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Factory Showroom

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Factory Showroom album cover
Factory Showroom
Studio album by They Might Be Giants
First released October 8, 1996 Tracks 13 (14 counting hidden track) Previous album John Henry
Label Elektra Length 42:30 (43:32 with hidden track) Next album Long Tall Weekend

Factory Showroom is They Might Be Giants' sixth studio album, their last to be released on Elektra.

[edit] Purchase

Contents

Seller Format Price Purchase!
Amazon CD $9.98
$7.99!
Amazon MP3 $7.99
iTunes AAC $9.99 Purchase.gif
TMBG Merchandise Store CD $14.00
eBay Promo CD $5.46 (1 auction)

[edit] Description

[edit] Making The Album

According to A Guided Tour Of Factory Showroom (a press release from the band), the album was mainly written during a series of shows at the Mercury Lounge in New York City and short east coast and midwest tours. The album was recorded in New York City, including at the band's personal studios. It was the second album that they recorded with their full band, which included Brian Doherty (drums), Graham Maby (bass), and Eric Schermerhorn (lead guitar). The album was also the band's first in which Pat Dillett worked with TMBG as their producer.

In addition to recording in New York City, the band was able to make a series of Wax Cylinder Recordings at the Edison Laboratories in West Orange, NJ. The band performed the songs in front of a small audience, singing and playing acoustic instruments into a pair of enormous metal cones, which fed the sound into a hundred year old non-electrical recording device created by Thomas Edison in the 1890s. One of these recordings, "I Can Hear You," made its way onto Factory Showroom.

[edit] The Complete Factory Showroom Sessions

A picture of the leaked Complete Factory Showroom Sessions cassette.
A picture of the leaked Complete Factory Showroom Sessions cassette.

A cassette of the recording sessions was leaked to the public by an unknown source, much to the disapproval of John and John. The cassette included demo versions of "Older" and "On The Drag" that are unavailable elsewhere. It contained 22 tracks, which was substantially more than the 14 tracks (including the hidden track) that were released on the final album. (As a side note, at the time, this was the least number of tracks to appear on a TMBG album.)

[edit] Sales And Singles

Factory Showroom only yielded one single, "S-E-X-X-Y," which failed to chart on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks. The album itself peaked at #89 on the Billboard 200 for the week of October 26, 1996, but only spent two short weeks on the chart before dropping off.

[edit] Track Listing

Factory Showroom Elektra Promo Cover Art
Factory Showroom Elektra Promo Cover Art
Factory Showroom Elektra Promo CD label
Factory Showroom Elektra Promo CD label

[edit] US Tracklisting

  1. Token Back To Brooklyn (1:02)
  1. S-E-X-X-Y (3:51)
  2. Till My Head Falls Off (2:53)
  3. How Can I Sing Like A Girl? (4:32)
  4. Exquisite Dead Guy (2:02)
  5. Metal Detector (3:50)
  6. New York City (3:02)
  7. Your Own Worst Enemy (1:45)
  8. XTC Vs. Adam Ant (3:37)
  9. Spiraling Shape (4:24)
  10. James K. Polk (3:04)
  11. Pet Name (4:04)
  12. I Can Hear You (1:57)
  13. The Bells Are Ringing (3:32)

[edit] Japan-only bonus tracks

  1. Unforgotten (3:06)
  2. Sensurround (2:57)

[edit] Trivia

  • The typeface on the cover is "Giant" by Jonathan Hoefler, created specifically for the album.
  • The working title for the album was rumored to be, quite simply, "Crap".
  • While the US release of Factory Showroom does not include lyrics, the Japanese version included them in both English and Japanese.
  • "Token Back To Brooklyn" was a hidden track. To find it, you need to rewind before track 1. It won't work on some CD players, including most computers. It is also omitted from the non-US releases of the album, again due to a manufacturing problem at the European pressing plant (all too similar to the problems with Apollo 18).
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