John Henry (album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| John Henry | ||
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| Studio album by They Might Be Giants | ||
| Released | September 13, 1994 | |
| Recorded | 1993–1994 | |
| Genre | Alternative rock | |
| Length | 57:07 | |
| Label | Elektra/Asylum | |
| Producer(s) | Paul Fox | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| They Might Be Giants chronology | ||
| Back to Skull (1994) |
John Henry (1994) |
Live!! New York City 10/14/94 (1994) |
| TMBG studio album chronology | ||
| Apollo 18 (1992) |
John Henry (1994) |
Factory Showroom (1996) |
John Henry is the name of They Might Be Giants' fifth original album, although it is the sixth disc in their discography. It was released in 1994 (see 1994 in music). It is the first album in which John Linnell and John Flansburgh utilized a full band, as opposed to playing most or all of the instruments themselves. The album's name, a reference to the man vs. machine fable of John Henry, is roughly an allusion to the band's fundamental switch to more conventional instrumentation, especially the newly-established use of a human drummer instead of a drum machine.
John Henry is both TMBG's longest record (twenty tracks clocking it at about a full hour) and their most divisive. The hard-rocking live sound, abundance of guitar solos, and unrelenting dreariness was almost entirely unexpected by fans and panned by most mainstream critics.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrical themes
The lyrics to the song "AKA Driver" refer to a "NyQuil driver". Legal issues — whether real or perceived — required a title with no reference to the medicine, and the lyrics to the song are omitted from the CD insert.
"I Should Be Allowed to Think" excerpts the first line (I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical) of the poem Howl by Allen Ginsberg.
"Meet James Ensor" refers to the eccentric Belgian expressionist painter James Ensor, whose works excited John Flansburgh. In an interview, Flansburgh explained that "the line Dig him up and shake his hand is actually very specific – a parallel idea to a lot of his paintings which involve resurrections, skeletons and puppets being animated. [...] With the song, I'm trying to encapsulate the issues of his life – an eccentric guy who became celebrated and was soon left behind as his ideas were taken into the culture and other people became expressionists."[1]
[edit] Track listing
(All songs by They Might Be Giants, except "AKA Driver" by They Might Be Giants, Tony Maimone, Brian Doherty)
- "Subliminal" – 2:45
- "Snail Shell" – 3:20
- "Sleeping in the Flowers" – 4:30
- "Unrelated Thing" – 2:31
- "AKA Driver" – 3:14
- "I Should Be Allowed To Think" – 3:09
- "Extra Savoir-Faire" – 2:48
- "Why Must I Be Sad?" – 4:08
- "Spy" – 3:06
- "O, Do Not Forsake Me" – 2:30
- "No One Knows My Plan" – 2:37
- "Dirt Bike" – 3:05
- "Destination Moon" – 2:27
- "A Self Called Nowhere" – 3:22
- "Meet James Ensor" – 1:33
- "Thermostat" – 3:11
- "Window" – 1:00
- "Out of Jail" – 2:38
- "Stomp Box" – 1:55
- "The End of the Tour" – 3:18
[edit] Personnel
John Henry is the first album credited to They Might Be Giants as a full band, rather than a duo:
- John Flansburgh – vocals, guitar
- John Linnell – vocals, keyboard, horns
- Tony Maimone – bass guitar
- Graham Maby – bass guitar
- Brian Doherty – drums
[edit] Guests
- Hudson Shad – vocals on "O, Do Not Forsake Me"
- Robert Quine - guitar solos on "Sleeping in the Flowers", "No One Knows My Plan"
[edit] External links
- John Henry at This Might Be A Wiki
