''Severe Tire Damage'' is a primarily live album by

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

, released in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. It also features a few studio tracks, including a new single ("Doctor Worm"). The live cuts, some recorded at soundchecks without any audience, feature at least one track from every album since their debut, which includes a few old fan favorites that have been reworked since the duo adopted a full backing band. Songs like "She's an Angel", from their debut, ''

'', and "

Birdhouse in Your Soul "Birdhouse in Your Soul" is a song by American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released in late 1989 through Elektra Records as the lead single from the album ''Flood'', making the single the band's first release on a major label ...

", from their major label debut, ''

Flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

'', are treated to multiple guitars and a horn section. Conversely, the song "Meet

James Ensor James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic ...

" originally appeared on their first full band effort, ''

John Henry John Henry most commonly refers to: *John Henry (folklore) John Henry may also refer to: People Artists and entertainers * John Henry (actor) (1738–1794), Irish and early American actor *Seán Ó hEinirí (1915–1998), known in English as John ...

'' (1994) and surfaces here in a bare-bones rendition, with only vocals and an

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

. Besides the aforementioned lack of an audience on several tracks, some tracks have also undergone studio "retooling" - most notably, "Ana Ng," which appeared in its untampered form (with an uncropped intro and without a heavily distorted voice saying, "I don't want the world...") on the 1994 promo-only release "Live!! New York City." A condensed version of this album was released as ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

'', which featured 10 of the 24 tracks listed here.

Song notes

* Tracks 1, 2, and 17 were recorded in a studio rather than onstage; track 15 was recorded in a hotel room. * Tracks 18-24 are hidden songs that were improvised in concert, based on the ''

Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes c ...

'' movie series. * "First Kiss" was later reworked and put on the 2001 album '' Mink Car'' as "Another First Kiss", with the same basic melody and similar lyrics but a substantially different style and tempo. * "About Me" stops at 0:41 and is followed by 2 minutes of silence, to "bury" the Planet of the Apes tracks. * Similarly, "They Got Lost" was later recorded in the studio at a slower tempo, and was released on '' Long Tall Weekend'' as well as later being the title track on the rarities compilation album '' They Got Lost''. * On Track 3, "They Get Lost", the band is introduced incorrectly as "They Must Be Giants", which is a

tongue-in-cheek Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...

reference to an untitled, partial recording that appears as track 13 on both ''

Don't Let's Start "Don't Let's Start" is a song by the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, from their 1986 eponymous debut album. It was the first single released from the album, released as a maxi-single. The single peaked at number 94 on the Australian A ...

'' and its re-release ''

Miscellaneous T ''Miscellaneous T'' is a B-side and remix compilation album released by the alternative rock band They Might Be Giants in 1991. It is a US re-release of '' Don't Let's Start'' (which was only released in the UK and West Germany), with differe ...

''. It was inadvertently left on the Dial-A-Song answering machine, in which a confused listener named Gloria talks to an unknown third party about the mystery of "There May Be Giants" and "There Must Be Giants", as she mistakenly refers to the band. It would later be referenced when

Bryant Gumbel Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He was best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's '' Today''. His older brother was sportscaster Greg Gumbel. From 1995 to 2023, he hos ...

referred to them as "They Must Be Giants" when they performed "Your Racist Friend" on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' to promote the release of ''

''.

Song origins

* Studio version of track 4 originally appeared on the '' Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)'' EP (1993) * Studio versions of tracks 5, 8 and 12 originally appeared on ''

'' (1990) * Studio version of track 6 originally appeared on ''

'' (1986) * Studio versions of tracks 7, 14 and 16 originally appeared on ''

Factory Showroom ''Factory Showroom'' is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released in 1996 by Elektra Records. It was the band's first album to be produced by Pat Dillett, who would go on to work with the band ...

'' (1996) * Studio version of track 9 originally appeared on ''

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

'' (1988) * Studio versions of tracks 11 and 13 originally appeared on '' Apollo 18'' (1992) * Studio version of track 15 originally appeared on ''

'' (1994)

Track listing

All songs by They Might Be Giants unless otherwise noted. Tracks 18 - 24 are hidden tracks. #"Doctor Worm" – 3:01 #"Severe Tire Damage Theme" – 0:40 #"They Got Lost" – 3:42 #"Why Does The Sun Shine? (The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)" (

Hy Zaret Hy Zaret (born Hyman Harry Zaritsky; August 21, 1907 – July 2, 2007) was an American Tin Pan Alley lyricist and composer who wrote the lyrics of the 1955 hit "Unchained Melody", one of the most-recorded songs of the 20th century. Personal lif ...

)– 2:17 #"

" – 3:12 #"She's An Angel" – 3:20 #"XTC vs. Adam Ant" – 3:39 #"

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" is a 1953 novelty song, with lyrics by Jimmy Kennedy and music by Nat Simon. It was written on the 500th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire, Ottomans. The lyrics humorously refer to th ...

" (

Nat Simon Nat Simon (6 August 1900 – 5 September 1979) was an American composer, pianist, bandleader and songwriter. Born in Newburgh, New York, from the 1930s to the 1950s, his songs were used in over 20 films. Between 1931 and 1940, he also took part in ...

Jimmy Kennedy James Kennedy (20 July 1902 – 6 April 1984) was a British songwriter. He was predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer" or co-writing with composers like Michael Carr (composer), ...

)– 3:07 #"

Ana Ng "Ana Ng" ( ) is a song by alternative rock band They Might Be Giants. It was released as the lead single from the band's 1988 album '' Lincoln''. Although the song was their first US chart appearance, hitting number 11 on the US Modern Rock char ...

" – 3:00 #"First Kiss" – 1:36 #"Spider" – 0:53 #" Particle Man" – 2:09 #"She's Actual Size" – 2:18 #"

S-E-X-X-Y ''Factory Showroom'' is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band They Might Be Giants, released in 1996 by Elektra Records. It was the band's first album to be produced by Pat Dillett, who would go on to work with the band ...

" – 3:06 #"Meet James Ensor" – 1:30 #"Till My Head Falls Off" – 2:54 #"About Me" – 3:01 (actual track stops at 0:41 and is followed by 2:20 of silence) #"Planet of the Apes" - 2:35 #"Return to the Planet of the Apes" – 2:46 #"Conquest of the Planet of the Apes" – 1:40 #"Escape from the Planet of the Apes" – 1:08 #"Battle for the Planet of the Apes" – 1:57 #"Beneath the Planet of the Apes" – 2:00 #"This Ape's for You" – 1:13

Charts

References

External links

* '' Severe Tire Damage'' page at This Might Be A Wiki {{Authority control They Might Be Giants live albums 1998 live albums Restless Records live albums