Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've read several reviews of this album by committed TMBG fans, people who love the songs, but at the same time have given this compilation just one star because they see it as 1) corporate greed 2) selling out, or 3) they're angry that there are three previously unreleased songs that they'll have to spend $$$ on to own.

Please. You people sound like those opera fanatics who insist that "supertitles" (where a translation of the lyrics is played high above the stage) corrupt opera. Those are the people who insist you must learn fluent Italian to enjoy opera or else just sit there and wonder what's going on. For years, I've heard "purists" of a particular rock band sneer at "greatest hits" compilations. They're the ones who insist that anyone who buys "Forty Licks" is a shallow tool of consumer culture. They don't understand that not everyone already owns all fifty or so Rolling Stones albums or otherwise doesn't have the money to buy them all.

I realize that there are thousands of devoted TMBG fans, many of whom seem to spend their youth collecting graduate degrees in anthropology or third-world literature studies, who insist that a compilation doesn't capture the delicate pathos that TMBG have created with their music. Fair enough. They are gifted artists. But like those other gifted artists, the ones who hailed from Liverpool, their albums sell primarily because they are filled with catchy tunes. That's why I bought the Beatles' "One" and that's why I'm buying "Dial-A-Song": because I want some songs I can whistle to when I'm stuck in rush-hour traffic. Get over it.

Finally, for those who are upset that their heroes have sold out to the man or whatever, I'd like to remind them that TMBG is the only band I can think of that has distributed hundreds of songs for free, long before the World Wide Web, over their unique Dial-A-Song service. It's been around for fifteen years. It's always been free. It still is free. So why all this anger about the injustice over having to raid your beer money to buy a few songs. (Besides, those songs aren't like cancer medication. Trust me, you won't drop dead without them.)

Still, even if the Dial-A-Song line had never existed, I wouldn't begrudge TMBG's ability to use their artistic ability to make money. You enjoy listening to their music. In return, you give them money. Fair enough. It's known as capitalism. If you don't like it, go burn your collection of TMBG albums along with an American flag at the next Stop-the-World Bank and IMF/Ban-GM-Food/Elect-Nader/Free-Mumia/Meat-is-Murder protest.

I digress. Forgive me. It's time for me to whip out my American Express and buy the greatest hits of TMBG.

To clarify, what you're looking at is *not* a compilation of rarities, alternate studio cuts, or live performances (so what if the album title references their Dial-a-Song service? it means *nothing*...), but a yay-happy-twentieth-anniversary celebration of some of the Giant's greatest releases, spanning from their very first album through their latest release, the youngsta-oriented "No!" Also included are two previously-available-only-on-soundtrack tracks, the "Malcom in the Middle" [extended] theme, "Boss of Me" and "Dr. Evil" from Austin Powers II.

What I love most about this item is that it's not exclusive to the more popular TMBG singles, and includes a few old-school, lesser-known gems like "Nightgown of the Sullen Moon", "Snowball in Hell", and "She Was An Angel" (by my definition, one of the best Giant songs to ever exist).

For most TMBG fans, this CD brings few surprises...but that's no reason to shrug it off. As I said earlier, this is a great-great-wonderful collection of songs and, by *far*, one of the better "Best Of" albums that I've ever encountered. My recommendation? Open your wallet in the name of supporting quality music, and buy the li'l darlin.

I bought "Dial a Song" expecting a run-of-the-mill "best of" compilation, hoping to fill in the cracks in my small collection of "Giants" recordings. Well imagine my surprise to find a beautifully assembled compilation of the best of "They Might be Giants"! I mean this in the sense that they didn't just pick out their most popular recordings, but truly the BEST of their recordings. And they didn't stop there! Because instead of simply plopping the songs onto a CD in chronilogical order (as so many do), they arranged them in a sequence that actually makes many of them sound BETTER than they did on the original recordings. The songs flow from one to another with almost eerie smoothness, pulling you into the music and making you bop around the livingroom oozing joy.

Really. A great record. You need it now.

