The Flaming Lips -- Complete Discography
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Telepathic Surgery (1989)
Showing posts with label Flaming Lips [COMPLETE]. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flaming Lips [COMPLETE]. Show all posts
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Monday, September 2, 2013
Hear It Is -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
Hear It Is (1986)
Rating: 6
"All I know is that my mind is blown / When I'm with you"
Best Song: Trains, Brains, and Rain
Worst Song: Who knows?
From humble beginnings...very humble beginnings. That's right, folks, the Lips started out with less of a bang, and more of a whimper. This is their Pablo Honey; an embarrassing first effort that has little-to-no resemblance to their later, far greater albums. At this point in their career, the band was nothing more than an Oklahoma-based indie-punk trio making noisy little records in a glorified garage. The production is startlingly empty, the songwriting is weak, and literally the only similarity between this and later Lips records is Wayne's voice. In short -- no, this is not The Soft Bulletin.
The album starts off decently enough, with the opening trio of songs being among the best the album has to offer. "Unplugged" is a decent uptempo number with a cool surf-rock riff (although the vocal melody is fairly awful), and the opening "With You" has a nice alternation between its gentle acoustic verses and rocking chorus. The best thing here is probably "Trains, Brains, and Rain", a fun rocker with a surprisingly full arrangement. The combination of multi-tracked backing vocals, 80s production values, and both acoustic and electric guitars actually reminds me of Lifes Rich Pageant-era R.E.M., and that's definitely a compliment. No, it's certainly not a "Begin the Begin" or "These Days", but it isn't too much worse than something like "Hyena". It's fun!
Elsewhere you'll find "Just Like Before", a surprisingly cool rocker with a rather memorable vocal melody, and the nifty acoustic ballad "Godzilla Flick", which is...alright. And everything else? Mehhhhh. "Jesus Shooting Heroin" has a blasphemous title, but not much else of interest. Wayne's singing is irritating, the backing vocals are irritating, that head-bashingly simple riff in the chorus is irritating...and why does it have to wind on for over seven minutes?!?!?
"Charlie Manson Blues", "Staring at Sound", and "Man from Pakistan" are all woefully unmemorable, headache-inducing rockers (although the tribal chanting in "Charlie Manson" is admittedly a nice touch), and "She is Death" is nothing more than an extremely boring acoustic ballad with no real reason to exist. Yawn.
And that's not even mentioning that all of these songs become even worse when placed in context. This is a ridiculously painful album to listen to in one sitting -- nearly all the songs sound very samey and none of them really stand out, leading to an album that's sadly quite a bit worse than the sum of its parts. If you really like Oh My Gawd!! I suppose you might wanna try this, but I really can't picture anyone enjoying this very much.
"Charlie Manson Blues", "Staring at Sound", and "Man from Pakistan" are all woefully unmemorable, headache-inducing rockers (although the tribal chanting in "Charlie Manson" is admittedly a nice touch), and "She is Death" is nothing more than an extremely boring acoustic ballad with no real reason to exist. Yawn.
And that's not even mentioning that all of these songs become even worse when placed in context. This is a ridiculously painful album to listen to in one sitting -- nearly all the songs sound very samey and none of them really stand out, leading to an album that's sadly quite a bit worse than the sum of its parts. If you really like Oh My Gawd!! I suppose you might wanna try this, but I really can't picture anyone enjoying this very much.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Oh My Gawd!! -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
Oh My Gawd!! (1987)
Rating: 8
"BOMBS ARE COMIN' IN CEREAL PACKAGES!"
Best Song: One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning or the second half of Prescription: Love
Worst Song: Tracks 4 and 8 are equally forgettable -- take your pick
...aaaaand for the most part, they.......are? Maybe? I'm really not sure. Most of the songs here strike a balance right on the VERY fine line between irritatingly mediocre and pleasantly mediocre, and at times I can't tell if I hate these songs or love them.
But there are at least a few songs I can make some semi-definite judgment on. The track usually recognized as the album's big classic is the 9-minute "One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning", and while I *like* it, I'm not quite as sold on it as everyone else seems to be. As every reviewer in existence feels the need to specify, the band is TOTALLY going for a late-60s Pink Floyd sound here, and while they certainly succeed in providing a successful imitation, I was never *that* crazy about late-60s Floyd to begin with. Besides, I'd rather listen to "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" than this anyway.
