really help this song become one of TMBG's very best. I can't say quite the same for the following track, "The Guitar", which is admittedly good, but sometimes bland and uninteresting. It doesn't help that the lyrics are quite lacking. Not an awful song, but compared to the track preceding it, not great either.

"Dr Evil", from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, is the worst track on the entire album, and not only am I disappointed it's included near the beginning, I'm disappointed it's even here at all. Bland, with only female vocals (the Johns are just the instrumental guys here), and a disappointingly monotonical melody and uninteresting lyrics. One you'll probably want to skip after a listen or two.

In rather huge contrast to the last track, track 10, "New York City" is my personal favourite of the entire compilation, and easily on of their best. The only thing detracting from it is the fact that TMBG didn't actually write it, but it's still a pure piece of perfection, with warm and deep lyrics, and a tune that any artist in the universe would be proud of. The chimes after the chorus are a commendable extra touch that actually takes the song to a new level, and the three minutes as a whole cover a range of emotions - sad, happy, distressed, nostalgic, romantic, and everything in between. Unbeatable.

Track 11, "Particle Man", was another chart success for TMBG, and contains some of the greatest lyrics by the Giants of all-time, which can be viewed on several levels - only adding to their effectiveness. "Cyclops Rock" follows - a song that's rather heavy-duty for the band - but it's pulled off well, although occasionally sounds too 'teenage-metal-brash-o-rama'. "Minimum Wage" is a song of only two words (no prizes for guessing what those two words are) and is less of a song and more of a 45-second shout-out to all of those poor teenage kids out there stuck on Minimum Wage with a total ass for a boss. It's hard to rate - it's more like one of those pieces of music that are "just there".

"Man It's So Loud In Here", the next song, is about being at a disco near a rather loud drum machine,a nd forgetting what you want to say. It can be seen in one of two lights. It can be seen as a bland dirge of low vocals and a loud drum machine, or it can be seen as a rather ironic song that actually has some nice lyrics. I'll leave it up to you to judge; I originally picked the former, but after a few listens, I switched to the latter. "We're The Replacements" follows, and whilst short, is another fantastic song that is basically a shout-out to that band that I have no idea about, The Replacements. But hey, they must be good if TMBG like 'em. The lyrics and music in this gel very well.

Next is "Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas!)", performed live, and whilst it's essentially an "educational" song for childrenabout how we need the sun, it's still a catchy song with an awesome shoutable chorus. "Your Racist Friend" is a nice indirect dig at politics and America, with some trademark dry wit and a stop-start melody thrown in for variety; and "Bangs", an ode to hair, is another classic tune with some rather interesting, and even romantic at time, lyrics. Well, if you call hair obsessions romantic. Either way, it makes for a good tune.

"Snail Shell" is yet another weird-but-wonderful tune, and has some of the best lyrics on the album. The accompanying music is good too, but the song as a whole isn't quite up to the heights of "Birdhouse" or "NYC". Nevertheless, a unique piece, and worth a few listens. Track 20, "Twisting", is another rather interesting piece. No idea what it's about really, but the chorus is a good listen, though the song's not catchy as the previous songs on the album are. Also worthy of note is this track's opening - very nice for a three-second piece of music, and it's nicely reprisedlater in the song.

The next track is one of TMBG's only slow songs, and whilst this song, "Another First Kiss", is disliked by many, I for one find it fantastic - the vocals are top-notch, and the peaceful backing is lovely. One of only two real emotional songs on the set (the other being "The End Of The Tour, near the end of disc 2), and some nice easy-listening. The next song is "They'll Need A Crane", which is quite the contrary to the previous track - catchy, rocky melody with some witty lyrics, a nice quotable chorus and a nice urgent ending.

The next two tracks, "The Statue Got Me High" and "She Was A Hotel Detective" are rather bland and forgettable, and whilst not awful, neither is worth too many listens - the lyrics for both are alright, yes, but the tune and package as a whole isn't up to the quality of other tracks here. The Statue is probably the better of the two, however. "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head" is a nice break after the previous two offering, with some memorable and unusual lyrics and a very powerful and catchy chorus. Lacking in sense, makes up for it in the "listenability" department.

The last track on disc 1 is another fantastic one, "I Palindrome I". I won't go into it in detail, but suffice to say it starts with a mother calling her son "a son of a bitch" and includes a lovely lengthy palindromic sentence halfway through. Oh yeah, an awesome echoing chorus too. And thus ends disc 1.

Disc 2 starts with one of the Giant's most respected songs, both by their core fanbase and everyone else, "She's An Angel". The lyrics, as ever, are anything but typical, but the song is substantially slower than a lot of their other songs - a minor blessing at this point. Great opener to a disc full of some of the band's more obscure and unusual songs.

We quickly get into some of their more eclectic songs with "How Can I Sing Like A Girl?" - basically, the band wondering how they can get away with singing like girls without being "objectified by the rest of the world". Hmm. Awesomely outrageous lyrics and some nice backing - oh, and some nice vocals.. well sung!

"James K Polk" and "Meet James Ensor" - two songs about the semi-famous, coincidentally both have a first name of James. Oh well. The James of the K Polk variety is a slow-ish and slightly forgettable ode to the 11th president of the USA, and whilst the lyrics are nice, the song is nothing to shout about. Ensor, on the other hand, is an irresistably catchy tune about a Belgian painter - who the Giants advise you to "dig him up, and shake his hand/appreciate the man". Ahh. Excellent lyrics help make this 90-second song perfect, though you can't help but wish it were longer.

