Apollo 18

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Apollo 18 Studio album by They Might Be Giants
First released	March 1992	Tracks	18	Previous album	Flood
Label	Elektra Entertainment	Length	43:00	Next album	John Henry

Apollo 18 is They Might Be Giants' fourth album, released in 1992. It was the band's second release with the major label Elektra Records.

Seller	Format	Price	Purchase!
Amazon	CD	~~$11.98~~ $10.99!
Amazon	MP3	$10.99
iTunes	AAC	$24.99
TMBG Merchandise Store	CD	$14.00

[edit] Description

[edit] Background

For the band's follow-up to the successful Flood, Elektra approached Elvis Costello to produce the album. However, TMBG feared self-consciousness in the face of such an admired musician and produced it themselves as originally planned. This caused a rift between Elektra and the band that took a while to heal. (Flansburgh, Linnell, and Susan Drew from Elektra discuss this subject at length in bonus footage included on the Gigantic DVD).

[edit] Sales And Singles

A chart showing the historical performance of Apollo 18 on the Billboard 200.

Apollo 18 debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart the week of April 11, 1992; spent 6 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 99. The album generated three singles, (I Palindrome I, The Statue Got Me High, and The Guitar). The Statue Got Me High spent 8 weeks on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Chart, but only peaked at #24.

[edit] Fingertips

Apollo 18 is a unique album, mainly due to the "Fingertips" tracks -- 21 short songs, the longest of which is just over one minute long, but most average close to 10 seconds. The liner notes state that "The indexing of this disc is designed to complement the Shuffle Mode of modern CD players." This implies that the CD was meant to be listened to on Shuffle, so the Fingertips songs would be inserted throughout the CD as you listen to it. In the US, Fingertips was cut up into separate tracks. However, even though the track listing is still numbered to 38, the EU version is one continuous track (due to a mastering error at WEA). To this day, new copies are still all one track.

Back cover artwork

Bottomside of the foldout booklet

Topside of the fold out booklet

Vinyl back artwork

[edit] Track Listing

Dig My Grave (1:08)
I Palindrome I (2:22)
She's Actual Size (2:05)
My Evil Twin (2:37)
Mammal (2:14)
The Statue Got Me High (3:06)
Spider (0:50)
The Guitar (3:49)
Dinner Bell (2:11)
Narrow Your Eyes (2:46)
Hall Of Heads (2:53)
Which Describes How You're Feeling (1:13)
See The Constellation (3:27)
If I Wasn't Shy (1:43)
Turn Around (2:53)
Hypnotist Of Ladies (1:42)
Everything Is Catching On Fire
Fingertips (Banjo)
I Hear The Wind Blow
Hey Now Everybody
Who's That Standin' Out The Window?
I've Found A New Friend Underneath My Pillow
Come On And Wreck My Car
Aren't You The Guy Who Hit Me In The Eye?
Please Pass The Milk
Leave Me Alone
Who's Knockin' On The Wall?
All Alone, All By Myself
What's That Blue Thing Doing Here?
Something Grabbed Ahold Of My Hand
I Don't Understand You
I Heard A Sound
Mysterious Whisper
The Day Love Came To Play
I'm Havin' A Heart Attack
Fingertips (Whispered)
I Walk Along Darkened Corridors
Space Suit (1:36)

[edit] Trivia/Info

A limited vinyl pressing of this album was produced in Germany during 1992, and only a small quantity were made. A copy can be occasionally spotted on eBay.
The liner notes also indicate design by Rolf Conant.
The Dial-A-Song number in the booklet is incorrect, stating the number as 718-963-6962. TMBG pointed this out to the audience at shows around this time. (The incorrect number was apparently for a warehouse.)
The iTunes version of this album costs $24.99 and has several problems. The Fingertips tracks run together on track 17, and Space Suit is both track 18 (mislabeled as "Fingertips 2") and 38. Tracks 19-37 are Fingertips 3-21, each costing 99 cents.