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Getting Geeky With It: 20 Albums Inspired by the Dork Life

Geek rockers are deceptive. On the one hand, they're geeks. They write about robots and wizards. If they sing about sex, it probably has to do with not getting any. On the other hand, geek rockers are still rockers. And the second they pick up a guitar, they become -- dare we say -- somewhat, almost, kind of cool. In a dork way, of course. If you idolize Steve Jobs the way others look up to athletes and movie stars, this list of 20 geek-themed albums is for you.
'Flood,' They Might Be Giants
This 1990 album features a song about Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire ['Istanbul (Not Constantinople)],' quantum science ('Particle Man,' which sounds a lot like the 'Spider-Man' theme), and a tune ('Birdhouse') that mentions both the Longines Symphonette -- whatever that is -- and 'Jason and the Argonauts.'

Geek-o-meter: 8 -- Did we mention that one of They Might Be Giants plays accordion?
They Might Be Giants
Amazon
'The Golden Age of Wireless,' Thomas Dolby
Thanks to the video for 'She Blinded Me With Science,' Dolby acquired a mad-scientist persona. Meanwhile, this 1982 album, with its nods to radio and wind power, was a synth-pop breakthrough. Dolby had some rock cred, having worked on albums by Foreigner and Def Leppard, but he would show his true colors after he dropped out of music and created the popular Nokia ringtone as an audio tech entrepreneur.

Geek-o-meter: 9 -- For giving us that annoying Nokia ringtone
Thomas Dolby
Amazon
'Freedom of Choice,' Devo
The band name comes from "de-evolution": the idea that humanity is actually regressing and slowly returning to a monkey-like existence. To match this perceived slide, the guys in Devo dressed in goofy matching outfits, wore inverted plant pots on their heads and produced jerky, robotic rhythms with homemade synthesizers. Many songs on this 1980 album, like 'Girl U Want,' profess a nerdy angst over not getting the girl, while other songs give nods to author Thomas Pynchon and Aesop's Fables.

Geek-o-meter: 10 -- Eee! Eee! Eee!
Devo
Amazon
'Weezer' (The Blue Album), Weezer
On Weezer's 1994 debut, frontman Rivers Cuomo exposes his geekiness to the world with 'In the Garage,' a song about all the dorky things in his home, including a Kiss poster and a Dungeons & Dragons guide. 'Only in Dreams' is about a girl he could only dream about, and 'Buddy Holly' is more about looking like Holly than being like him.

Geek-o-meter: 7 -- The 'Buddy Holly' song did rock, but liking Kiss is one serious stretch.
Weezer
Amazon
'Kilroy Was Here,' Styx
Guitarist Tommy Shaw wasn't really thrilled with frontman Dennis De Young's 1983 concept album about humankind being replaced by robots in the near future. But it did produce a couple of hits, including 'Mr. Roboto,' which still gives us a good excuse -- as if we needed one -- to do the Robot Dance. In this theatrical album, Kilroy is a famous rocker sent to prison by a group called the Majority for Musical Morality, who set out to -- aw, who cares about all that? Let's do the Robot Dance!

Geek-o-meter: 9 -- "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto!"
Styx
Amazon
'Deltron3030,' Deltron3030
Talking about looking ahead: This concept album envisions life in 3030 as Del Tha Funkee Homosapien's character, Deltron Zero, goes up against the corporations that rule the universe. This project, with Dan the Automator and Kid Koala, comes with interplanetary hip-hop warriors, a touch of classical sensibility and sci-fi rapping.

Geek-o-meter: 6 -- If corporations rule the universe, will televisions be even cheaper?
Deltron3030
Amazon
'How to Meet Girls,' Nerf Herder
The band's name is a reference to a line in 'The Empire Strikes Back.' And this album from 2000 is pretty much how it sounds -- a self-deprecating record about striking out. The song 'Lamer Than Lame' probably explains their lack of success.

Geek-o-meter: 8 -- With songs like 'Pantera Fans in Love' and 'She's a Sleestack,' it's no wonder they can't score.
Nerf Herder
Amazon
'2112,' Rush
A futuristic 1976 concept album inspired by a different kind of woman, author and libertarian hero Ayn Rand, the title track from Rush's '2112' is a 20-minute tale about life in that far-off year, where the world is ruled -- and guitars are destroyed -- by the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx.

