They Might Be Giants discography

The following is a comprehensive discography of They Might Be Giants, an American alternative rock band comprising several artists including John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Marty Beller, Dan Miller, and Danny Weinkauf. The band's first release was the November 4, 1986 eponymously titled They Might Be Giants, but TMBG did not gain commercial success until their March 1990 single "Birdhouse in Your Soul" from the album Flood. "Birdhouse in Your Soul" reached #3 on the United States Modern Rock Tracks chart and #6 on the UK Singles Chart and remains their highest-charting single in both countries. Over the next two decades, They Might Be Giants released studio albums on a near-biennial fashion and currently have a total of 22 studio albums along with six live albums, eight compilation albums, 21 extended plays and 11 singles.

They Might Be Giants discography
Releases
Studio albums 22
Live albums 9
Compilation albums 10
Extended plays 21
Singles 11
Video albums 7

Studio albums

Year Title Chart peaks Certifications
(sales thresholds)
Notes
UK US US Kids AUS
1979 They Might Be Giants
  • Debut album
1980 Lincoln
  • Label: Stiff
  • Release Date: September 26, 1980
  • Format: Vinyl, CD, cassette
89
1982 Flood
  • Label: Stiff
  • Release Date: January 15, 1982
  • Format: Vinyl, CD, cassette
14 75 99 US: Platinum[1]
1984 Apollo 18
  • Label: Elektra
  • Release Date: March 24, 1984
  • Format: Vinyl, CD, cassette
99 59
1986 John Henry
  • Label: Elektra
  • Release Date: September 13, 1986
  • Format: CD, cassette
61
  • First album with a backing band.
1988 Factory Showroom
  • Label: Elektra
  • Release Date: October 8, 1988
  • Format: CD, cassette
89
1991 Long Tall Weekend
  • Download-only album, released on eMusic.com
  • First full-length download-only album released by a major artist
1993 Mink Car
  • Label: Restless
  • Release date: September 11, 1993
  • Format: CD, digital download
134
1994 No! 1
2004 The Spine
  • Label: Idlewild/Zoë
  • Release date: July 13, 2004
  • Format: CD, digital download
130
2005 Here Come the ABCs
  • Label: Idlewild/Disney Sound
  • Release date: February 15, 2005
  • Format: CD, DVD, digital download
6
  • Second children's album
  • Major label children's album debut
2007 The Else
  • Label: Idlewild/Zoë
  • Release date: May 15, 2007
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
118
  • Released for download on the iTunes Store almost two months before physical release
  • The CD release included a bonus disc, Cast Your Pod to the Wind
2008 Here Come the 123s
  • Label: Idlewild/Disney Sound
  • Release Date: February 5, 2008
  • Format: DVD/CD, digital download
172 9
2009 Here Comes Science
  • Label: Idlewild/ Disney Sound
  • Release Date: September 1, 2009
  • Format: CD/DVD, digital download
91 4
  • Fourth children's album
2011 Join Us
  • Label: Idlewild/Rounder
  • Release Date: July 19, 2011
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
32
  • First "rock" album since 2007
2013 Nanobots
  • Label: Idlewild, Lojinx
  • Release Date: March 5, 2013
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
57
2015 Glean
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: April 21, 2015
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
67
  • Composed entirely of songs from the band's 2015 Dial-A-Song project.
Why?
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release date: November 27, 2015
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
181
  • Fifth children's album
  • Composed largely of songs from the band's 2015 Dial-A-Song project.
2016 Phone Power
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release date: March 9, 2016
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
122
  • Composed entirely of songs from the band's 2015 Dial-A-Song project.
2018 I Like Fun
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release date: January 19, 2018
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
108
  • Composed entirely of songs from the band's 2018 Dial-A-Song project.
My Murdered Remains
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release date: December 10, 2018
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
TBA TBA TBA TBA
  • Composed entirely of songs from the band's 2018 Dial-A-Song project.
  • Included bonus disc composed mostly of songs from the band's 2015 Dial-A-Song project.
The Escape Team
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release date: December 10, 2018
  • Format: CD, vinyl, digital download
TBA TBA TBA TBA
  • Composed largely of songs from the band's 2018 Dial-A-Song project.

Live albums

Year Title Chart peaks[2] Notes
US
1994 Live!! New York City 10/14/94
  • Label: Elektra
  • Release Date: November 1994
1998 Severe Tire Damage
  • Label: Restless
  • Release Date: August 11, 1998
186
  • First major live album
1999 Live
  • Condensed version of Severe Tire Damage
2004 The Spine Hits the Road
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: August 31, 2004
Almanac
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: December 10, 2004
  • Download-only album
Venue Songs
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: December 10, 2004
  • Download-only album
2012 At Large
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: August, 2012
  • Distributed to members of the They Might Be Giants Instant Fan Club
2014 First Album Live!
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: July, 2014
  • Released as a free digital download through NoiseTrade
2015 Flood Live In Australia
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: February 25, 2015
  • Released as a free digital download through their website[3]
2016 Live In Brooklyn
  • Release Date: July 19, 2016
  • Distributed to members of the They Might Be Giants Instant Fan Club
2018 TMBG Live 2018
  • Release Date: December 4, 2018
  • Distributed to members of the They Might Be Giants Instant Fan Club

