The Most Underrated Albums of All Time, Volume IV: They Might Be Giants - 'Flood'

I'd like to tackle this installment of ‘The Most Underrated Albums of All Time' in a slightly a different way. I'm going to take you through all the tracks on this record. In this case: They Might Be Giants' 1990 release, ‘Flood'. If these are indeed ‘the most underrated albums of all time', then I feel I should at least do them justice by discussing every song. I'm cool like that.

THEME FROM FLOOD: By rule, I feel that more albums should start with a theme song. Albums shouldn't be looked at as a television show, but theme songs never hurt. And by that I mean: More effort obviously goes into the making of a music record than a TV show (most of the time), but theme songs are fun. Why do kids love afternoon cartoons? The opening sequence (it highlights the best parts of the coolest episodes). And why do kids love the opening sequence? The theme song. This is science.

BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL: This has got to be one of the best pop songs ever written, right? John Flansburgh and John Linnell justify their entire, massive catalogue in 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

LUCKY BALL & CHAIN: Most fans of They Might Be Giants usually have a preference between the two John's, as they alternate lead singing duties. Most fans, that is (the foolishly selfish I guess). I tend to prefer the songs of John Linnell, but I must admit that this is my favorite Flansburgh tune.

ISTANBUL (NOT CONSTANTINOPLE): Like most fans of TMBG (or at least the ones that were 8 when this album came out), my first exposure to them was through the cartoon ‘Tiny Toons'. In one really random episode, the cartoon characters were featured in music videos for two songs on ‘Flood'-This one and "Particle Man". NOTE: I definitely realized the randomness of this as a kid. It just seemed odd. I love these two songs, though I've kind of grown out of them-like old underpants.

DEAD: My favorite They Might Be Giants lyrics. Here's a sample: "Now it's over I'm dead and I haven't done anything that I want or I'm still alive and there's nothing I want to do."