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The Else | 
 enlarge | Artist: They Might Be Giants
Label: Idlewild/Zoe Records
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $13.99
You Save: $3.99 (22%)
New (42) Used (16) from $8.10
Rating:  47 reviews
Sales Rank: 4646
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 431117
UPC: 601143111723
EAN: 0601143111723
ASIN: B000QTCY5O
Release Date: July 10, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | I'm Impressed | | • | Take Out the Trash | | • | Upside Down Frown | | • | Climbing the Walls | | • | Careful What You Pack | | • | The Cap'M | | • | With the Dark | | • | The Shadow Government | | • | Bee of the Bird of the Month | | • | Withered Hope | | • | Countrecoup | | • | Feign Amnesia | | • | The Mesopotamians |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Twenty years after their debut album introduced a well-read duo with a peculiar wit and a gift for contagious melodies, They Might Be Giants--a.k.a. John Linnell and John Flansburgh--still come across as exhilarating and spanking fresh as the theme song to Comedy Central's Daily Show. (Oh yeah, that's them, too.) Fresh off the Giants' second children's record (2005's Here Come the ABCs), the New York twosome began a production alliance with L.A.'s Dust Brothers that resulted in The Else, another collection that ranks with any in their memorable discography. From the fast-tempo opener "I'm Impressed" through the '60s pop edge of "The Mesopotamians," endearing hooks reel you in just far enough for the humorous, often oddball lyrics to bury you. But several times the implications in the lyrics are all too real, such as the love undertones of "Contrecoup" and "Take Out the Trash," an uncannily catchy dump-your-boyfriend song that suggests "Once you get him out, tell him not to come back again." Contradictions like these never bother to disrupt the sequencing, but rather drive home what we already know about They Might Be Giants: they already are. --Scott Holter
Album Description
Japanese pressing of this full-length comes with three additional bonus tracks, 'Brain Problem Situation', 'We Live In A Dump', & 'I'm Your Boyfriend Now'. 3D. 2008.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 42 more reviews...
 Thrilling from start to finish July 29, 2008
"The Else" is probably the best TMBG album in a decade, and that's saying a lot when you're talking about one of the few active bands that makes an effort to be creative without sacrificing the quality of their music. All of the songs on the album are catchy enough that the listener shouldn't feel the need to hit the "skip" button, but a few of them turn out to be a little more daring and ambitious than standard pop songs usually are.
So much pop music these days consists of a couple of bars of music set to a beat that lasts just a few seconds, and then the rest of the song repeats this theme without bothering to develop it any. In other words, so much music these days can be summarized in a few bars, and missing the rest of the song hardly matters. Moderately clever lyrics can cover this up somewhat, but rarely can a few drops of wit justify three to five minutes of generic background music, whether made guitars and drums or by a synch machine.
TMBG try to buck that trend, with their best example of music that develops and actually goes somewhere being the song "With the Dark." Predicting the end of that particular song without having heard it before is simply not possible, yet it still feels like a musical trip rather than several bit sewn together, so it works.
This is not to say that the words to the songs on "The Else" are without merit. To the contrary, they are about as catchy as can be hoped for from modern rock musicians, with first prize for lyricism probably going to the album's final song, "The Mesopotamians." Good stuff, that.
If you want recently created music that will neither bore you nor insult your intelligence, you might want to give "The Else" a try.
What Else? Do You Need? June 25, 2008
Everyone I knew in 1990 had the album Flood with all of the cultish, somewhat hilarious classics that came from this group of nuts and I hadn't even really thought of them for years when I stumbled across their new album. A few listens of the first song "I'm Impressed" had me a little excited, instead of silly pop or strange ethereal words, it was a real song and a good song at that. The boys were actually saying something, so I found the second song "Take Out The Trash" and the next "Upside Down Frown" and by then I was hooked.
I can't even believe how good all of The Else really is. Again, I like every single song on here. Yet again some are better than others so it's not perfect but there aren't a lot of perfect albums out there and when an album can grab me with even 3 songs in a row, I consider it a success. And should long time fans or even remotely loving fans, be worried forget about it - the sense of humor, irony and sarcasm are all still there. I guess, they, like the rest of us, just grew up. Definitely get your hands on The Else, or else. Best Tracks: "I'm Impressed", "Climbing The Walls", "The Shadow Government", "Take Out The Trash".
The Real Scoop May 11, 2008
This is a good, not great, TMBG CD. In my view, the best songs are The Mesopotamians, Bee of a Bird of a Moth, The Cap'm and Upside Down Frown. All of these are absolutely great and, themselves, worth the price of the CD. The Cap'm really grew on me and is fantastic live.
People seem to want something "new" from this band. Not me. If the band can continue to put out great TMBG songs that would fit in equally well on Flood, Factory Showroom, or The Else, that would be just fine with me. And for those who malign The Spine, Memo to Human Resources ranks with the very best TMBG songs of all time. Keep up the good work!
Nostalgia with a new feeling May 7, 2008
I feel as if this album is culmination of all of TMBG's past work. Throughout the album I've felt nostalgic, surprised and desiring more with each new song. Every album before The Else has its great songs and the only song I find 'lacking' on this album is "Feign Amnesia". It's a bit repetitive and ends without and feeling of closure (maybe that was the point but I'm not feeling it).
Everything on The Else feels like it could be placed on another album and not mess up the flow. i.e. "Contrecoup" could've been on Mink Car in place of "My Man" and "Bee of the Bird of the Moth" could very well have been on Apollo 18.
I feel like I've gotten to know TMBG and I might have a different perspective on this album had I only heard a few of their albums or songs. Even if The Else instills a sense of familiarity on me, the songs on it are quite new and fresh without a hint of giving up.
And a comment about the cover art. I was taken quite aback at it. I was so unsure that the CD I ahd picked up at the store was a They Might Be Giants album that I had to re-read the title a few times. The cover art is a little weird, even for TMBG.
4-1/2 stars -- Innovation of giant proportions March 3, 2008
They Might Be Giants is one of those bands that can be classified as a "cult favorite", because although they have never scored many big hits (if any), their albums are still highly acclaimed by fans. And even though their songs sound pretty mainstream, the reason why they've been eluded by mainstream audiences after all is because their subject matter is usually more humorous than serious, thus casual listeners might not know quite what to make of them. Even so, I didn't care for their 2004 album The Spine all that much, but I must say that I'm enjoying The Else.
One interesting thing about this album is that although the band's quirky rhythm's haven't changed much, the songs aren't far out of left field like they usually are. Many of the song's lyrics are a little more serious but fortunately they still succeed, as evidenced by "Bee of the Bird of the Moth", "Careful What You Pack" and "Take out the Trash". But humor still suits them well, as shown on "Climbing the Walls".
I couldn't give the album five stars because "Upside Down Frown" gave me a right-side-up frown, but everything else is stellar enough. They Might Be Giants might be making more children's albums nowadays than "basic" albums, but as far as The Else goes, well, in the words of the opening track, I'm impressed.
Anthony Rupert
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