Talk:Apollo 18

I've noticed that this isn't available on Itunes, while most of TMBG's major albums are; is this related to some kind of Fingertips-related problem? If so, wouldn't it be possible to lump all the pieces together like the EU edition?

I'm guessing that's the case. Fingertips, if I recall correctly, was also lumped together on Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants, so it could be done. --TuqueeLukee 01:57, 3 Apr 2005 (EST)

Oh, it's on iTunes now. But they have the release date as August 30, 2005, which we all know is not right. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 00:54, 28 Oct 2005 (CDT)

Apollo 18 on MSN music is similar to the iTunes version in that it has the august 30th date also, and all the fingertips are split up, but each is 99 cents. however, i think the fingertips are in the correct order compared to the iTunes version. --Ehsteve14 20:39, 28 Nov 2005 (EST)

Apollo 18 is all screwed up on iTunes. Everything Is Catching On Fire is Hey Now Everybody, and Fingertips (Banjo) is Space Suit. -Cronny

You can download the whole album from walmart.com for $9.44. Probably a good way to get around the $24.99 cost of doing it on iTunes, eh? (perspixx)

Just curious, but is there any reason why there's currently so much empty space under the "Track Listing" heading right now on this page? It seems to be caused by the placement of the images on the page, but it may be intentional, so I don't want to change it without asking (and I'm not sure if I could if I wanted to). So let me know. ~Drew

Oh, wow. Guess you're an IE user, because I've never seen that bug in Firefox. Anyway, you've just discovered an IE glitch that must affect multiple pages here, so I guess I've got some fixing to do. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 20:39, 25 May 2006 (CDT)

This was the last TMBG album released on vinyl right? And then only in europe. Is this correct? If so it should be listed in the triva section.

Album Art?

Anyone know anything about the album cover? Seems to me, I've seen that image of Whale vs. Squid in a couple other places too. Is that an old public domain graphic? Is there maybe an interesting story about how the album cover got designed? I'd love to know how that came to be pieced together. 66.17.118.195 18:39, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

In "With The Dark" the squid and the whale are there--Goodtimes2

I saw in a Futurama episode the same likeness (Whale vs. Squid) as Fry and a mermaid were underwater. Can't remember the episode, thought it was kinda a funny refrence (if even a refrence). --Lemita 00:50, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm a Futurama fan, and I know which episode you're talking about. I think I slightly remember that scene, and my bet is that it's a reference, seeing as how Futurama and The Simpsons have the same creator, and The Simpsons have referenced TMBG a few times. And plus whales fighting squids aren't exactly common occurrences. :p Akagi 01:07, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

It's called "The Deep South," (with the mysterious lost city of Atlanta) and it's an excellent episode. ~ magbatz 01:45, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Sperm whales fighting giant squids is actually a common occurrance, in fact they're famous for it. Scientists are always finding whales with suction cup scars from the battles. You can actually see a model of it in the Natural History museum in NYC.--Oddjob 14:09, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

You mean the National History museum has an Apollo 18 reference?!?! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 14:42, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

See, Q, TMBG has a toehold in the scientific community too, not just the music and entertainment industries! ;) Their influence is constantly expanding. Makes me wonder what else they're influencing . . . and when they're planning to take over the world. ~Drew

Has it come up yet that there's a section of the Hall of Ocean Life (in said museum) entitled "They Might Be Giants" about the size of mammals in colder climates, then? -Apollo (oh no!) (you can find my talk page if you look hard enough) 00:34, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Whoa. That's pretty cool. --Sparkling_Omelets 18:55, 23 May 2010 (UTC)

I think The Darkness pays homage to this album cover in the filmclip to I Believe In A Thing Called Love. At the end a giant squid attacks their ship. The filmclip has other references to geek culture including Clawgrip from Super Mario bros 2 and a rip off from the Phantom Menace. I believe in a thing called love Blackula

EU/German CD release?

The Apollo 18 CD I have has catalog number 7559-61257-2 and says 'Made in Germany by WARNER MUSIC MANUFACTURING EUROPE' on the bottom. Am I correct in thinking we don't have this one listed yet? It has a copyright notice on the cd itself in English, German and French, so I assume it's European, rather than German. Wout 21:44, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

i'm not sure why the A18 LP we have has 2 listed as the suffix... 2 is for CDs, 1 is for LPs... i'll go and change that, but you're welcome to add the euro cd : ) -- 21:47, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

Apollo 18 Movie Synchronized to Apollo 18 CD.

Dear TMBG fans:

Recently, I downloaded the 2011 movie, "Apollo 18," from the internet. Having seen the film's premise, I thought I would try watching this synchronized to TMBG's 1992 CD of the same title. Playing the movie in VLC Media Player and the mp3 files of TMBG's album, the synchronization results are interesting.

Starting the mp3 "Apollo 18" at the end of the flash of yellow light at the start of the "Apollo 18" movie, here are some of the results of the synchronization:

- During "I Palindrome I," when JL sings "Son, I am able," one of the astronaut's sons is on screen.

- At the very end of "I Palindrome I," when the Apollo 18 mission patch is shown on screen, the exact same musical tone is on both the CD/mp3 album and the film.

