Extra Savoire Faire (John Henry - They Might Be Giants)

Member Name: MykReeve

Product:	John Henry - They Might Be Giants
Date:	05/09/00 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A couple of great songs

Disadvantages: Trying too hard to be dark

This is They Might Be Giants' fifth album, and it came as an enormous disappointment to me. In fact, listening to it again to review it has been a fairly painful experience - I spent most of my time with my finger hovering above the 'skip track' button.

There is as much inventiveness and originality to their lyrics as we have become used to over the last four albums, but the problem is that the tunes are nothing like as catchy or as upbeat as their previous albums.

Many of the songs have a far harsher feel to them than the band's earlier albums, with much stronger guitar sounds. This wouldn't be such a problem if they didn't clash so much with John Flansburgh and John Linnell's singing voices.

Other songs are merely boring, such as the tedious barber shop quintet-style 'O, Do Not Forsake Me', or the uninspiring and repetitive 'Thermostat'.

However, there are some obvious highlights on the album, such as the excellent opening 'Subliminal', or the invitation to 'Meet James Ensor' - "Belgium's famous painter - Dig him up and shake his hand - Appreciate the man!".

Overall, this seems like a misguided effort by They Might Be Giants to darken their image, with some heavier tunes - such as the bleak 'No One Knows My Plan' ("I want to tell you - you my mirror - you my iron bars - no one understands") or the violent 'Stomp Box' ("Pour the poison in my ear - Kill kill kill kill - Kill me now"). I strongly advise checking out 'Flood' or 'Apollo 18' instead! There are 20 songs on the album, which is one of the band's longest - coming in at just over 57 minutes!

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