Flood: They Might Be Giants: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Theme From Flood

2. Birdhouse In Your Soul

3. Lucky Ball And Chain

4. Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

5. Dead

6. Your Racist Friend

7. Particle Man

8. Twisting

9. We Want A Rock

10. Someone Keeps Moving My Chair

11. Hearing Aid

12. Minimum Wage

13. Letterbox

14. Whistling In The Dark

15. Hot Cha

16. Women And Men

17. Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love

18. They Might Be Giants

19. Road Movie To Berlin

Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

TMBG has always been a great reason for math and computer science majors to add a real rock album to their collection of John Williams and Weird Al records--and Flood is a bacchanalian celebration of stupidity. Lifting off from their previous album, Lincoln, which was a sort of transitional hit-or-miss, Flood is a soaring, catchy sing-along album destined for people who love quoting Monty Python sketches. Try not singing the words to "Particle Man", "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" or "Birdhouse in your Soul". (Apparently, "Particle Man" was so catchy that the song was later used as a sing-along in a cartoon show for children.) Combining a book-smart, funny love of history, junk culture and film noir, this is the album to own. Put it on loud, sing along and dance very, very badly. --Todd Levin

Amazon.com essential recording

TMBG has always been a great reason for math and computer science majors to add a real rock album to their collection of John Williams and Weird Al records--and Flood is a bacchanalian celebration of dorkiness. Lifting off from their previous album, Lincoln, which was a sort of transitional hit-or-miss, Flood is a soaring, catchy sing-along album destined for people who love quoting Monty Python sketches. Try not singing the words to "Particle Man," "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," or "Birdhouse in your Soul." (Apparently, "Particle Man" was so catchy that the song was later used as a sing-along in a cartoon show for children.) Combining a book-smart, funny love of history, junk culture, and film noir, this is the album to own. Put it on loud, sing along, and dance very, very badly. --Todd Levin

See all Product Description

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

128 Reviews

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (128 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This "Flood" is a good thing!, Jun 22 2004

By

J. Sweeney (manchester, mo) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Flood (Audio CD)

There are a lot of reviews here already, so I'll keep it short and sweet. Wonderful, catchy, pop songs for people who don't think they like pop! And one last word: FUN! Go get it-NOW!

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice, but not their best, Jun 7 2004

By

"thenintengenius" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flood (Audio CD)

Debate has waged on in the TMBG camp for ages about the quality of this album. One side (the Floodies) maintain that Flood is the best album that TMBG ever did, while the other point out the album's unevenness and make the case for the album being among their worst. The debate is never going to end, of course, but I believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

When Flood is good, it's very good. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" deserves mention by itself, a wonderfully beautiful instant classic that proved what the two Johns could do with a major label recording budget. "Dead" is wonderful in its bizareness, "Twisting" takes on the tale of a psychotic ex and her quest to destroy her former loved one, and "We Want a Rock" is a brilliant piece of nonsense, just to note a few of the great tracks scattered across the album.

However, the album also has its downsides. The criminally overrated "Particle Man" is nothing more than nonsensical fluff (despite having nostalgia value for being on Tiny Toons and its instant novelty appeal), "Hearing Aid" is a bad idea that starts nowhere and ends nowhere, and "Your Racist Friend," while somewhat fun, is also overtly preachy.

Flood still rates among their better releases, and that's largely due to the sheer charisma and energy put into the songs. The group had a large budget to work with now, and they were going to use it in any way possible, ending up with a batch of experiments that either failed miserably (the afformentioned "Hearing Aid"), worked wonderfully (the group's sublimely bizarre theme song of sorts, "They Might Be Giants"), or fell somewhere in between ("Letterbox" is at turns interesting and frustrating). This experimentation, however, is key to what makes Flood such a hard album to categorize, even now, and is part of the album's appeal.

Flood might not be as good as the group's first two releases, but it does make a nice introduction to the group along with Apollo 18.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars Particle Man made me buy this album, Jun 2 2004

By

Paul Davey (Lancaster, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flood (Audio CD)

But I love the rest of it just as much. I saw an online video of that song, and it was so hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing. That was a few years ago. A few weeks ago I picked up the album on a whim and Particle Man was there. That introduced me to TMBG for good, and I've since collected all the other albums. This is the best starting point for a new TMBG fan indeed. Birhouse in Your Soul is so catchy you can't help but sing along with it. Istanbul (not Constantinople) is another great tune.

But I think the best tracks are the wierder ones. Hearing Aid, a lot of people don't like, but I think it's great, epecially when they sing "Because, because." Someone Keeps Moving My Chair, Minimum Wage, Hot Cha, and Women and Men.

Get this album first, then go in order from the debut. It's a great set of music to listen to with your kids, too (but don't take my word for it, it's just what I've heard, but I imagine it's true.).

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 128 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 159 reviews 4.7 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A must for any They Might Be Giants fan
This CD is possibly They Might Be Giants' most famous CD. It contains most of their famous songs and radio hits, including Particle Man and Birdhouse In Your Soul. Read more

Published on May 13 2004 by Maq

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a good one
This is the first album of theirs I have heard.
It is the one that made me get into them.
It's the only one my dad can stand to listen to. Read more

Published on April 11 2004 by DominEl