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Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (Album)

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Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum
MMMM08.jpg
Studio Album
Released 2005, re-released in 2008
Length 49:21 (2005),
01:01:35 (2008, with bonus tracks)
Label Quack! Media (2005),
Atlantic Records (2008),
Needlejuice Records (2021)
Producer Tally Hall, Chris Shaw (co-producer '08)

Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum (M.M.M.M.) is Tally Hall's debut studio album which was released under the Quack! Media music label in November 2005 (there was never an official release DAY, though their official CD release party was held on 11/12/05 at The Double Door in Chicago, IL). Their previous recordings were all independently produced and distributed demos. All of the tracks on the album are fleshed-out, finished versions of their demo tracks, with the exception of "Haiku," which was a completely new song. The album gets its name from a museum of mechanized curiosities of the same name located in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

The album was officially re-released on September 12, 2006. The reasons for the re-release were never 100% clear, but this re-release coincided with additional publicity on MTV, national distribution in all major retail stores, and various other TV appearances including The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. The music video for "Good Day" was first shown at Tally Hall's two Ann Arbor concerts, on September 23, 2006.

Tally Hall was later signed with Atlantic Records and was approved to go back and touch-up Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum at Stratosphere Sound Recording Studios in NYC. The first single (Good Day) from the new version of M.M.M.M. was released February 26, 2008. The new version of the album was released on April 1st, 2008. This release also included a limited black vinyl LP pressing of the album.

In 2021, after a resurgence in popularity, Tally Hall signed to Needlejuice Records, and agreed to re-release physical copies of the 2008 version of Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum on CD, Vinyl, and for the first time: cassette tapes. This version would also include the bonus tracks: Mucka Blucka, Dream, and Just A Friend.[1] The 2021 vinyl releases would include new gatefold art by Court Jones, the artist behind the original album cover.[2]


Key Differences Between 2005 and 2008 Releases

The album received new cover art and an overall tune up for the later Atlantic version (as well as iTunes bonus tracks), the key differences between particular songs can amount to being anywhere from very minimal to entirely different recordings:

  • Good Day: Vocal Introduction at the beginning contains more than 2 voices. The part at the end beginning with “I thought you knew I knew” is much slower.[3]
  • Greener: Guitar does not switch channels throughout the introduction.[3]
  • Welcome to Tally Hall: Joe’s beatboxing is much louder during Rob’s verse and the build-up heard after the song is much more dramatic.[3]
  • On the Atlantic "Taken For A Ride," just before the previous track (“Welcome to Tally Hall”) ends, there is a climactic build up of clanking sounds right up to the start of the next song. In addition, the Vocoder technique being used on Andrew’s voice is much cleaner sounding in the later version, allowing one to more easily understand the lyrics. Pauses of silence are also minutely extended to create more punctuation. The bells heard during the lines “Listening to painted whisper…” are also slightly different.[3]
  • “The Bidding” was originally performed at a faster tempo, but the later version is significantly slower[3] to the point that it adds roughly 10 seconds to the overall length. The Atlantic version is a new recording and not simply a slower master of the ’05 release. The keyboards and the bell sounds during Rob’s verse are also much louder.[3]
  • Be Born: The vocals starting at 2:05 are a little bit more quiet. [3]
  • Lots of balancing changes are dominant in “Banana Man,” the spoken intro sounds different on both releases. The guitar is louder, harmonies throughout the song are louder, and the “Wheee” sound at 1:35 is slightly different.[3]
  • Of all the songs however, it appears that “Just Apathy” went through the most changes, as the Atlantic release is entirely different. The brief violin intro from the original is absent and the song starts off with the lyrics instead. Some small instrumental breaks were also omitted for the sake of moving through the beginning more quickly. The piano chords are slightly different, there are missing violin and cello tracks, the guitar solo does not continue to the chorus but instead is present during the bridge, and the short break after the first verse is missing.[3]
  • A noticeable change for “Two Wuv” is that when the words “you dressed up like a bee” are sung, there is a faint buzzing sound to emphasize the joke in the wording. For whatever reason, this was removed from the ’08 release (perhaps considered too silly or obvious). The drums are also considered to be louder throughout.[3]
  • “The Ruler of Everything” (along with its intro “13”) is, at the beginning, slightly lower in pitch than the older release. The lowering of pitch was caused by slightly slowing the song, according to Joe Hawley. The change was made, possibly to create a more ominous initial impression of the song. The silence and ambient wave sounds at the end are also extended, so that there is a longer wait time before “Hidden in the Sand” starts playing.

