One time I made a mixtape and had some of the "Fingertips" (from Apollo 18) in between some of the songs. Not in between all of them, though -- that would be overkill. And the final "Fingertip" was right before their song "Dead."
I've heard the first 5 and their latest/last, and here's what I think about each and every one of those albums:
s/t: Really good songs with some really not-so-good ones mixed in there. Like many debuts, this sounds like they're still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.
Lincoln: I heard this album for the first time two years ago, and it is currently one of my favorite albums ever. I haven't heard a pop album this good since A Hard Day's Night. (That's right, I went there.) Even the fact a lot of it sounds like it was done on synthesizers (I mean really, who the hell plays bass like that?) doesn't change the fact that the songs themselves are so rediculously well arranged and the melodies are extremely catchy. I'm not the kind of guy who cares much about lyrics, but my god did they come up with some clever lyrics! Sure, you can say that about the rest of their good material, but this one still beats them all. Also, this album begins with "Ana Ng" and ends with "Kiss Me, Son Of God," which are both songs I love all too dearly. I can go on about how great this album is all day, but I'm sure half of you have already given up on reading this post about three sentences ago.
Flood: My first TMBG, hearing it for the first time three years ago. I was rather perplexed by it, but in a good way. This has a bit of a leg-up on Lincoln in that they don't have synthesizers as a substitute for actual musicians playing actual instruments for so much of it. But it's no Lincoln, as far as my ears are concerned. Still, I'd give my left testicle to write a pop album half as good as this.
Apollo 18: The "Fingertips" kick ass. It may just be a collection of individual hooks that they probably just couldn't work into songs of their own songs, but those individual hooks are still rather catchy. However, the rest of the album suffers from a small handful of bum tracks and a not-so-good song order. Still worth listening to, though. And it's a hell of a lot better than...
John Henry: Boring. Kudos for trying something that's different for them, though (kind of weird that the rock band format would be "different" for a band, in the '90s). Too bad it didn't work too well. It's got a few good songs, though.
Here Come The ABC's: Surprisingly entertaining for what's essentially a children's album. It may not be on the same level of awesome as Lincoln or Flood, but it still contains many of the same elements that made those two albums so damn good while still retaining the rock band format they've been jamming with -- to lesser results -- for the past 12 years. Even the lyrics are clever enough for people of all ages to enjoy! I'm going to take a wild guess and say that one or both of the Johns had a kid or two, and was/were suddenly inspired to write good music again.
Whenever I talk about TMBG to people who aren't fans or listen to them in the presence of non-fans, these are the two comments that I always hear, and that always make me cringe: 1) "Didn't they do that Malcolm in the Middle theme song?" to which I almost reflexively reply with, "Yeah, but they also did the theme song for The Daily Show." 2) "The singer sounds like 'Weird' Al." I have yet to develop a suitable response to this, because I can understand how and why someone would draw that conclusion.
And finally, I may not be much of a geek, but I'm so far into music and I like enough geeky things that They Might Be right up my alley!
