John Henry

They Might Be Giants | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 1994)
• Original Release Date: September 13, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002HFL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,982 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite TMBG album., August 13, 2000

By 

J. T. Nite "mightybjorn" (Mesa, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: John Henry (Audio CD)

TMBG graduate from drum machines and samples to a full band on this album, and the results are great. Purists label this TMBG's "bad" album, but I believe the full band lends these songs a shot of adrenalin. The lyrics are as good as ever, and they fit well into their new, energetic fixtures.

So many good songs -- the bells of "Destination Moon," the trippy distorted vocal on "Self called nowhere," the theremin on "AKA Driver." There are big rock songs and small gems throughout. Even a seeming throw-away like "Meet James Ensor" is a perfect pop confection (and probably the only song of that genre about a famous dutch artist).

I don't get the jibe "if that's your idea of clever" in the Amazon review. If an album that incorporates Alice Cooper, James Ensor, and Alan Ginsberg in the same 18 songs isn't clever, one wonders what is.

If you can deal with the fact that this album has a different sound than the first four TMBGs, you'll love this stuff.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Man against the Machine, August 13, 2004

By 

Henry Platte (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: John Henry (Audio CD)

John Henry sounds as good as any TMBG effort, but on inspection, I think it also proves to be one of their deepest and most cohesive albums. Random cleverness is replaced by a subtle, consistent mood, total lyrical abstraction begins to give way to a message, and the individual songs are great. Besides, with a full twenty songs (almost an hour of music), there's bound to be something on here for everyone.

Most of the songs on Henry have a darker tone, whether explicitly (Why Must I Be Sad?; The End of the Tour) or subtly, coded into the lyrics (Destination Moon, Spy, Sleeping in the Flowers). The sound is also vaguely more _metal_ than the sort of candy-coated synthesizers and horns that characterized their earlier albums (not that there's any absence of horns), from the rough-edged harmonica opening of Subliminal to the grungy guitars on Sleeping In The Flowers and others. It may seem more commercial to some, but this sound is still entirely distinct.

As for the theme of the lyrics, it may seem hypocritical for a band which used to be more machine than man to entitle one of their albums John Henry ("a man aint nothing but a man / but before I let that steam drill beat me down / I'm gonna die with a hammer in my hand, yessir; etc.") and record a song like Thermostat, an impassioned plea against the dangers of modern automation. But the sentiment is real, and portraits of human alienation and loneliness (Spy) placed alongside villanous characterizations of machines (AKA Driver; Dirt Bike) suggest a unity which no TMBG album has had to date. The result is a deeper listening experience relying on more than puns for its effect.

As for the individual songs, the upbeat Destination Moon and James Ensor just sound terrific; some of my favorites. The End of the Tour is also powerful and genuinely touching. Some of the tracks are weaker, and I tend to skip Unrelated Thing and I Should Be Allowed to Think. Still, with this kind of quantity, the quality is very consistent.

All in all, TMBG has produced something really outstanding. Even people who dismiss them for their lack of substance (a charge that, you have to admit, is somewhat fair) should take note of Henry.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best album ever, hands down., March 30, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: John Henry (Audio CD)

Okay. I absolutely adore this album. Critics panned it, but screw them--what do they know? From the hard-rocking "Snail Shell", to the bouncy "Destination Moon", to the beautifully sad "The End Of The Tour", this album is awesome.

Now for a track-by-track analysis.

1. Subliminal (2:45) - Pretty good. The backwards portion at the end is really cool. 4/5
2. Snail Shell (3:20) - Awesome. This song rocks out loud, pure and simple. 5/5
3. Sleeping In The Flowers (4:30) - This song is just cool. The chorus is really different from the verses, but it works. 5/5
4. Unrelated Thing (2:30) - Everyone hates this one, but I think it's good. 4/5
5. AKA Driver (3:14) - Another song that just rocks. 5/5
6. I Should Be Allowed To Think (3:09) - This is a song about teen rebellion, I think, and somehow, it works. 5/5
7. Extra Savoir-Faire (2:48) - Eh. One of the weaker tracks. 3/5
8. Why Must I Be Sad? (4:08) - Cool, in a dark sorta way. 5/5
10. O, Do Not Forsake Me (2:30) - This one's weird, but I kinda like it. 4/5
11. No One Knows My Plan (2:37) - This one's good for dancing! 5/5
12. Dirt Bike (3:05) - Another slightly weaker one. 3/5
13. Destination Moon (2:27) - This is an awesomely bouncy song, but knowing TMBG, the lyrics are darker. I love it! 5/5
14. A Self Called Nowhere (3:22) - Another dark, yet REALLY cool one. 5/5
15. Meet James Ensor (1:33) - Weaker. 3/5
16. Thermostat (3:11) - This one's really catchy and cool. 5/5
17. Window (1:00) - Nice. Has a very theme song-ish quality. 4/5
18. Out Of Jail (2:38) - Another extremely catchy song, with a very twisted theme. 5/5
19. Stomp Box (1:55) - Awesome and hard. Probably TMBG's hardest song yet. 5/5
20. The End Of The Tour (3:18) - Best. Song. Ever. It's so sad...I want it played at my funeral.

In short, buy this album. You won't regret it.

By Anna Ng, a 13-year-old TMBG fan, and no, that's not her real last name