But hey, I'm not all down on the song! The transition from the softer acoustic section to the grungy, rocking one is handled very well (and isn't it positively Lip-tastic that the big, epic phrase that signifies this big, epic transition is a conspiracy theory about explosives being planted in breakfast food?). Plus the melody, while certainly not at a Drozd-level of memorability, is perfectly competent, and the riffage in the climactic section is really quite nice! Yeah, the track could be a minute or two shorter, but I would never skip it.
Another track where my feelings are pretty clear is the closing "Love Yer Brain", where the band attempts to tackle the issue of drug addiction (at least, I think that's what it's about...) in an incredibly stupid manner via an "epic" piano ballad. The lyrics are vapid and completely forgettable, but the actual melody and chord progression is quite nice, and it makes for a fine closer.
I have extremely divided feelings on "Prescription: Love", which makes sense -- it's an extremely divided song. The first half of the 6-minute track is a lengthy, guitar-driven intro that absolutely bores me to tears. The band bashes along for what seems like FOREVER, and I derive little-to-no enjoyment from this section. The second half, however, is an entirely different story. The band completely shifts gears from the noisy first part to something of a take on country-influenced 50s rockabilly, and it's positively glorious. The vocal melody is ridiculously happy and catchy, the lyrics are a load of fun (in addition to being REALLY clever and actually somewhat...smart?!?), and overall the track manages to put me into a GREAT mood every time it comes on. It's one of the greatest songs from the Lips' early epoch, and BY FAR the best thing they released pre-Priest. Heck, it even introduces that low-pitched vocal sound that the band ended up using so often throughout the 90s. If only the first half of the song was half as good....
And well, that's about it, as far as clearly bad-or-good songs go. Everything else is just...mediocre. "Everything's Explodin'" is a decently fun rocker, "Ode to C.C. (Pt. 2)" is a decent acoustic ballad, and "Can't Stop the Spring" is another decent rocker that stands out only because it inexplicably samples "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Decent, decent, decent.
"The Ceiling is Bendin'" is beloved by many fans of the band, but I'm not quite sure why. It's got a decent tune, but when it's over the only things I can really remember about it are those twisted "Come on, come on" backing vocals and the incessant fading in-and-out. Meh. "Maximum Dream for Evel Knievel" is a song that feels like it should irritate me a lot more than it should (it strikes a strange sort of enjoyment for me as is), and "Can't Exist"...meh. It's slow and ultra-quiet, but it's pleasant enough for me to not entirely hate it. Same for "Thanks to You".
So that's your album. It's definitely a more pleasant listen than its predecessor, and unlike Hear It Is, I might actually return to it even after I've written my review. So...yeah, consider this something of a recommendation. Heard all the band's 90s material? Begging for more early Lips? Yeah, check this out. So c'mon everybody -- LET'S GIVE LOVE A MARKETING SCAM!
(Note: as of now, I have no plans to purchase the band's third album, Telepathic Surgery, but from what I've read it's roughly comparable to these first two, as far as quality is concerned.)
In a Priest Driven Ambulance -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
In a Priest Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine Stares)
Rating: 10
"Things have changed, and God walks among us now"
Best Song: Unconsciously Screamin'
Worst Song: Mountain Side
As for as an improvement in actual songwriting goes...ehh. The band didn't really *improve* in songwriting so much as they just learned the fine art of cutting out filler. Of course, there are definitely a few songs on here that are less than great, but completely useless time-wasters (like, say, the first half of "Prescription: Love") are nowhere to be seen. Everything here sounds at the very least like the band was trying to make something good, and I can find some positives in nearly every song, so that's definitely a good thing.
The album starts off on an absolutely hilarious note with the, erm, *uplifting* "Shine On Sweet Jesus". I think this song perfectly captures the general pros and cons of the whole album. As for pros: the vocal melody is pretty catchy, it's really fun, and it sounds cool. As for cons: Wayne's voice sounds absolutely TERRIBLE (although "Sweet Jesus" is kind of a novelty song, so it's not as bad here), and the song just kinda...floats along. There isn't much of a riff to be found in the instrumental sections, just a sea of swirling white noise and amp hiss. Again, it sounds cool, but an entire album of this gets a little tiring.
