- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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FilterEach song on The Spine is characteristically intelligent, observant, and poppy as all hell. [#11, p.94]
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MojoNothing on The Spine drills into your cerebral cortex and demands to be whistled on public transport like earlier hits, but the tunes are agreeable enough. [Aug 2004, p.99]
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Every now and again they hit on a promising musical idea, then ruin it.
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"It's Kickin' In" sounds like Linnell doing karaoke over a failed garage rock single, and most of the rest sounds like, well, Fountains of Wayne.
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BlenderToo often... their ideas are dead ends. [Aug 2004, p.140]
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Under The RadarAnother solid addition to the Giants' catalogue, but as with their last few records, it doesn't seem likey they put their back into it. [#7]
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New Musical Express (NME)At least 40 per cent of 'The Spine' is really rather charming. [3 Jul 2004, p.65]
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For most of The Spine, They Might Be Giants hammers its quirks into predictable shapes, mistaking catchy for listenable ("Prevenge"), layering on effects to bolster the dull ("Bastard Wants To Hit Me"), and generally delivering what's expected.
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The Johns (Linnell and Flansburgh) are firing on all cylinders here, wrapping their suitably obscure and sometimes ethereal humor in the most capable songwriting of their careers.
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Even if The Spine is decidedly uneven, it still has enough good songs to please diehard fans and keep them around for the next album.
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Not a bad album, yet contains too many mediocre tracks to be comforting.
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It goes a long way in showing how the band continues to be relevant, even vital, in a scene that chews up and spits out bands with ferocious speed.
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Solid, if unspectacular.
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They might not be as manic and frantic... But The Spine rocks without any loss of wit or melody.
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Q MagazineAlas, for all its genuine charm and the way the two Johns genre-hop without leaving footprints, The Spine lacks the spark of true greatness. [Aug 2004, p.119]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 17 out of 19
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Mixed: 0 out of 19
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Negative: 2 out of 19
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JasonFJul 19, 2007
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WesleyMApr 10, 2006Agreed with Chuckie Mustdie. A strong, consistent effort that brings us several of TMBG's best since John Henry.
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SeanDec 7, 2005