John Henry

8.0/10

  John Henry marked a pretty major change in the sound of the band as they added a full backing band.  Previously they had used synthesized drums and bass.  This makes for a bit of a harder rocking, possibly more conventional sound.  This switch probably angered some of the hardcore contingency, but it doesn't bother me too much as I think the full band sound suits them well and five albums in it was probably time to evolve their sound a bit anyway.

  This album has the distinction of being the first "new" album they released after I was already a fan.  In those dark pre-internet times I didn't even know it was coming out.  I went to the record store to buy the newly released R.E.M. album Monster and while I was there I decided to just look at the They Might Be Giants.  I remember losing my breath in excitement for a moment when I realized there was a new TMBG album I didn't know about.  Say what you will about the pre-information age but you just never get that sense of excitement any more.  Any time I went to a record store I had to check all of the bands I liked because there might be a new album, or perhaps even more tantalizingly they might have an older album I didn't know existed.  Prior to having easy access to discography lists you could never be completely sure you had a band's complete output.

  At any rate I got to buy new albums by two of my favorite bands on the same day.  That was a good day.

  You can hear the difference the full band makes pretty much right away.  The bass is much more pronounced and the drums just seem to hit harder.  Otherwise at 20 tracks this is the longest TMBG album to date and maintains the catchy songwriting and quirky lyrics that are their hallmark.

  They had a semi-hit single with this in the form of Snail Shell.  It's a good tune, but not my favorite on the album.  Apparently AKA Driver was also released as a single but didn't chart, which to me is odd because that song's freaking awesome.  Apparently it was supposed to be called NyQuil Driver, but due to trade infringement issues they had to change the name.  They still sing it in the chorus though.

  Their typical bizarre throwaway jokes are pretty fully formed this time around.  Heck, the only song that probably really qualifies for that label is O, Do Not Forsake Me an acapella song that sounds a little like a monk chant or maybe a barbershop quartet.

  There's another kind of educational song in the form of Meet James Ensor about Belgium's famous painter.  It educated me, at any rate.  I'd never heard of the guy before this song so it did in a way introduce me to him.

  I can't say I particularly dislike any of the songs on here, but some other highlights for me include opener Subliminal, Destination Moon, Stomp Box, and closing track The End of the Tour, which just might be the most heartfelt song they'd written up to this point.  I remember reading an analysis of this song a long time ago in which the writer theorized the song is about a car accident.  I think they might be onto something there.  But I also think the song is open to interpretation, like most of the best songs are.

  Even though some people probably didn't like the change to a full band sound, I could also easily believe this could be some people's favorite TMBG album.  It's pretty solid.  It might actually have less weak links than any of their other albums.  But for me personally it's a notch below Flood for sure.

  I did get to see them live for the first time shortly after this album came out.  I only found out they were playing the day of the concert, once again due to lack of easily obtainable info in those primitive days before the internet.  They were part of some weird festival or something so I had to sit through a bunch of crappy bands like Sponge and that annoying chick from 4NonBlondes, but it was totally worth it.  I remember they had the audience get into a giant conga line while they played No One Knows My Plan off of this album.  You'd better believe I participated in that business.  I was all over it.