Here Comes Science facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Here Comes Science |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||
| Studio album by
They Might Be Giants
|
||||
| Released | September 1, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2004, 2009 | |||
| Genre | Children's, educational | |||
| Length | 39:46 | |||
| Label | Disney Sound/Idlewild | |||
| Producer | They Might Be Giants, Pat Dillett | |||
| They Might Be Giants chronology | ||||
|
||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |  |
| Allmusic |  |
| The A.V. Club | B+ |
| Billboard | (favorable) |
| PopMatters |   |
| Robert Christgau |  |
| Uncut | |
| Under the Radar | |
| Wired | (favorable) |
| Zooglobble | (favorable) |
Here Comes Science is the fourth children's album (and fourteenth studio album overall) from Brooklyn-based band They Might Be Giants, packaged as a CD/DVD set. The album is (as the title suggests) science-themed, and is the third in their line of educational albums, following 2005's Here Come the ABCs and 2008's Here Come the 123s. It was nominated for the "Best Musical Album For Children" Grammy.
Background
The band began hinting that the next children's album would be science-themed via interviews around the release of 123s, but the actual title of the album was not confirmed until an August 2008 interview with John Flansburgh for Blogcritics Magazine. The album had been in production since at least late 2007, as a very short sample clip of the music video for the song "How Many Planets" was posted in January 2008 to Colourmovie's website. The band also hired a scientific consultant for this project because, as Flansburgh admitted, "frankly, I was a terrible science student in high school. My last memory of the periodic table was right before I lost consciousness."
Here Comes Science features the songs "I Am a Paleontologist" and "Speed and Velocity", on which bass guitarist Danny Weinkauf and drummer Marty Beller sing their own compositions (respectively). This idea has been a common theme for the band's children's albums, but has never been put in place on any of their adult-oriented albums. "I Am a Paleontologist" features spoken appearances from Weinkauf's two children, Lena and Kai.
"I Am a Paleontologist" was featured in a Payless ShoeSource commercial featuring kids inside a dinosaur museum.
As of 2013, the album has sold 32,000 copies in United States.
Track listing
The CD track listing is the same as the DVD track listing, with the exception of the bonus track "Waves", which is absent from the DVD.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Science Is Real" | 1:54 |
| 2. | "Meet the Elements" | 3:19 |
| 3. | "I Am a Paleontologist" | 2:32 |
| 4. | "The Bloodmobile" | 2:21 |
| 5. | "Electric Car" (with Robin Goldwasser) | 3:22 |
| 6. | "My Brother the Ape" | 3:06 |
| 7. | "What Is a Shooting Star?" | 1:38 |
| 8. | "How Many Planets?" | 1:56 |
| 9. | "Why Does the Sun Shine?" | 2:36 |
| 10. | "Why Does the Sun Really Shine?" | 1:51 |
| 11. | "Roy G. Biv" | 2:07 |
| 12. | "Put It to the Test" | 1:41 |
| 13. | "Photosynthesis" | 1:59 |
| 14. | "Cells" | 2:41 |
| 15. | "Speed and Velocity" | 1:48 |
| 16. | "Computer Assisted Design" | 0:54 |
| 17. | "Solid Liquid Gas" | 1:28 |
| 18. | "Here Comes Science" | 0:16 |
| 19. | "The Ballad of Davy Crockett (in Outer Space)" | 2:17 |
|
Total length:
|
39:46 | |
| Amazon MP3 edition | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 20. | "Waves" | 1:32 | |||||||
|
Total length:
|
41:18 | ||||||||
Personnel
Musicians
- John Flansburgh – lead vocals on 1, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19; backup vocals on 5, 17; guitar; etc.
- John Linnell – lead vocals on 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 17, 19, 20; backup vocals on 10, 16; keyboards; etc.
- Dan Miller – guitar
- Danny Weinkauf – bass guitar; lead vocals on 3
- Marty Beller – drums; lead vocals on 15
- Robin Goldwasser – lead vocals on 4, 5, 8; minor vocals on 13
- Hannah & Niffer Levine – vocals on 16
- Lena & Kai Weinkauf – vocals on 3
- Dan Levine – arrangement on 5; trombone on 1 and 5; bass trombone on 1 and 5; alto horn on 5; euphonium on 5
- Stan Harrison – tenor saxophone on 1 and 5; baritone saxophone on 1 and 5; flute on 5
- Curt Ramm – trumpet on 1 and 5; flugelhorn on 5
- Michael Leonhart – trumpet on 1 and 5; flugelhorn on 5; mellophone on 5
- Jonathan Levine – piccolo on 5; alto flute on 5; alto saxophone on 5; bass clarinet on 5
Production Crew
- David Agnew – executive producer
- John Linnell – music production; DVD production; creative direction
- John Flansburgh – music production; DVD production; creative direction
- Pat Dillett – music production; mixing
- Eric Siegel – science consultant
- Jon Altschuler – engineering
- Greg Thompson – engineering
- Albert Caiati – engineering
- Adam Robinson – engineering
- UE Nastasi – mastering
- Melissa Jun – design
- David Cowles – cover illustration
- Anaheed Alani – copyediting
Video Production Crew
- DVD Produced by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment In Association with Idewild Records
- Music Performed by They Might Be Giants
- Visuals Produced by Pat Dillett
- Flansburgh & Linnell Animation by David Cowles
- Videos Animated by David Cowles, Jeremy Galante and Divya Srinivasan
- Animation Produced at Colourmovie, Feel Good Anyway and Tiny Inventions