Geek-o-meter: 7 -- Let the planetary battles begin! Hey, wait: 2112? Isn't that pretty close? Hide your guitars!
Rush
Amazon
'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,' The Flaming Lips
While the Lips lean more toward weird than geeky, several tracks on this 2002 album do, in fact, discuss rose-colored automatons, delving into both robot battles and robot love. And we all know how geeks fantasize about getting it on with robots.

Geek-o-meter: 5 -- Unfortunately, robots know only one dance.
The Flaming Lips
Amazon
'The Fury of the Aquabats,' The Aquabats
Members of this ska-influenced band pretend to be superheroes sworn to protect their homeland, Aquabania, from Space Monster M and his minions. And, yes, they wear superhero costumes. Songs on this 1997 album include 'Magic Chicken,' 'Powdered Milk Man' and 'Captain Hampton and the Midget Pirates.' Band inspirations come from Devo, Oingo Boingo and the campy '60s TV show version of 'Batman.'

Geek-o-meter: 10 -- "Holy dorkus, Batman!"
The Aquabats
Amazon
'My Aim Is True,' Elvis Costello
The Other Elvis has always walked the line between cool and nerdy. But his 1977 debut -- featuring the original Napoleon Dynamite (as he credited himself on a later album) donning thick-rimmed glasses on the cover -- boasts multiple songs about losing girls to other guys. The 22-year-old former computer operator was described by one newspaper at the time as a "dyspeptic Woody Allen."

Geek-o-meter: 5 -- "Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills." --Napoleon Dynamite (the movie character)
Elvis Costello
Amazon
'Fear of Music,' Talking Heads
The Talking Heads fall into a special geek category: Art School Geeks. Three members, after all, met at the Rhode Island School of Design (the other went to Harvard), which no doubt influenced their smart lyrics. On this 1979 album, 'I Zimbra' was inspired by poem written by Hugo Ball, a German Dadaist. Other songs are about paranoia, the imminent collapse of civilization and a lack of parties.

Geek-o-meter: 7 -- Oh, come on: At least give us a Dada party!
Talking Heads
Amazon
'Rockets and Robots,' Phenomenauts
You pretty much get what you expect with an album titled 'Rockets and Robots' -- songs about both rockets and robots. This Bay Area band, which calls its music "Rocket Roll," claims "Science and Honor" as its motto. They perform in uniforms, and they're not afraid to show fans their sci-fi gizmos. Songs on this 2003 release include 'Space Mutants,' 'Robot Love' and 'Galactic Pioneers.'

Geek-o-meter: 8 -- Gizmo, schmizmo: They've got nothing on the Aquabats!
Phenomenauts
Amazon
'Gordon,' Barenaked Ladies
The guys from BNL are more pop-culture dorks than anything, as proved by this silly 1992 album. 'Grade 9' relates the fears of a chunky, chicken-legged new freshman who secretly likes Duran Duran. 'Enid' was inspired by a waitress whose name curiously spelled "dine" backward. And 'New Kid (on the Block)' is about the boy band. There are also nods to Brian Wilson, Yoko Ono and fellow Canadian geeks Rush.

Geek-o-meter: 7 -- Hey! What's the shame in liking Duran Duran? Not that we would ever, ah ... let's move on.
Barenaked Ladies
Amazon
'Tales From Topographic Oceans,' Yes
These prog geeks managed to fill a two-disc album with just four songs. The songs here (Did we mention there are just four?) sort of tell a story based on ancient shastric teachings. The quartet of tunes symbolize Truth, Knowledge, Culture and Freedom. We could go on about 'Autobiography of a Yogi' -- an inspiration for the 1974 album -- but why?

Geek-o-meter: 4 -- The number of songs on this album
Yes
Amazon
'Polka Party,' Weird Al Yankovic
Weird Al, a onetime architecture student who decided to pursue an accordion career, is now a respected geek who manages to make fun of ostensibly much cooler people. Given the nature of parody albums -- not to mention that accordion -- any number of his records would fit here. But we especially liked the cover of this 1986 album, featuring Al in lederhosen, playing a squeeze box to a punk crowd. Oh, and the medley featuring parodies of 'Sussudio,' 'Party All the Time' and 'Rock Me Amadeus.'

Geek-o-meter: "A one and a two and a ..." -- Sorry: dated reference to accordion player Lawrence Welk.
Weird Al Yankovic
Amazon
'Magica,' Dio
The recently departed Ronnie James Dio will forever be remembered for popularizing the "devil horns" sign. But he was also a bit of geek, often incorporating fantasy elements into his music. This 2000 concept album -- which was to be the first of a trilogy -- told the story of a benevolent people and their wizard leaders, who are overtaken by the dark forces of Evilsyde.

