Rating:  -
Well, what can I say? TMBG have done it again. Some people have said that John Henry is not as good as some of TMBG's other albums. To those people, I say it is your loss. This album is without a doubt, one of TMBG's best. Granted, some of the instrumentation sounds more like mainstream rock, but the lyrics are pure TMBG. My favorite tracks are; Subliminal, Sleeping in the Flowers, AKA Driver, I Should Be Allowed to Think, Extra Savoir Faire, Spy, O Do Not Forsake Me, No One Knows My Plan, Meet James Ensor, Thermostat, Out of Jail, and End of the Tour. Spy is one of my favorites because it sounds like a song that would be heard in a spy movie. O Do Not Forsake Me sounds like songs that I've heard my grandparents listen to. That statement is not ment as an insult, I prefer my grandparents' music to some songs I hear today. The song End ofthe Tour: It is TMBG's saddest song. Sure, a lot of their songs aresad, but those songs are usually disguised by up tempo rhythyms and peppy melodies. End of the Tour is just beautiful, and I'm glad the Johns wrote it. And as a final message to those who dislike this album, if you really want TMBG to not change, if you want nothing but Birdhouse in Your Soul or Particle Man, don't buy this album. People change over time, and as the people change, their tastes change. So don't get mad if TMBG makes changes that don't suit you.
Rating:  -
As a long time TMBG fan, I was seriously dissappointed with this album. It made me cry :-( The quirky instrumentation was missing :/ It was the beginning of the end of TMBG. How I long for the days of Lincoln.
Rating: -
TMBG graduate from drum machines and samples to a full band on this album, and the results are great. Purists label this TMBG's "bad" album, but I believe the full band lends these songs a shot of adrenalin. The lyrics are as good as ever, and they fit well into their new, energetic fixtures.
So many good songs -- the bells of "Destination Moon," the trippy distorted vocal on "Self called nowhere," the theremin on "AKA Driver." There are big rock songs and small gems throughout. Even a seeming throw-away like "Meet James Ensor" is a perfect pop confection (and probably the only song of that genre about a famous dutch artist).
I don't get the jibe "if that's your idea of clever" in the Amazon review. If an album that incorporates Alice Cooper, James Ensor, and Alan Ginsberg in the same 18 songs isn't clever, one wonders what is.
If you can deal with the fact that this album has a different sound than the first four TMBGs, you'll love this stuff.
Rating: -
At first listen, most fans of TMBG's music are disenchanted with John Henry by the fact that a) it is a different sound than their earlier works, and b) there is hardly any accordion. However, as any music self-repecting music critic will tell you: (along with a plethora of annoying babble about the way music used to be) musicians change and evolve as they grow older. Many times, what results from this is a split fan-base consisting of those who like the later music and think that everything before it was only a precursor to the new, better sound, and those who prefer the earlier music and think that the band has only gotten worse and can never duplicate their old style. However, any true fan will tell you that both styles of music are equally good in their own respects and should both be enjoyed, on different levels. This holds true with TMBG, and John Henry should not be thought of as a bad album -- only a different one. In fact, this is one of my personal favorites in the TMBG lineup, and some of my favorite songs come from it: Thermostat, A Self Called Nowhere, I Should be Allowed to Think, AKA Driver, Sleeping in the Flowers, Destination Moon, Subliminal ... the list goes on. The truth is, while John Henry may not have the same exact sound as the other TMBG albums, it is still one of Their best. If you are going to but any They Might be Giants album, buy Apollo 18; but if you are going to buy two, then get Apollo 18 and John Henry.
Rating: -
At first listen, most fans of TMBG's music are disenchanted with John Henry by the fact that a) it is a different sound than their earlier works, and b) there is hardly any accordion. However, as any music self-repecting music critic will tell you: (along with a plethora of annoying babble about the way music used to be) musicians change and evolve as they grow older. Many times, what results from this is a split fan-base consisting of those who like the later music and think that everything before it was only a precursor to the new, better sound, and those who prefer the earlier music and think that the band has only gotten worse and can never duplicate their old style. However, any true fan will tell you that both styles of music are equally good in their own respects and should both be enjoyed, on different levels. This holds true with TMBG, and John Henry should not be thought of as a bad album -- only a different one. In fact, this is one of my personal favorites in the TMBG lineup, and some of my favorite songs come from it: Thermostat, A Self Called Nowhere, I Should be Allowed to Think, AKA Driver, Sleeping in the Flowers, Destination Moon, Subliminal ... the list goes on. The truth is, while John Henry may not have the same exact sound as the other TMBG albums, it is still one of Their best. If you are going to but any They Might be Giants album, buy Apollo 18; but if you are going to buy two, then get Apollo 18 and John Henry.
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