They Might Be Giants - No! (2002) 183 kbps

01. Fibber Island (2:10)
02. Four of Two (2:18)
03. Robot Parade (1:22)
04. NO! (1:30)
05. Where Do They Make Balloons? (2:41)
06. In the Middle. in the Middle. in the Middle (1:15)
07. Violin (2:27)
08. John Lee Supertaster (2:00)
09. The Edison Museum (2:03)
10. The House at the Top of the Tree (2:30)
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 (0:34)
15. Lazyhead and Sleepybones (3:28)
16. Bed Bed Bed (3:12)
17. Sleepwalkers (2:40)


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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.


Album Success:
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.

Tracks:
No! includes the rock songs "No!" and "John Lee Supertaster," the spooky "The Edison Museum," the somewhat standard kids' song "Where Do They Make Balloons?," the public service announcement "In The Middle, In The Middle, In The Middle," the robot-narrated "Robot Parade," and a vocal instrumental "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 rather boisterous "Bed Bed Bed," and finally the gentle rocker "Sleepwalkers." Other songs include the guitar-strumming opener "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 "I Am Not Your Broom" being played live as early as 1996, and later recorded as a video dialogue between 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.
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