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

They Might Be Giants (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 17, 2002)
• Original Release Date: September 17, 2002
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B00006IZOC
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #33,972 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The ultimate anthology curated by the band, 52 songs including 'Don't Let's Start', 'Birdhouse In Your Soul' and the Grammy-winning 'Boss Of Me' plus a full color book with lyrics, discography and essays by the band and NPR's Sarah Vowell. Digipaks housed in a slipcase. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

186 of 211 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music compilations are not the source of all evil., October 20, 2002

By	Mark Cattell "reynwah" (Hollywood, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An *Excellent* "Best Of..." Album, September 20, 2002

By	subpolka "subpolka" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Among the best of the "Best of" records!, February 15, 2004

By	Gail Martin (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

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.