Yo la tengo: an admittedly major gap in my musical knowledge. Everything I've heard has seemed exactly my taste, but have never picked up a full-length by them. With what album do I start?

I have limited interaction, only 2 albums owned from real life purchases and then the one that Timis upped and sent out yesterday, which brings me to my real reply. You should just ask for it from him. It's as good a start as any IMO.

I love And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out but it's very mellow and not most people's fave.

i've never really heard anything by them. cherrychapstick told me to d/l i can hear the heart beating as one but the person i was getting it from on slsk has been offline awhile. i think i'll get it from someone else.

i think "i can hear the heart beating as one" sums up a bunch of their sounds onto one album and might be a good start. "Electro-puro-o" or however you spell it is my favorite and has the greatest guitar freak out ever in "blue line swinger"

"Painful," "Electr-O-Pura" and "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One" are, in my opinion, the strongest albums from a great band. "New Wave Hot Dogs" and "Summer Sun" are the weakest YLT efforts, though both have some bright spots.

i've got a few songs that I really, really like, but a whole lot that I don't. I'm pretty much where Jewels is on the favorite albums.

The only one I own is Fakebook which is a really odd first choice. I'm not sure why I made that my entry.

I'd go with I Can Hear or And Then as a starter/

Cherry Chapstick is my favourite song on that. (..my name..). I'm also holding a chapstick 8)

If you can't get it I can just upload it for you now man. Have you got it yet? Tell me if I need to start loading

my fave ylt song of all time. this song is beyond rad.

i'll seventh or whatever "I Can Hear The Heart..."

wonderful album.

Agreed.
And Fakebook is also an excellent album, although not really representative of their "sound". So, while you should own it, it is not necessarily the best place to start.

Love that band.
Always have.

I started with "I Can Hear..." and I think that it was a good place to start.

i got it finally. i'm gonna listen to it thursday probably.

damn, that's the only song I usually skip.

Yeah, it's a good song, but it doesn't fit with the rest of the album.

they just put up one of the Channukah shows from 2005 (night 3) on Rbally here.

Don't start with the new one.

I started with Electr-O-Pura.
Still probably my favorite.
Certainly one of their 2 or 3 most-eclectic albums.

Yeah, I like it a lot but wouldn't recommend it as an introduction. I always recommend Painful.

It's definitely not their best, but why would the new one be a bad starting point? It summarizes them pretty well even if it doesn't provide the best example of any one of their particular strengths.

You just listed why I wouldn't recommend it as in intro, it's not the best example of their strengths as a band. I think Painful is a better album showcasing some of their best songs and styles.

It works the same with actors. If someone had never seen Marlon Brando act before, what would you recommend? The Score? It's an okay performance, but On the Waterfront or The Godfather probably would be better showcase for his particular talent.

They were major gap for me as well... until Senor Six and I moved in together. He's pretty into them. I borrowed "I can hear the heart..." and got totally hooked. Their new one sounds quite different, but I'd highly recommend it as well.

Painful is more limited in its scope, though. It's a very consistent record, but it's also pretty different from I Can Hear the Heart and And Then Nothing. The new one pulls in nearly all of those elements and as such makes for a more complete sampling of their sound. I Can Hear the Heart is pretty diverse as well, though, so it might work better for this.

Someone who might not really like Painful might really like And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out, for instance. The new one kind of functions like a comp without really being one. That was my point.