So why is Flight of the Conchords’ I Told You I Was Freaky on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
There’s zero Flight of the Conchords that’s bad Flight of the Conchords (including… well, Flight of the Conchords, #158 of the best 1,000 albums ever, and Live in London, #176), but I Told You I Was Freaky is the greatest Conchords album of them all.
While I Told You I Was Freaky covers a dizzying array of musical genres – ranging from gentle acoustic rock to hip hop to R&B to sea shanty stuff on this one – it’s the [REDACTED]-to-walls dance tracks that find this album – and the zany duo from New Zealand – at its very peak.
And let’s not overlook that the hilarity is also on point throughout.
On both of those scores, I’ll point to “Sugalumps,” a masterclass in comedy songwriting that’s impossibly also an absolute banger of an electro hip hop sizzler.
I see ya girls checkin’ out my trunks
I see ya girls checkin’ out the front of my trunks
I see ya girls looking at my junk
Then checking out my rump, then back to my sugalumps
The satire of these dudes bragging about the prowess, beauty, and power of their… sugalumps never fails to crack me up. And while we’re at it, check out the deft shifting of musical styles that happens within two minutes and change, which includes a reggae rap section fronted by Brett McKenzie, and then finally a sublime Foster the People-like sequence right at the end.
Very nearly as good as “Sugalumps” is not one but two more: “Hurt Feelings” and “Too Many Dicks (On the Dance Floor),” the latter of which is easily one of the greatest and most hilarious song titles of all time.
“Hurt Feelings” is an epic rap track from the perspective of men who are perhaps too in touch with their feelings. You might say that they’re ‘vincible, in fact.
The day after my birthday is not my birthday, mom
Then there’s the showstopper in sonic form known as “Too Many Dicks (On the Dance Floor).” Much like how the most exquisite stories published on The Onion stem perfectly from the story headline, this song title sets the stage divinely for what’s to come. And as massive bonus: “Too Many Dicks” rocks hard.
Going to the party
Sippin’ on Bacardi
Wanna meet a hottie
But there’s Adam, Steve and Marty
Then we have one of the greatest songs of the 1980s not produced during the 1980s: “Fashion Is Danger.” The synth pop is strong and mighty with this one, my friends.
The crazy thing about “Fashion Is Danger” – and it goes for so many of Flight of the Conchords’ best songs – is that you could easily imagine many other bands (and throw the comedy part overboard while we’re at it) just plying in this specific musical territory and never coming close to what the Conchords do in a single song before swiftly moving on to the next one.
And on the much lighter side musically, but no less funny and entertaining, there’s the likes of “Rambling Through the Avenues of Time” and “Carol Brown.”
Oh, and don’t sleep on the slinky R&B of “We’re Both In Love With A Sexy Lady.”
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
No, I’m thinking what I’m thinking
So you’re not thinking what I’m thinking?
No, cause you’re thinking I’m thinking what you’re thinking
Some stats & info about Flight of the Conchords – I Told You I Was Freaky
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Comedy Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars
- When was I Told You I Was Freaky released? 2009
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #115 out of 1,000
Flight of the Conchords’ I Told You I Was Freaky on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Flight of the Conchords’ I Told You I Was Freaky that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
You think fashion’s your friend, my friend, fashion is danger.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.