Here Come The ABCs (With Exclusive Amazon.com Content)

They Might Be Giants

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 15, 2005)
• ASIN: B0007MU1IW
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #58,900 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

No stranger to the realm of children's records, They Might Be Giants have seen success with their CD No! and the book and CD combo Bed, Bed, Bed. Their latest CD, Here Come The ABCs, offers up twenty-five alphabetically themed songs. However, as is their charming way, the two Johns (Flansburgh and Linnell), use the letters as merely the connective tissue, allowing them to pursuit intriguing flights of fancy that consider everything from the relative power of letters and sounds to animal hijinks. Just as they've always done, there are wistful ballads and high octane rockers. TMBG have always been a family-friendly band, and this disc works just fine for adult fans, who can rightfully consider this simply their newest release. -- David Greenberger

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helping children and bringing back fond memories to me!, February 15, 2005

By	Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

The joy is that John Flansburgh and John Linnell have produced yet another wonderful, thoughtful and creative CD for children! This CD is a great educational tool handling 25 tunes designed to educate while entertaining young children about the alphabet. The songs really are TRULY catchy with funny, thoughtful, lighthearted lyrics. Flansburgh and Linnell realize that in order to keep the very young interested in beginning education, you have to keep them entertained so they stay motivated as well! (This of course is true to a smaller degree with us adults, too!) Flansburgh and Linnell do a sublime job of mixing the education with the fun "intriguing flights of fancy" in their stories they use to connect the lessons about the alphabet and words that might otherwise be too dry for some of the younger children to keep them interested.

I must admit that this CD brings back fond memories of my parents, aunts, uncles and occasional babysitters reading to me on the living room sofa trying to show me that "books and words" are our friends. This is precisely the thing that Flansburgh and Linnell are doing here on this CD; and I suppose my affection for this CD is partly because it brings back the really good memories I have. In fact, I just bought two copies for nieces and nephews of mine! (One CD I got at the local store because I couldn't wait and the other through Amazon. I guess this makes me a TMBG enthusiast! GRIN)

I especially like the way the three bonus tracks follow the song "Goodnight." It's just so thoughtful, just like the way little children say "Good night, Mommy" and then ask for yet just one more bedtime story, "please?"

Another BIG plus is that this version of the CD has (as you can see) extra exclusive content available to us only if we purchase this CD on Amazon. I would recommend buying this product here for the obvious reasons.

And even another plus: This is an enhanced CD-there are multimedia computer files for the children to enjoy! The parents can enjoy, too, just as they enjoy Disney when they take their own kids there! Hehehe Parents also ought to get a good sense of pleasure that their children will be learning from a quality educational tool while the kids enjoy at the same time.

Another quick note: Look for Desi Tomaselli and Marty Beller to chime in on the vocals on this album. A nice touch, very well done by all.

I think this is an excellent CD for parents to choose as a learning device for their young children who are ready to learn the alphabet and enjoy some fun, beautifully creative stories at the same time. One writer once wrote that "They Might Be Giants is...one of most educationally oriented bands on the planet;" and I couldn't agree more!
We are fortunate to have these great artists amongst us and I applaud their efforts! These are people who want a better world for our children!

63 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Only 4 stars, but it's Disney's fault, March 3, 2005

By	bensmomma "bensmomma" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

TMBG seem like big kids and great dads; this album contains kid-friendly songs about the alphabet, including the classic lyrics "urnx, urnx, ni, imnx, ictv,ictv, nicu" which translates as "You are an X, you are an X, and I, I am an X, I see TV, I see TV, and I see you." [This one has a compelling country-western kinda twang to it!] The letters all have quirky personalities (W is called "double-wide") that kids will love.

But (and it's a BIG but), this has not the charm of their previous kid's effort "No, No, No" and it's entirely Disney's fault (the album is a Disney production). "No, No, No" had these really cute little animations/games that could be played, simply, on your computer. But if you put "ABCs" into your computer, what comes up is merely a link to Disney's web site--and you have to REGISTER--and it's not clear whether once you do there will be any added content. In fact, it took about 10 minutes to figure out how to circumvent Disney's tremendous need to market to my hapless kids and merely *listen* to the album.

So the visual angle that reinforced the songs and increased the play value of the previous album is gone daddy gone. Now Disney has your name and your kids' name too. John, John, my kids want to see your letters boogie - do they have to be SOLD to to see it?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't measure up, September 19, 2005

By	S. L. Fabros (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been a fan of They Might Be Giants for as long as I can remember. I have always loved their "educational" songs as much as the purely entertaining ones. I thought it was a great idea for TMBG to move into music geared more toward kids, and loved their prior release, "No!"

However, I don't think that this CD measures up to what TMBG has done in the past. Part of the problem with the CD is that it is music from the DVD, and some of the songs on the DVD are very visual (e.g., "Letter Shapes"). There are a few songs that are enjoyable just on the CD (my favorites are "Alphabet of Nations" and "Z Y X"), but if you want to really enjoy this release, forgo the CD and just buy the DVD.

Also, just so that I wouldn't be posting only my adult comments on this product, I showed the DVD to my two nephews (ages 1 and 4), and they got bored after about the third song and asked to watch The Wiggles instead.