Compilations

Year Title Notes
1989 Don't Let's Start
  • B-side and rarities collection
  • Released exclusively in Europe
1991 Miscellaneous T
1997 Then: The Earlier Years
  • Label: Restless
  • Release Date: March 25, 1997
  • Collects the band's first two studio albums and early rarities and B-sides
1999 Best of the Early Years
2002 They Got Lost
  • Label: Idlewild, Zoë
  • Release Date: July 23, 2002
Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants
  • Label: Rhino
  • Release Date: September 17, 2002
  • Best-of compilation
2005 A User's Guide to They Might Be Giants
  • Label: Rhino
  • Release Date: May 3, 2005
Venue Songs DVD/CD
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: November 11, 2005
  • Collection of "venue songs": songs the band wrote about various venues in which they performed
2011 Album Raises New and Troubling Questions
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Release Date: November 1, 2011
  • Rarities collection, including five music videos
  • Part of the July 26, 2012 Humble Music Bundle
2014 Idlewild
  • Label: Idlewild, Lojinx
  • Release Date: May 27, 2014
  • Contains 17 songs released between 1999 and 2013
2020 Modern
  • Self-released
  • Release date: April 15, 2020

EPs

Year Album Information
1993 Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)
  • Released: September 14, 1993
  • Label: Elektra
  • Format: CD
1994 Back to Skull
  • Released: August 16, 1994
  • Label: Elektra
  • Format: CD
2000 Working Undercover for the Man
  • Released: May 16, 2000
  • Label: Good Noise
  • Format:
2001 They Might Be Giants In...Holidayland
  • Released: November 6, 2001
  • Label:
  • Format:
2003 Bed, Bed, Bed
  • Released: 2003
  • Label: Simon & Schuster
  • Format: Book with CD
2004 Indestructible Object
  • Released: April 4, 2004
  • Label: Barsuk
  • Format: CD
The Spine Surfs Alone
  • Released: 2004
  • Label:
  • Format: CD
2013 Nanobots EP
  • Released: 2013
  • Label: Idlewild Recordings/Megaforce
  • Format: Download only

Videography

Year Title Certifications
(sales thresholds)
1999 Direct from Brooklyn
2003 Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns)
  • Released:
  • Label:
  • Format:
2005 Here Come the ABCs
  • Released:
  • Label:
  • Format: DVD
US: Gold[1]
Venue Songs DVD/CD
  • Released: November 11, 2005
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Format: DVD
2008 Here Come the 123s
  • Released:
  • Label:
  • Format: DVD
US: Gold[1]
2009 Here Comes Science
  • Released:
  • Label:
  • Format: DVD
US: Gold[1]
2012 Them Ain't Big Eye Ants
  • Released:
  • Label:
  • Format: DVD
2015 Live in Berlin[4]
  • Released: July 2015
  • Label: Idlewild
  • Format: DVD

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Alt.

[5]
AUS
[6]
NLD
[7]
UK
[8]
"Everything Right is Wrong Again" 1980 94 They Might Be Giants
"(She Was A) Hotel Detective" 1981
"Ana Ng" 11 Lincoln
"They'll Need a Crane" 1982
"Purple Toupee"
"Birdhouse in Your Soul" 1983 3 125 6 Flood
"Twisting" 22
"Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" 61
"The Statue Got Me High" 1985 24 92 Apollo 18
"The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)"
"I Palindrome I"
"O Tannenbaum" 1986 Non-album single
"Snail Shell" 1987 19 John Henry
"S-E-X-X-Y" 1989 Factory Showroom
"Doctor Worm" 1991 Severe Tire Damage
"The Days in the Lives of Beau (End Theme)" 1997 29 89 21 Music from Malcolm in the Middle
"Man, It's So Loud in Here" 86 Mink Car
"Experimental Film" 2001 The Spine
"T-Shirt" 2001 Non-album single
"I'm Impressed" 2003 The Else
"Can't Keep Johnny Down" 2007 Join Us
"You're on Fire" 2009 Nanobots
"Erase" 2011 Glean
"I Left My Body" 2013 I Like Fun
"The Communists Have The Music" 2014 My Murdered Remains
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Contributions & other releases

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Recording Industry Association of America". RIAA. Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  2. "They Might Be Giants Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. https://www.billboard.com/artist/they-might-be-giants/chart-history/tlp/. Retrieved November 23, 2021. 
  3. "A free present for you!". Archived from the original on 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  4. "Live In Berlin - TMBW: The They Might Be Giants Knowledge Base". tmbw.net.
  5. Illegal name entered They Might Be Giants/They+Might+Be+Giants/chart?f=377 "They Might Be Giants – Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard (Prometheus Global Media). http://www.billboard.com/artist/Illegal name entered They Might Be Giants/They+Might+Be+Giants/chart?f=377. Retrieved October 30, 2013. 
  6. Australian (ARIA Charts) peaks:
  7. "Discografie They Might Be Giants". dutchcharts.nl (in Nederlands). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  8. "They Might Be Giants". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  9. "27: The Most Perfect Album". WNYC Studios.