However, a couple tracks in particular actually feature solid riffs, and this works well to break up the monotony of the album. The best of these by far is "Unconsciously Screamin'", one of the band's best-ever rockers. Wayne's vocals actually sound good for once, the riff is awesome, and the whole thing is just ridiculously fun and catchy. I'm not nearly as fond of the album's other riff-rocker, though. "Mountain Side" would've made for a fine 3-minute ditty (albeit one that would feel right at home on Oh My Gawd!!), but 6 minutes of mind-numbing noise and semi-directionless vocals is too much for me.
Some of the album's greater moments come in its quieter, more acoustic tracks. The extremely anthemic ballad "Five Stop Mother Superior Rain" is quite good even despite its silly, "heartstring-tugging" lyrics -- that vocal melody is very memorable, and yeah, I've gotta admit, the brief bits of noise here actually work somewhat well. Just as good is the completely acoustic "There You Are", an absolutely beautiful ditty that works perfectly as a refuge between the crushingly hard rock of "Mountain Side" and "God Walks Among Us Now".
Speaking of "God Walks Among Us Now"...geez, wotta song. It's not a classic, but I can safely say that I've never heard anything even remotely like it. Wayne screams his, erm, "vocal melody" (can you even call it that??) through a cool, megaphone-esque filter while Jonathan attempts to create a ridiculously disorienting sea of guitar noise. It all ends up turning into one bizarre mess of a song, but I definitely enjoy it...to some degree. I can easily see someone HATING it, though.
Speaking of hatred, I've never been fond of the uber-anthemic "Rainin' Babies", if only because the beautiful arrangement and melody are absolutely destroyed by Wayne's terrible, teeerrrrrible vocals. This is one of the few times in the band's career where his voice is pretty much intolerable, and it makes the song very hard to listen to.
The band also tries their hand at covering Can's "Mushroom", and while it's not amazing, I do like it slightly better than the original if only because Wayne wisely chose to take out that ridiculously irritating "I THOUGHT I'D GET MYYY DESPAAAAIR" chorus. I should also mention that the band completely changed the lyrics to the song, going as far as retitling it "Take Meta Mars".
There's also a cover of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", which is rather nice. It doesn't do anything too special to the original song, but that's not necessary; it's a classic as is. Of course, you could also make the case for simply listening to the Louis Armstrong original instead, and...yeah, I don't have much of an argument for that. But the noisy indie-rock take on the ubiquitous song is still nice to hear every once in a while, y'know? Plus, it works wonderfully as a closer.
It's good! It's not that "big leap forward" that everyone always treats it as, and it's not quite a must-purchase, but it's certainly the best thing they'd done to this point. If you're a fan of their other early-to-mid-90s work you'll probably like this as well.
Hit to Death in the Future Head -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992)
Rating: 10
"I'm waiting for the frogs to fall down on me"
Best Song: Frogs
Worst Song: The Sun
Ehh....it's a little better, I guess. This was the band's first album on Warner Bros., and while you can tell this to some degree (the arrangements are quite a bit busier than those on Priest), it's still basically in the same vein as the previous album: lots of guitar noise, a good bit of filler, and a handful of great tracks.
Let's get the filler out of the way first -- "The Sun" and "Felt Good to Burn" are complete throwaways. They're not horrible, but they're utterly forgettable, and from a band as weird as this one...that's a pretty harsh accusation. I mean, I suppose this ridiculously drugged-out atmosphere of "Felt Good to Burn" is semi-interesting, and the trumpet line that keeps popping up in "The Sun" is pretty cool, but that's about all the positives I can give you for these tracks. "Hit Me Like You Did the First Time" always strikes me as having a good, memorable melody, but there's something really awkward about the track that I just can't place my finger on. I dunno, all the assorted pieces just don't mesh well for me, and while it's not a bad track, it's certainly not one of the album's high spots. (Fun fact: I've heard a few bootlegs from around this period of the band's history, and "Hit Me" seems to work much better live. I guess the increase in speed and energy helps to tighten it up.)
Fortunately, the rest of the album fares much better. On most of the album's uptempo tracks, the band seems to be going for a sound that could only be described as "exhilarating". The foremost thing in my head when I hear rockers like "Everyone Wants to Live Forever" and "The Magician vs. the Headache" is speed, and it's extremely fun to listen to. The way these tracks rush through the speakers, riding on waves of distortion, noise, and various overdubs always leaves me with a smile on my face, despite the fact that at a basic level these songs aren't that great. Sure, the melodies are passable, and the riffs are fine, but everything here is just very...basic. Enjoyable, but basic.
