NewsThey Might Be Giants / Flood 30th anniversary limited coloured vinyl
30th anniversary coloured vinyl edition
Music On Vinyl will release a special limited edition ‘icy mint’ coloured vinyl pressing of They Might Be Giants‘ 1990 album, Flood.
The Brooklyn-based duo (still going strong) are John Flansburgh and John Linnell and Flood was their first album on a major label (Elektra) and despite the band’s alt-rock indie appeal they scored an unlikely top ten UK hit single with ‘Birdhouse in Your Soul’. The band were then saved from a life in the glare of the mainstream when follow-up ‘Istanbul (Not Constantinople)’ raced rapidly to #61 before disappearing to oblivion.
But Flood is a wonderful long-player (co-produced by Alan Winstanley and Clive Langer) and arguably the last of the early ‘classic’ era.
Don’t be put off by the amount of tracks on this single vinyl record – the total running time of the album is just 43 minutes, so some of these tracks are fairly short!
A picture disc of Flood was issued earlier on this year and is still available. This coloured vinyl edition should certainly sound a lot better than the picture disc and is released on 6 November 2020. It can be pre-ordered via the SDE shop using this link or the button below. It’s limited to 2500 copies worldwide with just 600 earmarked for the UK.
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Side A
1. THEME FROM FLOOD
2. BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL
3. LUCKY BALL & CHAIN
4.ISTANBUL (NOT CONSTANTINOPLE)
5. DEAD
6.YOUR RACIST FRIEND
7. PARTICLE MAN
8. TWISTING
9. WE WANT A ROCK
Side B
1. SOMEONE KEEPS MOVING MY CHAIR
2. HEARING AID
3. MINIMUM WAGE
4. LETTERBOX
5. WHISTLING IN THE DARK
6. HOT CHA
7. WOMEN & MEN
8. SAPPHIRE BULLETS OF PURE LOVE
9. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
10. ROAD MOVIE TO BERLIN
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I still remember walking in to Musicland (known as Sam Goody in many cities) in Tallahassee in 1990, asking the guy behind the counter, “What is this nonsense you are playing?” About 30 seconds later I was hooked, and had to buy it. Years later, I was at a show, and saw this guy
passing out flyers. It was none other than John Flansburgh. Great band, great career. I wonder
if there will ever be a SDE for Flood. As much as I like all their albums, Flood sticks out their own Yellowbrick Road, Sign O The Times, Songs In The Key Of Life, etc. It is far far above
any of their albums.
Had tickets to their ‘Flood’ show last week in Seattle (now moved to 2021)…
Agree with the comments re the need for a proper, stand-alone SDE for this album. The 2-CD Flood/Apollo 18 that came out in 2013 has the Istanbul b-sides but missed out on the following:
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) Brownsville Mix from the CD5.
US Promo 12″-only mixes:
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (Bedford/Stuyvesant Mix) 2:30
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (Park Slope Mix) 2:45
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) (Williamsburg Mix) 2:34
Racist Friend – Sampla-Delic Remix remix by Deee-Lite which was on a US promo 12″ and included on an Elektra promo CD comp.
It looks nice, but your post on the picture disc got me to impulse buy the picture disc. I can only buy so many copies of Flood in 1 year… and that limit is 1. So I am stuck with the picture disc. Filming that moving image thing for the picture disc is cool, but difficult, for me anyhow. At least I don’t consider early TMBG to be very sonically developed, so I can live with the picture disc sound.
Strangely characterized on their website as “Flood Vinyl (Asbestos Re-issue)”.
I have loved this band since “Don’t Let’s Start” started ringing out on US college/alternative radio in 1986. While every album of theirs has multiple charmers, this one is still their best. I have this album on standard CD, the 25th anniversary LP (which included the bonus “Live In Australia” LP, with the backwards track list), and the 30th anniversary picture disc from earlier this year, so I’m going to pass on this one, but if you have any affinity for “Birdhouse In Your Soul” you’ll love this record. And then go check out the rest of their discography, ’cause it’s awesome.
(Super-president since 2012)
Totally agree. Saw them live quite a few times in the early days…
Amazing band, I discovered them, by mid 90s and i fell in love with them since then.
For some strange reason they remind me to the early Talking Heads. Its vibe is amazing.
Just ordered from you Paul, only really know Birdhouse in your soul and just listened on YouTube to Istanbul, so fingers crossed for the rest of the album.
Cheers Peter! It’s a really good album, I think.
That’s nice but where is a decent 30th anniversary deluxe CD edition?
You need to travel back to 2013!! https://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/they-might-be-giants-elektra-album-2cd-reissues-including-flood/
Interesting. I bought a neon-green 30th anniversary issue from their own website earlier this year. It says manufactured by Rhino and distributed by Asbestos records. This album still sounds amazing.
What a great record. Would’ve been ripe for a SDE: Album; Demos; Radio Sessions; Live (they’ve released a live version of Flood recorded a few years ago); DVD with videos and that EPK +/- a 5.1.
Istanbul is a really old song , good fun
Despite being rediculed for years, TMBG are my favourite band! However, it was already released on green vinyl back in 2014! I have Flood on cassette (how I originally purchased it back in 1990), CD twice (standard and deluxe reissue CD with some bonus tracks), the green vinyl from 2014 and the picture disc edition. There was also a very limited 100 copies yellow vinyl edition for the Black Friday RSD in 2014 too. So there’s been a ton reissues flooding the market already!!!