Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants

by

Various Artists

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No matter the what band you base them on, tribute albums always have the inherent quality of being both great albums and total letdowns. However, in an offhanded sort of way, that is the point of a tribute album: to show how different classic songs can be interpreted by different groups of people. With that being said, "Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants" does exactly that. And while some of the covers do tend to fall flat, the number of good (and great) completely outweighs the bad.

While some of the more faithful covers (see: "It's Not My Birthday" and "Another First Kiss") tend to be strictly "just fine," a few of the more deviant covers are the ones that stand out the most. The Long Winters' more upbeat, somewhat racous version of "Pet Name" is terribly fun to sing along, as is David Miller's "Narrow Your Eyes" (listen for the great The Who inspired guitar solo in place of Linnell's accordion solo), and Receptor's "Boat of Car" is suprisingly well done, making the song sound much more interesting, as well as more grimm at times.

As far as the less-than-favorable tracks, This Radiant Boy's obligatory punk cover of "Don't Let's Start" is so lazily performed that it almost sounds more like a parody than a tribute (at least there's already a great cover of "Don't Let's Start" by Common Rotation on their "The Big Fear" album to make up for it). OK Go doesn't do much better either with their cover of "Letterbox." While I commend them for experimenting outside of their usual upbeat sound(the song has a very glitchy and fuzzed out distortion feeling to it, almost reminiscant to Trent Reznor's work), it fails completely engage the listener.

Overall, "Hello Radio..." does exactly what a tribute album should do, and nothing less. Still, I completely recommend that any fan of They Might Be Giants should buy it to at least view (and possibly rediscover) some of their favorite songs from a different perpective.

While I wouldn't say that this CD "set the world on fire" for me, it was not at all what I was expecting. In fact, I bought this disc just for the Steve Burns track, and I couldn't disagree with the first review more.

This disc definitely has its standout tracks, as well as some forgettable ones. But, overall, the point of this disc is obviously placed on the songwriting. I'm not a fan of They Might Be Giants, simpley because I don't like the way that they sound. However, after listening to this disc, I cannot deny their ability as songwriters. This album helps to put their songs into perspective without all that wackiness that turns me off from their music. I would say this CD is more for indie-rock fans and converting the non-believers. I was more "pleasantly surprised" by the standout tracks than anything.

HIGHLIGHTS: Steve Burns, Frank Black, David Miller, The Wrens, Self, and Hotel Lights.

LOWLIGHTS: OK Go, Jason Trachtenburg, and This Radiant Boy