They Might Be Giants Factory Showroom CD

 A Different Direction but Good Giants CD
They decided that the one time out heavy metal John Henry CD and band didn't work out, and they were right, so they tried something different on this one which was kind of more pop rock. It took me a long time to like this one since at the time it didn't remind me of the earlier CD's, but I got to like it a lot. Metal Detector is just way catchy, and then a lot of the songs are sillier than usual and really make little sense lyrically at all, which once I got that, I got to like a lot. It's kind of like they regard everything as a target with no sacred cows but not mean spirited, just silly. Musically it holds up great and that won't disappoint you. The Spiraling Shape reminded me of that Star Trek Next Gen episode with the evil crystal entity, and a lot of the tunes parody commercials or contemporary attitudes and ideas very well. There are a couple filler tunes though that they should have left on the cutting room floor but that's not bad for a great band.
Submitted by Andrew M. (Santa Rosa, CA)
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 The First Step Down
Not a bad album by another band's standards, but this was the first record that caught TMBG sounding unsure of themselves, and as a result, it's the first to be decisively inferior to its predecessor. One theory is that the fairweather fans that disliked the sublime "John Henry" put the fear of failure into the Johns. Another is plain old contractual obligation. One argument to support the latter is that it contains only 2/3 the usual number of songs! Whatever the cause, Factory Showroom finds the band trying to balance between the full-rock sound of John Henry and the toy-song sound of prior efforts. And, as mentioned, it's really not bad, just not up to par. The toy songs fare better than the rest, since they don't rely on actual song structure or melody - "Exquisite Dead Guy", "Worst Enemy", "I Can Hear You", and the previously released "James K. Polk" are highlights. Add to this the excellent pop tunes "Head Falls Off" and "Spiralling Shape", and you have a half-great album. The rest make it through on their good ideas & sense of fun, but the melodies just aren't as good as they used to be.
Submitted by info (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
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 It Might Be Ignored...
"Factory Showroom" was TMBG's last studio album for Elektra-- after which, they went back into the indie scene. After the abysmal offering that was "John Henry", many fans were probably hesitant to buy this album for fear of another lackluster effort. Fortunately, this wasn't the case. "Factory Showroom" was a far more focused album that was more true to their sound. Forgiving the opening piece, "S-E-X-X-Y", the songs pick up dramatically with the manic "Till My Head Falls Off" and from there goes from one great song to the next. My personal favourite is "Pet Name" -- where the Johns & Co. delve into a more bluesy feel that works very well. Like a musical bookend (sad to say), the album closer "The Bells Are Ringing" ends up being positively grating the more you listen to it. The hidden bonus track, "Token Back to Brooklyn," is situated behind track one and it's a surreal, dream-sequence treat for the adventurous listener. Lyrically, it's very strong with enough of the signature TMBG wordplay to keep fans happy. Unfortunately, the marketing and publicity of this album was positively criminal as very few people were even aware it was released. In retrospect, this album should have been as popular as "Apollo 18" or even "Flood" (their high-water mark, as it were), but without the backing of Elektra, it sank almost without a trace. "Factory Showroom" is certainly one of TMBG's better albums and serves as a bittersweet chapter in their wide commercial success.
Submitted by a reviewer (New Bedford, MA)
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