Physical changes:

  • In the original pressing of the 2005 version, there are a few mistakes in the packaging. The Zubin-page in the lyric sheets was colored purple instead of blue and the spine of the CD had a typographical error. It read: "Marvin's Marvelous Mechancial Museum" as opposed to "Mechanical". Both of these errors were fixed for the 2006 re-release.[3]

Trivia

  • In 2015, Tally Hall posted a "#throwbackthursday" showcasing the original sketches for the cover art[4]
  • The 2008 and 2021 vinyls have track listings that differ from the other formats. Specifically, The Whole World And You had to be moved up to Side A in order for all the songs to properly fit on each side of the record.
  • Though the 2006 re-release of the album corrected the purple coloring and the spine typo, it can still be hard to determine if you have a 2005 or 2006 printing when it's still sealed. The best way to know is by the barcode. The barcode for the 2005 is: 6-1689268282-0. The barcode for the 2006: is 7-8144491001-7.

2005 Track Listings

2005 CD

The cover of the 2005 issue. Both versions were illustrated by Court Jones
# Title Writers Lead Singers Duration
1. "Good Day" Horowitz Hawley, Cantor 3:25
2. "Greener" Cantor Cantor 3:43
3. "Welcome To Tally Hall" Cantor, Hawley, Sedghi Cantor, Sedghi, Hawley 5:10
4. "Taken For A Ride" Horowitz Horowitz, Hawley 4:40
5. "The Bidding" Hawley Hawley, Cantor, Sedghi 2:29
6. "Be Born" Cantor Cantor 3:10
7. "Banana Man" Hawley Hawley 4:09
8. "Just Apathy" Cantor Cantor 3:12
9. "Spring And A Storm" Hawley Hawley 4:43
10. "Two Wuv" Horowitz Sedghi 3:41
11. "Haiku" Cantor Cantor, Hawley 2:58
12. "The Whole World And You" Horowitz Horowitz 1:45
13. "13" n/a n/a 0:13
14. "Ruler Of Everything" Hawley Hawley, Sedghi 4:17
15. "Hidden In The Sand" (hidden track) Hawley Hawley 1:54

2008 Track Listings

The cover of the 2008 version.

2008 CD

# Title Writers Lead Singers Duration
1. "Good Day" Horowitz Hawley, Cantor, Sedghi 3:26
2. "Greener" Cantor Cantor 3:43
3. "Welcome To Tally Hall" Cantor, Hawley, Sedghi Cantor, Sedghi, Hawley 5:10
4. "Taken For A Ride" Horowitz Horowitz, Hawley 4:43
5. "The Bidding" Hawley Hawley, Cantor, Sedghi 2:40
6. "Be Born" Cantor Cantor 3:10
7. "Banana Man" Hawley Hawley 4:09
8. "Just Apathy" Cantor Cantor 3:11
9. "Spring And A Storm" Hawley Hawley 4:47
10. "Two Wuv" Horowitz Sedghi 3:43
11. "Haiku" Cantor Cantor, Hawley 3:02
12. "The Whole World And You" Horowitz Horowitz 1:44
13. "13" n/a n/a 0:13
14. "Ruler Of Everything" Hawley Hawley, Sedghi 4:32
15. "Hidden In The Sand" (hidden track) Hawley Hawley 1:53
16. "Mucka Blucka" (iTunes bonus track) Hawley Federman 1:38
17. "Dream" (iTunes bonus track) Horowitz n/a 1:49


2008 Bonus Downloads

Those who purchased a physical copy of the album received a card with a download code from the band at concerts. The bonus downloads are as follows:

# Title Writers Lead Singers Duration
1. "Mucka Blucka" Hawley Federman 1:38
2. "Dream" Horowitz n/a 1:49
3. "Just A Friend" Biz Markie Cantor, Sedghi 4:29