Well, except for the 6-minute "Halloween on the Barbary Coast". The vocal melody here is actually really great, and I adore the various Middle-Eastern touches all over the instrumental breaks. Sitars, backwards horns, something that kinda sounds like a tabla, bongos...it sounds like something George Harrison would've made back in his Hari Krishna days. Of course, I doubt that George would've incorporated these instruments into a goofy rock song with lyrics about "retards" and "sh*t for brains", but hey. That's why we love these guys, right?
We also love them for making magnificent rock anthems about what else but Egyptian plagues. I'm obviously speaking of "Frogs", my personal favorite track from the album. The sea of guitar effects works wonderfully here, the melody is top-notch, and it all combines to make what is easily the best song the Lips had made at this point in their career. A classic.
Hey, it's not bad. I can't really decide if I like this or Priest better, and while neither of them are particularly essential, if you're a fan of the band you should certainly check them out. And it should go without saying that "Frogs" is a must-hear.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Transmissions from the Satellite Heart -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
Transmission from the Satellite Heart (1993)
Rating: 14
"It's all a waste of time again..."
Best Song: Slow-Nerve-Action or Moth in the Incubator
Worst Song: No idea.
Most people consider this to be the band's finest moment, and for a looooooong time, I didn't have the slightest idea why. This was my first pre-Bulletin Lips album, and it threw me for a major loop -- I couldn't see why AllMusic, John McFerrin, George Starostin, Cap'n Marvel, and even Rolling Stone considered this a classic. I forced myself to listen to it over and over, earnestly looking for something -- anything -- that I liked about it. And...I just couldn't do it. I remember listening to the album one time and thinking that I really liked "Be My Head", only to return to that song a few days later and find that I hated it. I also recall reading every positive review of the album over and over again, desperately trying to find out what I was missing, and all I could find were flatly positive statements like "Absolutely poptones!", "extremely accessible and wonderfully melodic!" and, most damningly, "If you buy this album and don't like it, well, early 90s Flaming Lips probably isn't for you".
"Come on Reagan, get a hold of yourself", I kept telling myself. "You've grown to love Can, Brian Eno, Radiohead, Bob Dylan -- all artists that at first listen you hated but eventually grew to love. You can conquer an accessible, semi-popular alt-rock album from 1993!" I also had similar issues with Embryonic (which was, ironically, the first Lips album I bought after this one), but even that one grew on me relatively quickly. This? Geez, it took me AT LEAST 7 or so listens to even begin to crack it, which I find rather hysterical. You see, this is viewed as their big "sell-out" album, the one that finally broke them into the mainstream and ensured their prolonged tenure at Warner Bros. Yet I still couldn't break into it.
Of course, I eventually did (although I didn't really enjoy it until after I had heard Clouds Taste Metallic, interestingly enough), and now I'm pretty much in total agreement with the critical consensus -- yes, this is most certainly their best pre-Soft Bulletin album. I know that some would argue for that spot belonging to Clouds, and even I think that Clouds has some better songs, but as far as a full, cohesive album is concerned, this has to be the best of their guitar-rock phase.
So...why is that? What separates it so much from Priest Driven Ambulance and Hit to Death? Well, for starters, the band acquired Ronald Jones on lead guitar, thus relieving Wayne of having to replace Jonathan Donahue by recording excessive overdubs. Mr. Jones works fantastically here, filling the sound with loads of colorful fireworks that frequently boost decent songs into "great song" territory. Take "Oh My Pregnant Head". The song is essentially an overly drugged-out ballad (think "The Sun") with a near-irritating vocal melody (although the ethereal outro is quite nice), and on a basic level it's a near-failure. However, Ronald keeps coming in throughout the song with these BRILLIANT guitar effects, and this is just enough to turn the song into something approaching greatness. I'm especially in love with that "*shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhWUNGGGGG*" sound that keeps coming in right after every chorus.
But in addition to Ronald, the band also brought in a new drummer by the name of...uh...hm, I forget....oh yeah -- STEVEN DROZD who essentially took over the band from this point onward. Yeah, Wayne was still the ring-leader, and he still decided the general direction the band would take (in addition to designing the artwork, writing the lyrics, and creating all of the band's general style), but as far as melodies and arrangement were concerned? Yup, Steven's your guy from here on out.
