Track Listing

1. Theme from Flood
2. Birdhouse in Your Soul
3. Lucky Ball & Chain
4. Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
5. Dead
6. Your Racist Friend
7. Particle Man
8. Twisting
9. We Want a Rock
10. Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
11. Hearing Aid
12. Minimum Wage
13. Letterbox
14. Whistling in the Dark
15. Hot Cha
16. Women & Men
17. Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love
18. They Might Be Giants
19. Road Movie to Berlin

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7352 in Music
• Released on: 1990-01-05
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com essential recording
TMBG has always been a great reason for math and computer science majors to add a real rock album to their collection of John Williams and Weird Al records--and Flood is a bacchanalian celebration of dorkiness. Lifting off from their previous album, Lincoln, which was a sort of transitional hit-or-miss, Flood is a soaring, catchy sing-along album destined for people who love quoting Monty Python sketches. Try not singing the words to "Particle Man," "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," or "Birdhouse in your Soul." (Apparently, "Particle Man" was so catchy that the song was later used as a sing-along in a cartoon show for children.) Combining a book-smart, funny love of history, junk culture, and film noir, this is the album to own. Put it on loud, sing along, and dance very, very badly. --Todd Levin

Customer Reviews

Get out the life rafts.
The first time hearing any TMBG song was on the aforementioned children's show in the Amazon review. That must have been about 7 or 8 years ago--but I got so hooked on the music at that point that I searched for about 4 years looking for this album. Eventually, I found it, and it has changed my life. To this day I cannot get the "Particle Man" tune out of my head, and "Birdhouse in Your Soul" still causes me to draw a blue canary (whom I have rightfully dubbed Filibuster Vigilantly) unintentionally on letters and essays. The best part of this album is not only that the songs are pure genius, but they require you to make time in order to get used to the music and interpret it. The Johns allow you to actually take an active role and let you enjoy it as you see fit. It ultimately led me to buy Apollo 18, an equally exquisite piece of art. Believe me when I say this--if you want to be a better person, buy this CD. It makes you see everything in a new, often warped point of view, and will be a driving force in your own imagination and creativity. And the music sounds pretty good, also.

This album made me a TMBG convert!
If you are a TMBG fan, you already know own and love this album, so there is nothing new I can tell you. I'd like to address the newbies who might be browsing this page.

I admit than when I first heard "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "Birdhouse in Your Soul" on the radio (you might not think they got ANY radioplay, but I swear that Live 105 in the Bay Area used to play them), the songs drove me crazy (not in a good way). They were so catchy I couldn't get them out of my head, and I misunderstood the oddball lyrics to mean "Ms. Radiolistener, you are so dim you will listen to any weird thing".

But I would like to publicly apologize for my miscomprehension. I was wrong!! Taken out of context (i.e., on the radio) I was unfairly condemning them. Most songs these days are completely tuneless and show no imagination. But every song on FLOOD is catchy and hard to forget, yes it's true, but that's a GOOD thing. Most lyrics these days are trite and cliched, but there is no a single cliche on Flood that I can find.

Now, when TMBG sings of a "birdhouse in your soul" I hear the joy of an uncensored imagination. (Or two uncensored imaginations, to be more precise). If you are having a bad day at the office, put it in your CD tray, you will feel completely liberated and you will be bopping around your desk.

Average TMBG fare, but a good starting point for new fans
This is an album that seems to receive more than its fair share of both praise and criticism. Some people seem to consider it the only worthwhile album They Might Be Giants have ever made (probably without having actually listened to any of their other albums), and I get the feeling that some TMBG fans consider this to be the band's weakest work simply because it IS the most popular. Personally, I would take a middle ground here; it is certainly not TMBG's best work, but it IS a solid effort, and a good place for potential fans to start. Most of the songs have a fun, accessible kind of sound, welcoming fans and non-fans alike. People tend to have widely varying opinions on which Flood tracks are the best, but just about everyone can agree that one of the highlights is the famous "Birdhouse In Your Soul," an excellent pop song about a nightlight. Other personal favorites include "We Want A Rock," a song featuring a violin and lyrics about prosthetic foreheads and winding string around rocks; "Whistling In The Dark," with similarly odd and amusing lyrics (although the chorus can get a bit tedious) and a clever horn arrangement; the fast-paced "Letterbox"; and the slow piano-sing-along-type "Dead." Quite frankly, there isn't much on this album that I DON'T like, although the extended ending to "Hearing Aid" (featuring about a minute of the sound of machinery breaking down) comes close, and I've grown rather tired of "Particle Man," although that might be due simply to having heard it so many times; taken in and of itself, it's a cute little song, although not the one song I would want people to think of when someone mentions TMBG, which, unfortunately, it seems to have become. All in all, this is a good record for someone unfamiliar with TMBG, and absolutely essential for a fan.