A (not very worthy) Tribute

For a tribute album like Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants, I think the best way to review it is to compare the songs to the originals, so here goes:

1 Ana Ng performed by Self—I really didn't like this one at all. I mean cutting out the “I don't want the world, I just want your half” line sucked. Not anywhere near as good as the original.

2 Pet Name performed by The Long Winters—“Pet Name” isn't my favorite TMBG song, but this cover isn't half bad. Not all that great either, though. Not quite as good as the original.

3 Narrow Your Eyes performed by David Miller—I liked this one a lot. I think it's the vocal or maybe the way the music was done. I don't know. Nearly as good as the original.

4 She's An Angel performed by Charles Douglas—I love this song, but God this cover blew. Terrible.

5 Road Movie To Berlin performed by Frank Black—This was a pretty good cover. I like what was done with the tune. Nearly as good as the original.

6 They'll Need A Crane performed by The Wrens—The original version of this song has incredibly sad lyrics and a bouncy upbeat kind of tune. This version has sad lyrics and a depressing tune. It still works. I like this one. Different but almost as good as the original.

7 Dead performed by Steve Burns—I like the vocals on this one. I seem to recall seeing a video of this one on YouTube. I like this cover. Nearly as good as the original.

8 Letterbox performed by OK Go—Ugh! They use some weird distortion that makes the lyrics hard to understand. Sure, TMBG uses that sort of thing occasionally, but not anything as bad as this. Nowhere near as good as the original.

9 Boat of Car performed by Recepter—This song is taken in a very odd direction. The lyrics are virtually incomprehensible, and the whole thing is very strange. It's not half bad. Not quite as good as the original.

10 Don't Let's Start performed by This Radiant Boy—The lyrics seemed to be changed subtly in a few spots. The vocals are terrible. Nowhere near as good as the original.

11 Doctor Worm performed by Jason Tratchenburg—Mr. Tratchenburg, learn to pronounce criticism! And learn to sing and how to play the guitar better This just sucks. Not even close to the other in terms of goodness.

12 It's Not My Birthday performed by Fluid Ounces—This one's not half bad. The vocals are good. The tune is close to the original. I like it. Almost as good as the original.

13 Another First Kiss performed by Brett Kull—I like the original “First Kiss” better than this version. That said, this cover is pretty good too. I like the vocals, and there don't seem to be any major changes to the lyrics or music. Nearly as good as the original.

14 The End Of The Tour performed by Hotel Lights—I'm not entirely happy with the vocals on this one. They're not bad, but they're not all that great either. Really, I think this is a rather mediocre cover. Not as good as the original.
This CD is a very mixed bag. Some of the covers are great, some suck, and some are mediocre. I can't see my way to recommending it. I can only give Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants three yo-yos.