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A User's Guide To They Might Be Giants: Melody, Fidelity, Quantity

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A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants: Melody, Fidelity, Quantity TMBG compilation cover
A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants: Melody, Fidelity, Quantity
Collection by They Might Be Giants
First released May 3, 2005 Tracks 29
Label Rhino Length 70:33

Promo cover art
Promo cover art

[edit] Purchase

Contents

Seller Format Price Purchase!
Amazon_icon.jpg Amazon CD $11.98
$11.98! 		Purchase.gif
Tmbgicon.gifTMBG Merchandise Store CD $12.00 Purchase.gif

[edit] Track Listing

  1. Minimum Wage (0:46)
  2. Meet James Ensor (1:53)
  3. Particle Man (1:58)
  4. Don't Let's Start (2:36)
  5. She's An Angel (2:36)
  6. Cyclops Rock (2:42)
  7. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (2:35)
  8. Purple Toupee (2:38)
  9. James K. Polk (3:05)
  10. Birdhouse In Your Soul (3:19)
  11. Ana Ng (3:21)
  12. The Guitar (3:51)
  13. Bangs (3:14)
  14. The Statue Got Me High (3:06)
  15. New York City (3:04)
  16. Doctor Worm (3:02)
  17. Boss Of Me (2:59)
  18. Your Racist Friend (2:55)
  19. Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas) (2:54)
  20. They'll Need A Crane (2:31)
  21. I Palindrome I (2:21)
  22. Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head (2:10)
  23. John Lee Supertaster (2:00)
  24. Older (1:54)
  25. We're The Replacements (1:50)
  26. Dr. Evil (1:51)
  27. No! (1:29)
  28. Clap Your Hands (1:22)
  29. Spider (0:51)

[edit] Trivia/Info

Rhino is releasing the single disc compilation A User's Guide To They Might Be Giants - kind of a simple reduction of Dial-A-Song - on May 3. It is a very interesting introduction to the band. If you were looking for a single disc to lay on the uninitiated, this might be the one. The liner notes, put together with our pal Barbara Glauber, are quite extensive. We've tried to compile all the songs and all the shows since the band's inception. Obviously this was a bit of a research nightmare (I'm not even sure if the show list includes in-stores!) but it is a very interesting object to look at, especially if you have good near-field vision.
  • This is a reduced version of Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants (except for addition of John Lee Supertaster and Clap Your Hands, and the original versions of Why Does The Sun Shine?, and Don't Let's Start). If you're new to TMBG and can't afford Dial-A-Song, this disc offers a good introduction to many of TMBG's singles and more popular songs.
  • The subtitle, "Melody, Fidelity, Quantity" is a reference to the Power Spheres first mentioned in the Apollo 18 promo video.
  • The liner notes contain a listing of of every show (as of the album's release) TMBG ever played; compiled by the band. Also included is a timeline of events notable to TMBG fans such as the election of James K. Polk and when worms evolved. Not only that, but it includes a full list of songs that TMBG has ever recorded as of the compilation's release, a list of other musicians that have worked with TMBG, and a lot of other meaningless graphs and charts including the frequency of TMBG gigs held in places beginning with "new", and an incorrect list of presidents mentioned in their lyrics.
  • The stripe motif on the cover of the CD is based on the valid UPC bar code for the album. On the back cover (figure one A GRAPH OF TRACKS) the bar code is expanded. One track name is written next to each bar, in addition to the figure title for 30 black bars. The length of each bar is proportional to the actual length of the track.
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