For all those They Might Be Giants' fans hoping that "Dial-A-Song" will attract new fans, well, I'm one of those newbies. Before I picked up "Dial-A-Song", I had only heard a tiny amount of TMBG material ("Istanbul", "Particle Man", "Boss of Me", "Dr. Evil") but I loved all those songs. So, I walk into my local music store, pick it up and listen to it and I am duly impressed. Since, I didn't want to purchase a studio album by then, I opted for this instead and it's now in heavy rotation around my house. I couldn't believe I was missing out on such great songs like "Doctor Worm", "New York City" and "Man, It's So Loud in Here". I was also amused by the humorous second disc, which featured some of TMBG's more obscure works like "I Can Hear You" and the three new live tracks. Add a new fan to your tally, folks!

I hesitated to buy this album at first, because a) I have all of these songs and b) I didn't want to spend the 30 bucks. While I have burned my own personal "best of" CD, I decided to buy this because a) it is Their selection of the best, b) it came with that nifty booklet filled with fun facts and pictures, and c) I had a gift certificate, so it wasn't my money.

I was a bit disappointed (as was another reviewer) that it didn't contain actual dial-a-song bits, but as They explain, all of Their music starts on the Dial-a-Song, in one form or another. All told, there are some songs I think They missed (Spiraling Shape), and others that don't belong (Cyclops Rock, How Can I Sing Like a Girl - bleah!), but overall I think the order of tracks is fantastic (my favorite: Minimum Wage to Man, It's So Loud in Here to We're the Replacements).

So if you're just looking at the fact that these are the same songs, then yes, you won't want this album. But for those who want a comprehensive (52 tracks!) best-of album from Them, this is an excellent purchase. These two discs have a permanent place in our car stereo.

Wow! I kind of expected these to be "Answering Machine"-quality recordings, but they are almost all identical to the recordings on the other albums (when applicable). This is mostly a "Best Of" compilation with a few goodies here and there for the most devout TMBG afficionados out there. Most of those require several listens to appreciate or perhaps one listen to forever decide to skip the tracks.

One interesting thing is that "Fingertips" is included as a single track. Those of you with Apollo 18 on CD know that it was separated into several distinct portions. This was because John and John intended it to be played in random order (or perhaps even in a choose-your-own kind of sequence). It's a neat idea, but I don't know that it ever worked all that well.

All in all, I think this collection deserves 5 stars. It's an amazing collection of a lot of the songs that really make me love TMBG, and it's ALMOST a "Then & Now" counterpart to their previous compilation, "Then." I only wish they had included the version of "Sensurround" found ONLY on the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers soundtrack.

This is the They Might Be Giants compilation I've been waiting at least three years for, ever since a local (and short-lived) free-form radio station exposed me to a number of their best songs ("Birdhouse in Your Soul," "Don't Let's Start," "The Guitar," "Istanbul," "Particle Man"). All of these songs are here on the lavish, 2-CD anthology Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of..., as well as "Boss of Me" (the Grammy-winning theme from Malcolm in the Middle, one of my favorite shows) and "Dr. Evil" (the best thing about 1999's unfunny Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me), and 45 other highlights from the long and prolific career of these Massechusetts-born, New York-based geek rockers.

Anchored by the energetic playing and nasal, deadpan vocals of John Linnell and John Flansburgh (the subtle differences in their voices make for terrific harmonies -- think XTC or Barenaked Ladies), the exquisite pop tunes in this collection take off in all directions, musically and lyrically. My (new) favorites include "We're the Replacements" (in which the Johns portray the raging 1980's punkers as a fun-loving party band), the New Wave-y "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head," the techno satire/homage "Man, it's so Loud in Here," the sweet love songs "Bangs" and "Another First Kiss," the upbeat odes to painter James Ensor ("Dig him up and shake his hand, appreciate the man") and president James K. Polk ("Austere, severe, he held few people dear"), the dark odes to love unrequited ("Ana Ng") and love gone sour ("They'll Need a Crane"), the exuberant "Doctor Worm," and the inspired covers of "New York City" and "Why Does the Sun Shine (the Sun is a Mass of Incandescant Gas"), as well as the wry social commentary of "Your Racist Friend," "I Can Hear You" (recorded without electricity!), the "Howl"-quoting "I Should Be Allowed to Think," the payola ode "Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We had a Deal," "Snowball in Hell" (best line: "If it wasn't for disappointment, I wouldn't have any appointments"), and the overlong-but-gorgeous "How Can I Sing Like a Girl" ("...and not be objectified as if I were a girl?"). With their musical adventurousness, quirky turns of phrase, unusual subject matter, and unique takes on familiar subject matter, Flansburgh and Linnell are sort of like Elvis Costello-meets-Jonathan Richman. (No wonder I like these guys already!)

