Although it lacks a standout single like "Birdhouse in Your Soul," Apollo 18 is a more consistent album than Flood, overflowing with ideas and pop hooks. The most noteworthy idea may have been "Fingertips," a "suite" of 21 song fragments designed to make each random play a new experience, but the meat of the album lies in pop songs like "I Palindrome I," "My Evil Twin," "She's Actual Size," and "Which Describes How You're Feeling." The album has a slightly darker feeling than its predecessors, but that just gives the album a resonance that was missing on Flood. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Peter Stampfel (Banjo), Peter Stampfel (Vocals), Peter Stampfel (Vocals (Background)), Randy Meisner (Guitar (Bass)), Randy Meisner (Vocals), They Might Be Giants (Producer), They Might Be Giants (Main Performer), NASA (Photography), Brian Dewan (Vocals), Brian Dewan (Vocals (Background)), Amy Allison (Vocals), Amy Allison (Vocals (Background)), Paul Angelli (Engineer), Paul Angelli (Mixing), Bruce Calder (Mixing), Laura Cantrell (Vocals), Laura Cantrell (Vocals (Background)), Julie Cohen (Vocals), Patrick Dillett (Mixing), Mark Feldman (Violin), John Flansburgh (Guitar), John Flansburgh (Keyboards), John Flansburgh (Vocals), John Flansburgh (Producer), Nicholas Hill (Vocals), Nicholas Hill (Vocals (Background)), Kurt Hoffman (Art Assistant), John Linnell (Accordion), John Linnell (Horn), John Linnell (Keyboards), John Linnell (Vocals), John Linnell (Producer), Frank London (Trumpet), Elma Mayer (Vocals), Elma Mayer (Vocals (Background)), Alan Winstanley (Mixing), Garo Yellin (Cello), Jim Thomas (Drums), Jim Thomas (Technical Support), Joshua Fried (Technical Support), Brian Pollack (Mixing), UE Nastasi (Mixing), Chris Cush (Technical Support), Rolf Conant (Design), Bo Orloff (Art Assistant)
President John F. Kennedy's stated goal for the United States of "...landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth" was realized in 1969 with the historical voyage of Apollo 11. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, numerous Apollo missions rocketed teams of brave explorers into outer space, on and around the moon. Now you can share in their collective experiences from countdown to splashdown with Apollo 18: Mission to the Moon for the Commodore 64.
To successfully accomplish a complete mission in Apollo 18, you must first blast off, perform docking and correction maneuvers, land on the moon, and perform "Extra Vehicular Activity" (EVA) on the surface. Following those tasks, you then lift off from the moon, re-dock with the Command Module (CM), perform a space walk, practice satellite capture, re-enter Earth's atmosphere, and splashdown. At the end of each of these sub-missions, you are shown a mission status/score screen. Speed and efficiency with each task are of the utmost importance.
A number of gauges and indicators are used to help you perform in the sub-missions. For example, an altitude indicator helps you execute a lunar landing at minimum velocity, and to achieve a perfect blast off you must press the fire button when a red bar reaches the mid-line. Multiple graphs and views are used as well, such as the three landing site approach windows in the lunar landing sequence, and the NASA flight director's control panel in the Mission Control Room. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Roots & Influences
This game was obviously influenced by Activision's Space Shuttle -- A Journey Into Space (1983) for the Atari 2600. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
Production Credits
Design: Rick Banks, Paul Butler
Technical: J. Stuart Easterbrook
Programming: Phillip Armstrong, Lise Mendoza
Graphics: Grant Campbell
Sound: Paul Butler
Producer: Jon Corell ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide
The album marked the first conscious effort by John Linnell and John Flansburgh to branch out of their early sound, opting for more traditional rock rhythms and fuller
arrangements. The duo adopted a backing band with live drums during the supporting tour.
Despite its lack of a chart-topping single and somewhat mixed reception from critics, Apollo 18 remains a fan favorite.
The group even performed the album in its entirety at a few special shows in 2003.
Song notes and miscellanea
"Fingertips" is a series of twenty-one apparently unrelated short tracks ranging in duration from four to sixty-one seconds
(although most of them are under fifteen), totalling four minutes and thirty-five seconds. The liner notes, in an apparent
reference to these tracks, have the message "The indexing of this disc is designed to complement the Shuffle Mode of modern CD
players". Due to a mastering error, the UK and
Australian issues of this CD have "Fingertips" as one track, while the U.S. edition has it as twenty-one tracks. The song became somewhat of a TMBG staple, appearing not only on
the "Dial-A-Song" greatest hits compilation, but also as a must-play in their live setlists. A flash animation was also created on
Albino Black Sheep as a collaboration of several animators.
"The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)," spawned from a jam session of The Tokens song
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and was originally intended to simply be called "The
Guitar." Due to the legal ramifications of this, the record label required the band to add the title of the original song to the
track.
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