- At "My Evil Twin," two astronauts appear on screen. The video fibrillation moves to the tune's rhythm.

- During "Mammal," the LEM Lands on the moon at the lyric "cold and explosive radiating growth." Again, the film video vibrates, and the astronauts walk on the lunar surface, to the exact musical rhythm.

- At "The Statue Got Me High," astronauts are in the Lunar Rover on the moon, almost just as the Johns are seen driving in their cars. The TMBG video also featured men in space suits.

- When JL sings, "The Rock that Spoke A Word," the metal arm picks up a rock which one of the astronauts says, "feels strange," when he holds it in his hand.

- During the song, "Dinner Bell," not only are the astronauts wearing the same clothes they wore through the mission, but they are also shaving and eating food packed for space travel, indicating this would have been their breakfast meal.

- During the song, "The Guitar," a mashup of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," the astronauts are trying to sleep in hammocks when the space rocks start to take control of the LEM. When the lyrics, "The Lion's on the Phone," are sung, an astronaut contacts Houston and experiences interference. Coincidentally, Plantronics designed the headsets used by the Apollo astronauts, as well as some nice microphones and audio systems for telephones here on Earth.

- During the song, "She's Actual Size" the Apollo 18 rocket launches during the night, hence, "light beams down from Heaven." Also, squares look smaller as the rocket leaves the Earth's atmosphere...

- During the song, "Turn Around," the astronauts and the camera frequently turn as the title lyrics are sung. Also, this is the point where the astronauts discover the dead Soviet Cosmonauts whom were attacked and killed by...

THE SPACE ROCKS THAT COME TO LIFE IN ARACHNID FORM (and eat the astronauts from the inside out)!!! (Spider!!)

- Lastly, there is the song, "Space Suit." During this song, the mission chief removes his space suit so the other astronaut can surgically remove one of the living, arachnid rocks from his peritoneal cavity, just under the chief's rib cage, where the alien moon rock punctured his skin after entering his space suit to implant itself as a parasite and feed on the astronaut's body and blood. This also causes a massive, rapidly spreading blood infection, as the alien arachnid moon rock plants its ova sack in the astronaut's body. Of course, the moon rock spiders ultimately hatch and consume his body entirely.

Granted, the 2011 movie "Apollo 18" is boring, somewhat disjointed, claustrophobic, and shallow. It is only enhanced by listening to the TMBG 1992 "Apollo 18" CD. After that, interest is barely maintained in spite of some very professional film attempts to create a film that appears to be 37 years old.

Spider. He is our hero. Spider. GET-RID-OF. Spider. MUST KILL!!! I promise, this movie will bore you unless you synchronize it with the 1992 TMBG CD, "Apollo 18."

Sincerely,

Richard C. August

The sign of the beast

Thanks to this cool thing, I just noticed Apollo 18 has 18 songs if you say Fingertips is one song. (I suddenly understand the dreams I've been having.) All should plan accordingly. ~ magbatz 22:54, 26 March 2012 (EDT)

oh. -Apollo (colloquia!) 23:11, 26 March 2012 (EDT)

Fingertips Re-Contextualized?

I'm a TMBG enthusiast and also a very amateur(ish) songwriter--have been since the mid-90s. I'm wondering if anyone knows: has there ever been talk of anyone putting together an album of songs, each of which re-contextualizes each non-sequitur piece of "Fingertips" into its own complete song?

If not, I think this is a great idea and someone (maybe me?) ought to get to work straight away.

Believe it or not, this has been done already! A group called They Might Be Gannets took on the project back in 2006. More info and downloads are available here. --MisterMe (talk) 09:57, 13 August 2014 (EDT)

CD Recordable?

I got my copy of Apollo 18 today. I took a look at the CD and I spotted the CD logo on it but instead of saying "Digital Audio" below "Compact Disc", it said "Recordable". What does this mean? --Supernintendo64 (talk) 20:42, 10 June 2016 (EDT)

Top Ten Songs

Based on the average ratings given by users, these are the current top ten songs off this album.

10: My Evil Twin

9: Turn Around

8: Space Suit

7: Narrow Your Eyes

6: See The Constellation

5: Mammal

4: Fingertips

3: The Statue Got Me High

2: I Palindrome I

1: Dinner Bell

The average score is 8.41

I thought this would help new fans know what some of the most popular songs are.

'94 release?

When I put the CD in my computer, it says the tracks were modified on December 31, 1994 at 4:00 PM Jibblies108 (talk) 13:06, 27 September 2023 (EDT)

sounds like 00:00 1 january 1995 utc, probably some default date. -- 13:12, 27 September 2023 (EDT)

Happy Birthday to Apollo 18

Apollo 18 is now 32 years old. This is a good album I give it an 8/10. - J2010

This is a great album I give it a 10/10. TitanicFog (talk) 14:16, 20 March 2024 (EDT)

International Space Year logo

It's astonishing how few known uses there are of the International Space Year logo. Many countries issued stamps celebrating ISY but none used the logo.

One logo use I've been able to find in Smithsonian archives is this ISY poster featuring E.T. hugging the earth: [1]

Some variants of this logo show up too. A good search term is "ISY Association". Here's an ISY-internal document with a different logo on bottom of the cover page [2]