Geek-o-meter: 9 -- Wizards, dude.
Ronnie James Dio
Amazon
'Knowing Is Half the Hassle,' MC Chris
This leader in the nerdcore genre was born Christopher Brendan Ward IV and grew up playing with his Yoda action figure (surprise!), eventually penning songs like 'Fett's Vett' in honor of the 'Star Wars' catalog. The son of a finance executive, he also worked on the 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force' TV cartoon. This 2003 album features the song 'Geek' and an album cover inspired by G.I. Joe.

Geek-o-meter: 10 -- In geeky voice: "So if you locked Boba Fett, Yoda and G.I. Joe in the same room with no weapons ..."
MC Chris
Amazon
'Tenacious D,' Tenacious D
Jack Black and Kyle Gass are two heavyset dudes whose look is less Robert Plant and more Comic Book Guy from 'The Simpsons.' And the lyrics off this 2001 release tell of a dream world, where they rawk, have wild sex and try to persuade Ronnie James Dio to pass the torch. Now that's fantasy at its finest.

Geek-o-meter: 4 Because they really do rawk!
Tenacious D
Amazon
'Thing a Week III,' Jonathan Coulton
Coulton, a Yale graduate and former computer programmer, quit his day gig to pursue music full-time. But without a record deal, the multi-instrumentalist had to use his podcast to build an audience. It worked, with some songs getting downloaded as much as 500,000 times. Inspired in the past by space, clowns, zombies and a mad scientist, his song 'Code Monkey' -- about his former gig -- is the best-known tune on this 2006 album of unabashed geekery.

Geek-o-meter: 7 -- If only we could all quit our day jobs to write zombie songs.
Jonathan Coulton
Amazon

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23 Comments

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Duke

I never heard of Deltron 3030, but that's an interesting pic looking up at the Trylon and Perisphere at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

August 03 2010 at 11:38 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brink

Relax...meditate eat a hamburger!

August 02 2010 at 8:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mark turner

WOW! The inclusion of "2112" and Tales From..." Someone did their homework!

August 02 2010 at 7:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
laffinboy71

i love many of these albums, And Weird Al is King i loved the comments about how long he outlasted the carees of those he pariodied and never has any problems when he plays. as for the term geek it could be a smart person not well liked, a person with technical savy, and even heard the referance a person who bites the heads off chickens anyway you look at it some of these artist/albums will alway be remembered

August 02 2010 at 7:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
hippie wannabe

Where's Monzy's, "Kill Dash-9" ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fow7iUaKrq4

August 02 2010 at 6:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gleep

Pat, Pat, Pat.
How can you write an article and post it in the internet without using the internet to find out who and what the Longines Symphonette is???!!! Ignorance can be fixed. Stupid can't.

Pat, the constant and consistent use of the word "we" suggests that more than one person wrote the article. Question: are you singularly taking credit for other people's input or, like many psychos, is there more than one of you in there?

I'm not saying that all of the above mentioned recordings are great works of art, but I do believe that each of the artists mentioned above demonstrate more talent in their pinky fingers (often used on their accordions) than you did in creating this list.

So the Yes album has ONLY four songs. And Beethoven's symphonies ONLY have 4 movements.

Your bio says that your features have appeared in The "Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Seattle Times and numerous other major newspapers." Do they PAY you for these features?

You CAN quit your day job, by the way, not necessarily to write zombie songs, but at least to write something worth reading.

August 02 2010 at 6:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jen

How could Dio even thought of being put on this list, his memory and his music will live forever, no one will ever come close to topping him.

August 02 2010 at 6:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
KellDogg

DeVo was/is involved with the DE-Evolution of mankind, as we ARE de-evolutionizing as we speak. It was nice of this person to put them in this catagory, but thier subliminal nature of mankind can only be explained through deep cerebral thought processes. Listen or read the lyrics and you will find They were/is the smartest geek band ever. Just giving props where need be. I don't need comments, just listen to DEVO and learn.

August 02 2010 at 5:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
carl22grant

Where is Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention? There is no doubt that their efforts were truly ground breaking at allmost every level.

August 02 2010 at 5:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John F.C. Taylor

If you want to be picky, it was scruffy nerf herder. And Solo's reply was who's scruffy?

August 02 2010 at 5:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply