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Flood

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Flood album cover
Flood
Studio album by They Might Be Giants
First released January 5, 1990
(Full release details) 		Tracks 19 Previous album Lincoln
Label Elektra / Asylum Length 43:14 Next album Apollo 18

Flood is They Might Be Giants's third album, released in 1990. It was the band's first release on a major label; Elektra Records. Following the success of their second album, Lincoln, the band made the move from the independent label Bar/None Records.

Contents

[edit] Purchase

Seller Format Price Purchase!
Amazon CD $17.98
$13.99!
iTunes AAC $9.99 Purchase.gif
TMBG Merchandise Store CD $14.00
eBay LP $13.99 (7 auctions)
eBay Cassette $4.51 (4 auctions)

[edit] Description

[edit] Background

Four of the tracks on the album were produced by the duo Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (who would both later work with the band again on Mink Car). Flood was also the first time that the band would work with Pat Dillett, although his contribution was as a second engineer. After Flood, Pat became a frequent producer on subsequent TMBG albums.

[edit] Sales

A chart showing the historical performance of Flood on the Billboard 200.

Flood debuted on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart the week of February 10, 1990, and spent 22 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 75. In addition, Flood became TMBG's first gold-certified release on December 22, 1993. Despite it being TMBG's most popular album, it was given a pretty harsh "2 stars out of 5" review by Rolling Stone upon its release. [1]

[edit] Singles

LP cover art
LP cover art
LP back
LP back
Cassette cover art
Cassette cover art
CD foldout (creases removed)
CD foldout (creases removed)

The album generated three singles, (Birdhouse In Your Soul, Istanbul (Not Constantinople), and Twisting). Birdhouse became one of the group's biggest hits, spending 11 weeks on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Chart, eventually peaking at #3. Likewise, Twisting spent 7 weeks on the same chart, but topped out at #22. Particle Man also became one of the group's most recognizable songs, but was never actually released as a single (contrary to many people's perceptions). However, both Particle Man and Istanbul were used in videos for the children's television show Tiny Toon Adventures, both of which proved to be quite popular.

To this day, Flood continues to be TMBG's best selling album of all time.

[edit] Track Listing

  1. Theme From Flood (0:27)
  2. Birdhouse In Your Soul (3:20)
  3. Lucky Ball And Chain (2:46)
  4. Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (2:38)
  5. Dead (2:58)
  6. Your Racist Friend (2:54)
  7. Particle Man (1:59)
  8. Twisting (1:56)
  9. We Want A Rock (2:47)
  10. Someone Keeps Moving My Chair (2:23)
  11. Hearing Aid (3:26)
  12. Minimum Wage (0:47)
  13. Letterbox (1:25)
  14. Whistling In The Dark (3:25)
  15. Hot Cha (1:34)
  16. Women And Men (1:46)
  17. Sapphire Bullets Of Pure Love (1:36)
  18. They Might Be Giants (2:45)
  19. Road Movie To Berlin (2:22)

[edit] Trivia

  • The photo used for Flood's cover art "was found by Flansburgh in the basement archives of Life magazine. It existed as only a contact print on a roll of film shot by famous photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White. It was in a series of photographs of Kentucky flood victims from around 1930. Another photograph from that very same shoot has become quite well known. It is of people standing in a bread line in front of a billboard poster of a happy family in a car with the words "America: Highest Standard of Living." It is featured in the "Best of Life" and has become synonymous with the Great Depression, even though the events surrounding the photograph are unrelated to it" (from an interview on the old tmbg.com).
  • Elektra Records sold plug-in night lights to promote Flood.
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