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No!

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No! album cover
No!
Studio album by They Might Be Giants
First released June 11, 2002 Tracks 17 Previous album Mink Car
Label US: Idlewild / Rounder Records
AU: Shock Records 		Length 33:42 Next album The Spine

This page is for the album. For the song of the same name, see No! (Song).

No! is They Might Be Giants' ninth studio album, released in 2002 on the Idlewild and Rounder Records labels. It was the band's first children's album.

[edit] Purchase

Contents

Seller Format Price Purchase!
Amazon CD $17.98
$13.99!
Amazon MP3 $8.99
ITunesicon.gif iTunes AAC $9.99 Purchase.gif
theymightbegiants.com MP3 $9.99
TMBG Merchandise Store CD $13.00

[edit] Description

[edit] History

No! was the band's first foray into the children's music scene. Whereas a lot (but certainly not all) of children's music has a low production value, the band wanted to create an album that was very rich sounding and didn't belittle its listeners. The album was started as a fun side project from their work on Malcolm In The Middle and other side jobs that had them constantly in the studio anyway. After moving it around different labels for a few years, they eventually released it as the first album on their own imprint Idlewild. John and John decided name the album "No!," despite being advised by several people to avoid negative words.

The CD also contains entertaining Flash animations for most songs, animated by The Chopping Block, and viewable on a PC. This CD was the first multimedia album released by the band that contained both music and video content.

[edit] Album Success

A chart showing the historical performance of No! on the Billboard & CMJ Charts.

Children's music proved to be a successful venture for the band, as the album debuted at the #1 spot on the Billboard Top Kid Audio chart for the week of June 29th, 2002. It was the band's first and only album to hit the top spot on a Billboard chart. No! spent 11 weeks total on the chart, before it fell off. In addition it spent 5 weeks on the "Billboard Top Internet Albums" chart, where it peaked at the #4 spot. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it had sold 144,000 copies in the United States as of February 2008.

The album's success on the childrens' music charts led to the release of the Bed, Bed, Bed children's book and also further children's efforts with the Disney Records label.

[edit] Tracks

One of The Chopping Block's animations, for the song Where Do They Make Balloons?
One of The Chopping Block's animations, for the song Where Do They Make Balloons?

No! includes the hard rock No! and John Lee Supertaster, the spooky The Edison Museum, the somewhat standard kids song Where Do They Make Balloons?, the public-service-announcement-style In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle, the robot-narrated Robot Parade, and Wake Up Call where the only words are "Bo", "Baw", and "Do". At the end are some songs related to sleeping: Lazyhead And Sleepybones, the somewhat loud Bed Bed Bed, and finally the End of the Tour/Road Movie To Berlin style Sleepwalkers. Other songs include Fibber Island, Four Of Two, The House At The Top Of The Tree, and Clap Your Hands.

I Am Not Your Broom, Wake Up Call, and I Am A Grocery Bag are all similar to the original demos recorded on Dial-A-Song in the late 1990s through early 2000s, with a short video of I Am Not Your Broom performed by Linnell and a broom posted on tmbg.com. Violin is a common encore performance at live shows since No! was released, almost always culminating with a band-directed "The Wave" by the audience during the "Woooooooooh!" part at the end of the song.

[edit] Track Listing

Promo CD
Promo CD
  1. Fibber Island (2:10)
  2. Four Of Two (2:18)
  3. Robot Parade (1:22)
  4. No! (1:30)
  5. Where Do They Make Balloons? (2:41)
  6. In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle (1:16)
  7. Violin (2:26)
  8. John Lee Supertaster (2:01)
  9. The Edison Museum (2:02)
  10. The House At The Top Of The Tree (2:31)
  11. Clap Your Hands (1:22)
  12. I Am Not Your Broom (1:04)
  13. Wake Up Call (1:10)
  14. I Am A Grocery Bag (0:35)
  15. Lazyhead And Sleepybones (3:28)
  16. Bed Bed Bed (3:12)
  17. Sleepwalkers (2:42)

[edit] Notes

  • Violin is not included in the individual track download in the TMBG Download Store, but it is included in the full album download.
  • Live bonus videos featuring the band were also shot for Sleepwalkers and Four of Two but have not been released.
  • At a concert in Seattle, Linnell pointed out that turning the album upside down results in the title appearing to spell 'ion'. He then told the kids not to ask their parents what an ion was because they didn't know either.
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