"Mammal" is up next, and it's a song which actually showcases the Johns' knowledge.. they reveal that the echidna and caribou are indeed mammals! This song is one of those half-educational songs, but it doesn't seem like it thanks to some cool lyrics and inspired backing music and vocals. Lovely job. The next song, "Pet Name", features a similar mood (though the theme is decidedly different) and the two tracks got together very well. Pet Name also has some nice lyrics, though it lacks nice backing vocals, so slightly loses out to Mammal.

"No!" is the only track on the album actually from their entirely-aimed-at-kids album (also called "No!"), and whilst I can understand why this was included, it's really a dumb song aimed at pre-schoolers and is really only worth one or two listens. The lyrics are nigh-on stupid and the music is lacking. Not so good. Nor is the next song, "I Can Hear You", another midly amusing tune that really isn't a song at all. It combines speech from locations where it may be be hard to hear the other person speaking at a low volume with some bland, slow, monotonical music. Useless, really.

"Spider" is next, another short song (a la Minimum Wage) that really lacks purpose or direction, but is still kind of entertaining in a mediocre kind of way. I guess it's what you could call an acquired taste, though I call it forgettable. Thankfully, the next song, "I Should Be Allowed To Think" isn't; the lyrics are that of angst-ridden teenagers with pathetic demands (I should be allowed to glue my poster) combined with a catchy guitar riff and a nice repeated bridge-chorus-thingy section. Good listen.

"Fingertips" is indescribable. Literally. It's a collection of about 20 ten-second clips from failed Dial-A-Song answering machine projects, varying from depressing and sad to gleeful, happy and joyous. Vocals are not just by the two Johns; some female vocalists are in there too. A very weird piece; really does have to be heard. Unique to say the least.

3 live songs follow.. and frankly, I think they're awful. Maybe it's just these three, but I find them nohere near as good as the studio versions, and despite the good vocals, they drag (especially She's Actual Size, which lasts about 7 1/2 minutes thanks to a 4 minute interruption of talky-bits halfway through). The tracks included are "She's Actual Size", "Spy", and "Stormy Pinkness". Next are two more "meh" songs; "Exquisite Dead Guy" and "Robot Parade". Both are quite nondescript, slow and generally boring.

"Boat Of Car" follows; a rather weird song that's quite good, but is rather confusing and odd. Good listen, if you can look past the complex lyrics into the nice backing melody. "S-E-X-X-Y" is another turn toward the mediocre, but the lyrics are quite good, so the bad melody can be forgiven.. well, almost.

"Number Three", actually track 19, is the first great track in the last eight. It has a country tinge, but the real genius of this record is the wonderful lyrics (in case you don't know, the title is due to the fact that the song was the 3rd song on TMBG's first album). A lovely melody, and great vocals. Next is "The End Of The Tour", the second emotional song (of two) on the album, the first being Another First Kiss on disc 1. This one's about a car crash in which the person who caused it gets off scott-free.. but the crash proves to be fatal for those who he crashed into. The song is told from the car's point of view, and interesting perspective, and the lyrics are very deep as you would expect. Nice music, with a good switch from soft to rock and back about a minute in. Great one.

Track 21 is actually named "They Might Be Giants", and whilst it's not really great, the lyrics are quite amusing, and the song was worthy of inclusion. The music is intermittent on this song, which I find odd, but ah well. Following this one is "Hey Mr DJ, I Thought You Said We Had A Deal", a hilarious tale of bribing a DJ to get your record to number one.. and the DJ runs away with your money. Hm. Great lyrics, and I'm really running out of superlatives here, but an awesomely catchy chorus. One of the best.

Two of the more thoughtful/depressing tracks follow, in succession: "Nightgown Of The Sullen Moon" and "Snowball In Hell". Both are kinda forgettable, but while you're listening to them they are actually very powerful songs with some rather interesting and metaphoric lyrics.

The last two tracks on the set are "Purple Toupee" and "Cowtown", and they're two of the more country-based tracks on the set, especially Cowtown. As ever, the lyrics are top-notch (especially Purple Toupee) and the music is a great listen. Thankfully, the set ends on a high, just as it began. Great ending.

So, that concludes that.. there is however one other aspect of the album that is surprisingly present in this album, yet rarely have I seen it elsewhere: a perfect sequencing of the tracks. Doctor Worm to The Guitar is actually inspired sequencing, as is Hey Mr. DJ to Nightgown, and Mammal to Pet Name. The ordering, with very few exceptions, is perfect, and actually adds to the quality of the album. You will always remember the first time you hear albums, and it's nice for that impression to be a good one. This one will be, and a large part of that is down to this perfect ordering.

Whilst the compilation may miss some greats (Till My Head Falls Off, Metal Detector, See The Constellation, Everything Right Is Wrong Again) and pick up a few losers (Dr Evil, Hotel Detective, Older, She's Actual Size) here and there, when put together as a whole it's a nigh-on perfect record of the band's first 20 years - here's to the next 20! Highly recommended for TMBG fans and those who are interested in trying something new.

GRADE: A+

Top 5 Tracks:
1. New York City
2. Birdhouse In Your Soul
3. Don't Let's Start
4. I Palindrome I
5. Meet James Ensor