Midway through disc two, however, Dial-A-Song threatens to become an embarrassment of riches -- well, for TMBG newcomers like myself, anyway -- as John and John dispense with the bright pop hooks and engage in plain weirdness ("Spider," "Exquisite Dead Guy," the metallish "Robot Parade" [no pun intended], "Boat of Car," "S-E-X-X-Y," "Stormy Pinkness," the 7-minute live version of "She's Actual Size"). The real love-it-or-hate-it moment would have to be the remarkable, audacious "Fingertips," in which the two Johns string together 21 song fragments of varying styles and moods. Such experimental moments don't always make for easy listening, but they are generally admirable.

In recent years, the good people at Rhino have done right by Marshall Crenshaw (2000's This Is Easy: The Best Of...), Randy Newman (2001's The Best Of...), and Warren Zevon (2002's Genius: The Best Of...). Once again, they've called attention to a lesser-known but worthy act by pulling together some of their best work into a single package (although the Johns had a hand in compiling this one) -- a perfect starting point for intrigued and inquisitive music lovers. (I must also mention the essay by NPR's Sarah Vowell -- a funny and affectionate assessment of the band's charms -- as well as TMBG's own fascinating explanation of the "dial-a-song" service.)

If you are new to TMBG and have any interest in their sound at all, you shouldn't be disappointed by this compilation, as it is all great music. You are however, being seriously short-changed on just how enjoyable their music can be, since a lot of their best work is not included here and a lot of their more mediocre output unfortunately is.

The band put it together themselves, so as can be expected, they used it as an opportunity to shed more light on their more "underappreciated" work - for instance, their weakest-selling and most fan/critic-slagged album, Factory Showroom, is one of the most largely represented here, moreso than much more loved and acclaimed records like Lincoln, Apollo 18 and John Henry. Factory Showroom may not have been as bad as some reviews made it out to be, but it certainly shouldn't have been relied upon so much for a 'best of' compilation; but it's even more disturbing that in including over half of that record on this anhtology, they STILL left off what are widely considered to be it's two finest songs: "Spiraling Shape" and "The Bells are Ringing". When they do tap into their more rewarding work, like their 1988 LP Lincoln, they still overlook obvious gems like "Where Your Eyes Don't Go" and "Kiss Me, Son of God". And why are "Cowtown" and "Purple Toupee" jammed all the way into the back of the second disc while "Pet Name" and "Dr. Evil" enjoy front row seats? Whats the point of including the "Fingertips" song-fragment-medly as a single track and near the front of the second disc (it was designed to make shuffle mode more interesting and in it's entirety, has a tendency to annoy the hell out of most people). Their recent childrens album NO! is represented by it's fun but rather trite title track and the grating "Robot Parade" even though "Bed Bed Bed" has become a concert favorite even at their adult shows and "Four of Two" has a healthy fan following. And why on earth did their schmaltzy, radio-friendly "Another First Kiss" pop up again here after it grossed everybody out just a year earlier on Mink Car?

Sure, it has masterpieces like "Ana Ng", "Birdhouse in your Soul", "Cyclops Rock", "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" and "Don't Lets Start" but it's missing lots of equally impressive material and includes way too much mediocre work than a double-disc, twenty-year anthology by They Might Be Giants has any right to. Your better off delving into the actual albums (start from the beginning, work your way up) or having a fan make you a mix tape.

In 1999 the band released _Severe Tire Damage_, a disappointing 'live' album that attempted to act as a career retrospective. It did feature many of their best-known songs, but in relatively subpar renditions. This 2-disc anthology is very welcome. It's got ALL of their singles, in the original studio incarnations, plus a good number of classic album tracks ...even a few rarities. Well-sequenced and remastered, too.

I got my second they might be giants, Dial-a-song, at my local Tower records. I was really excited.That day I spent about 4 seperate hours listening to this.But I noticed that it was missing some great songs such as Everything Right is Wrong Again,Till my head falls off,Spiraling shape, The bells are ringing, and many others.Other than that its great, and I'm glad I chose it over then:the earlier years since I'm more fond of TMBG later years with song like Dr.Worm and Birdhouse in your soul.