Lincoln

From This Might Be A Wiki

Lincoln Studio album by They Might Be Giants
First released	September 25, 1988 Release details / collectors: Show \| Hide	Tracks	18	Previous album	They Might Be Giants
Label	Bar/None / Restless	Length	39:32	Next album	Flood

This page is for They Might Be Giants' second album. For the band of the same name, see Lincoln (Band).

Lincoln is They Might Be Giants' second studio album, released in 1988 on Bar/None through Restless.

Seller	Format	Price	Link
Amazon	CD	$5.88
iTunes	AAC	$9.99

[edit] Description

For the band's sophomore effort, TMBG worked once again with producer Bill Krauss. This was the last album he produced for the band, which subsequently turned to Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley for the production of Flood. All the bass parts on the album are synthetic or sampled. In addition, all but one track with drum-samples used an Alesis HR16 drum machine.

A historical chart showing Lincoln's performance on "The Billboard 200".

The cover of Lincoln (named after the Johns' hometown, Lincoln, Massachusetts) features pictures of Flansburgh's maternal grandfather, Brigadier General Ralph Hospital (right) and Linnell's paternal great-grandfather, Lewis T. Linnell (left), in a shrine built by Brian Dewan and photographed by Jamie Kitman's wife, Carol.

The album debuted on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart (now known as "The Billboard 200") the week of December 24, 1988 and spent 19 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 89. In addition, it produced three singles: Ana Ng, Purple Toupee, and They'll Need A Crane. Ana Ng, which was the first single by the band to land on Billboard Chart, spent 9 weeks on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Chart, peaking at number 11 in late 1988.

The success of the album led to it being re-released alongside The Pink Album on the Restless compilation album Then: The Earlier Years (in their entireties.) It also paved the way for the band to make the jump from the independent label Bar/None to the major label Elektra.

Promotional postcard

Magazine ad for Elektra's re-release of the album

[edit] Track listing

#	Title	Length
1	Ana Ng	3:23
2	Cowtown	2:21
3	Lie Still, Little Bottle	2:06
4	Purple Toupee	2:40
5	Cage & Aquarium	1:10
6	Where Your Eyes Don't Go	3:06
7	Piece Of Dirt	2:00
8	Mr. Me	1:52
9	Pencil Rain	2:42
10	The World's Address	2:24
11	I've Got A Match	2:36
12	Santa's Beard	1:55
13	You'll Miss Me	1:53
14	They'll Need A Crane	2:33
15	Shoehorn With Teeth	1:13
16	Stand On Your Own Head	1:16
17	Snowball In Hell	2:31
18	Kiss Me, Son Of God	1:54

[edit] Trivia

The cover photograph, taken by Carol Kitman, is of a shrine made by Brian Dewan featuring ancestors of the Johns. A part of the shrine can also be seen on the back cover of They'll Need A Crane.
The vinyl release features the words "THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS" on the front cover, and "LINCOLN" on the reverse. The record features lyrics from "Ana Ng" between the run-out grooves on either side of the LP:
- Side 1: "I don't want the world"
- Side 2: "I just want your half"
Linnell on the back cover artwork: "I think it's a drawing that I made for measurements for my accordion case. If you open it up, on the actual CD, there are pictures of both the case and the accordion. I just did those on yellow legal paper to send to the guy who was building our cases for our first tour, and Flansburgh saved the drawings and we put them on the cover." (Pitchfork, 1996)
The Italian releases of the album have several significant issues. Details concerning the LP labels are outlined here.

[edit] Image Gallery

[edit] Vinyl

LP cover
LP back
Side One label
Problematic Italian labels

[edit] Cassette

Cassette cover
Inside of cassette card

[edit] CD

Back cover artwork
CD, with diagrams of accordions and a case drawn by John Linnell; some copies are printed in black rather than red
Longbox front
Longbox back