2008 Vinyl Release

# Title Writers Lead Singers Duration
A1. "Good Day" Horowitz Hawley, Cantor 3:26
A2. "Greener" Cantor Cantor 3:43
A3. "Welcome To Tally Hall" Cantor, Hawley, Sedghi Cantor, Sedghi, Hawley 5:10
A4. "Taken For A Ride" Horowitz Horowitz, Hawley 4:43
A5. "The Bidding" Hawley Hawley, Cantor, Sedghi 2:40
A6. "Be Born" Cantor Cantor 3:10
A7. "The Whole World And You" Horowitz Horowitz 1:44
B1. "Banana Man" Hawley Hawley 4:09
B2. "Just Apathy" Cantor Cantor 3:11
B3. "Spring And A Storm" Hawley Hawley 4:47
B4. "Two Wuv" Horowitz Sedghi 3:43
B5. "Haiku" Cantor Cantor, Hawley 3:02
B6. "13" n/a n/a 0:13
B7. "Ruler Of Everything" Hawley Hawley, Sedghi 4:32
B8. "Hidden In The Sand" (hidden track) Hawley Hawley 1:53

[5]

2021 Track Listings

Mockup of the 2021 CD release from Needlejuice Records

2021 CD

# Title Writers Lead Singers Duration
1. "Good Day" Horowitz Hawley, Cantor, Sedghi 3:26
2. "Greener" Cantor Cantor 3:43
3. "Welcome To Tally Hall" Cantor, Hawley, Sedghi Cantor, Sedghi, Hawley 5:10
4. "Taken For A Ride" Horowitz Horowitz, Hawley 4:43
5. "The Bidding" Hawley Hawley, Cantor, Sedghi 2:40
6. "Be Born" Cantor Cantor 3:10
7. "Banana Man" Hawley Hawley 4:09
8. "Just Apathy" Cantor Cantor 3:11
9. "Spring And A Storm" Hawley Hawley 4:47
10. "Two Wuv" Horowitz Sedghi 3:43
11. "Haiku" Cantor Cantor, Hawley 3:02
12. "The Whole World And You" Horowitz Horowitz 1:44
13. "13" n/a n/a 0:13
14. "Ruler Of Everything" Hawley Hawley, Sedghi 4:32
15. "Hidden In The Sand" (hidden track) Hawley Hawley 1:53
16. "Mucka Blucka" (bonus track) Hawley Federman 1:38
17. "Dream" (bonus track) Horowitz n/a 1:49
18. "Just A Friend" (bonus track) Biz Markie Cantor, Sedghi 4:29

2021 Vinyl Release

File:MMMM21vinyl.jpeg
Mockup of the 2021 vinyl release from Needlejuice Records
# Title Writers Lead Singers Duration
A1. "Good Day" Horowitz Hawley, Cantor 3:26
A2. "Greener" Cantor Cantor 3:43
A3. "Welcome To Tally Hall" Cantor, Hawley, Sedghi Cantor, Sedghi 5:10
A4. "Taken For A Ride" Horowitz Horowitz, Hawley 4:43
A5. "The Bidding" Hawley Hawley, Cantor, Sedghi 2:40
A6. "Be Born" Cantor Cantor 3:10
A7. "The Whole World And You" Horowitz Horowitz 1:44
B1. "Banana Man" Hawley Hawley 4:09
B2. "Just Apathy" Cantor Cantor 3:11
B3. "Spring And A Storm" Hawley Hawley 4:47
B4. "Two Wuv" Horowitz Sedghi 3:43
B5. "Haiku" Cantor Cantor, Hawley 3:02
B6. "13" n/a n/a 0:13
B7. "Ruler Of Everything" Hawley Hawley, Sedghi 4:32
B8. "Hidden In The Sand" (hidden track) Hawley Hawley 1:53

References

  1. ↑ https://needlejuicerecords.com/product/marvinsmarvelousmechanicalmuseum/ Marvin's Marvellous Mechanical Museum. Needlejuice Records. 2021.
  2. ↑ https://twitter.com/needlejuicerec/status/1366248201003667459 Court Jones designing new gatefold art
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 complete list of things what were changed for the 2008 release. thepineappletomorrow. Tumblr. (Tumblr account required for access)
  4. ↑ Tally Hall #throwbackthursday 2005. July 2nd, 2015.
  5. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/Tally-Hall-Marvins-Marvelous-Mechanical-Museum/release/3059702 Discogs. Vinyl Tracklisting.
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