The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek

The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek (often shortened to Anatomy) is the second full-length album released by the Christian rock band Relient K. It was released on August 28, 2001, and peaked at No. 158 on the Billboard 200. On June 26, 2006, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000 units in the United States. The cover of the original release is similar to that of the 1999 Ramones release Hey Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology.

The album continues the band's liberal use of pop culture references (such as the song "I'm Lion-O," which is about the popular TV series Thundercats). Song themes range from pop culture to Christian themes—growth in faith ("Pressing On"), backsliding ("What Have You Been Doing Lately?"), worship ("Those Words Are Not Enough," "For the Moments I Feel Faint," and "Less Is More") —and social themes—such as racism and persecution ("Failure to Excommunicate"), judgementalism ("Down in Flames")—to making excuses or blaming others for one's own faults ("Maybe It's Maybeline"). There is also a song about one's experiences in high school ("Sadie Hawkins Dance").

Gotee Records released a "Gold Edition" of this album on October 31, 2006, along with the release of a "Gold Edition" of Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...but Three Do on the same day. The Gold Edition of this album has remixed and remastered in a style similar to Mmhmm (the album was remixed by the same people who mixed Mmhmm) and it has a music video for the song "Pressing On".

Track listing

 * Track 2 & 7, and all "First Three Gears" bonus tracks, originally from The Creepy EP.

Credits
Relient K
 * Matt Thiessen – lead vocals, guitars, acoustic piano
 * Matt Hoopes – guitars, backing vocals
 * Brian Pittman – bass
 * Dave Douglas – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel
 * Rob Roy Fingerhead – nylon guitar, slide guitar
 * Madalena Burle Marx – cello
 * Ann Smith – viola
 * Cory Smith – violin
 * Heather Walker – violin
 * Crystal Brezovsky – French horn
 * Scott Cannon – gang vocals
 * Kyle Hudson – gang vocals
 * Kevan Peden – gang vocals

Production

 * Joey Elwood – executive producer
 * Toby McKeehan – executive producer
 * Mark Lee Townsend – producer, recording
 * F. Reid Shippen – mixing at The Castle (Nashville, Tennessee)
 * Dan Shike – mix assistant
 * Randy LeRoy – editing and assembling at Final Stage (Nashville, Tennessee)
 * Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York)
 * Mike McGlaflin – A&R
 * Aaron Marrs – creative design
 * John Falls – photography
 * Alabaster Arts – management

References to popular culture
The last line of "Pressing On" is from The Mary Tyler Moore Show theme. "Maybe It's Maybeline" (deliberately misspelled, much like the band's name) refers to the popular Maybelline line of beauty products and its tag line.