Then: The Earlier Years is a double album compilation by the band They Might Be Giants, released in 1997. Then contains the band’s first album They Might Be Giants, as well as their second album Lincoln in their entirety, and Miscellaneous T. With a few unreleased songs from their 1985 Demo Tape and other songs previously unreleased. The song missing from Miscellaneous T is "(She Was a) Hotel Detective (Single Mix)" and the song missing from They Might Be Giants is the album version of "Don't Let's Start", as it was replaced in its appropriate place in the track listing by the single version of the same song from Miscellaneous T. The They Might Be Giants Online Store also sells the non They Might Be Giants and Lincoln tracks separately, in two parts titled Giants Jubilee and Mightathon. These albums were once sold separately, but the full album is typically available for sale digitally. The compilation Best of the Early Years is a heavily condensed version of this release (a single disc and only 10 tracks). The two discs of this compilation were released separately in 2013 by Australian indie label Breakaway Recordings, with the They Might Be Giants disc having the original "Don't Let's Start" mix and the single mix of "(She Was A) Hotel Detective" added, as well as having "Untitled" moved from track 23 to track 38 and 85 Radio Special Thank You" having 20 seconds of silence appended. The cover art is by Tony Millionaire.

Song origins

Track listing

All songs are by They Might Be Giants unless otherwise noted.

Disc one

Disc two