Which, as far as I'm concerned, is a massive plus -- really, how many truly excellent melodies came before this album? I can count them on one hand: "Frogs", "Unconsciously Screamin'", "Talkin' 'Bout the Smilin' Deathporn Immortality Blues", "Five Stop Mother Superior Rain", and maybe "Love Yer Brain". Sure, there were some decent ones here and there, but as far as *great* ones? Yeah, that's about it. So if you're a fan of the melodies on this here album, Clouds Taste Metallic, The Soft Bulletin, or Yoshimi...thank Mr. Drozd (you may also thank him for his brilliant drumming).
So before I finally tell you how much I love this album (and why), allow me to list my sole bit of irritation with the album that still lingers with me to this day...It takes a few tracks to really get going. I'm not sure why this is, and maybe it's just me, but it always takes me about four tracks before I feel like I'm listening to a truly great album. Sure, album opener "Turn It On" is a fun ode to the radio, but I've never found the melody as catchy as everyone else seemingly does. "Pilot Can at the Queer of God"? Again, lots of people love it, but it's easily among the two or three worst tracks on the album for me. The melody is decent, yeah, but I'm not too crazy about the constant repetition of that irritating "Oh gaaaaahd" line, and Wayne's voice (as well as the incessant guitar noise) actually irritates me a bit here. Meh. The third track is the afore-mentioned "Oh My Pregnant Head" which, as I said earlier, is just ok.
Thankfully, song four is the band's big breakout hit "She Don't Use Jelly", which I am extremely fond of. It's catchy, the lyrics are fun, and the slide guitar breaks, while a little more atonal and noisy than I'd like, are still rather cool. And from here on out?...yeah, the album's absolutely perfect. Each song flows wonderfully into the next, they're all magnificent, and for me, it's pretty much alt-rock bliss.
"Chewin' the Apple of Your Eye" has to be their greatest acoustic ballad ever (don't those angelic choirs at the end just lift your spirits like nothing else?), full of brilliant lyrics and a near-perfect vocal melody. And "Be My Head", well, that one's just a load of fun. Power-pop perfection, that's what it is -- the band whips out some of its trademarks (good 'ol guitar noise, pitch-altered voices) and provides an joyful, freewheeling classic.
I know some people don't care for "When Yer Twenty-Two" simply because it sounds eerily similar to "Halloween on the Barbary Coast" from the last album, but I dunno...I think I like this one better. Sure, I miss the epic, Middle-Eastern guitar line from the melody's previous incarnation, but this one's about half the length of "Barbary Coast", Wayne sounds way better, and it works perfectly as the album's penultimate track, so...yeah. Consider me a fan. (Those backwards drums are pretty wonderful too, as is the ending guitar solo.)
But as great as those tracks are, none compare to the epic, three-part "Moth in the Incubator". It starts out as a decent ballad before startlingly lurching into what sounds like the opening of David Bowie's "Station to Station" being performed by a bunch of drunk circus performers on the noisiest guitars imaginable....and yet it works. Somehow. Plus, Wayne gives one of the greatest man-to-woman compliments I've ever heard in song -- "your incubator is so tight". Ah, what a romantic.
But even that's not as great as the third section, where the band breaks out into what sounds like a RIDICULOUSLY triumphant Irish jig. It's gotta be one of the happiest, most wonderful moments in the band's entire catalog. I get put into a great mood every time I hear it.
There's one more massive highlight in the album, though, and that's obviously the closing "Slow-Nerve-Action", one of the band's most beloved songs. And I must say, it's complete deserving of its constant praise -- Drozd's drum groove is the song's most complimented feature, but as great as that is...geez, everything about the track is just as good. The lumbering, anthemic guitar line, Wayne's thoughtful, clever lyrics, that brilliantly depressing vocal melody...and who could forget that instrumental break halfway through when a glockenspiel begins tinkling over a brilliant, jangly guitar solo. What a perfect closer.
Yes, I love it now. I'm still not quite sure why I hated it so much in the beginning, but I think I do know why none of the reviews I read seemed very definite on their reasons for loving the album -- there's nothing *that* remarkable here. Everything is just a VERY finely tuned version of what's come before; this is nothing more than a perfected version of Hit to Death or Ambulance. It's nothing revolutionary, it's just incredibly solid and a load of fun, to boot. It's also very diverse, and as such it never gets boring. It's even got a MAGNIFICENT flow to it, which is truly saying something given its diversity. Yep, it's just a simple alt-pop/rock album...but what a simple alt-pop/rock album.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Clouds Taste Metallic -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
Clouds Taste Metallic (1995)
Rating: 13
"It's hard to read the writing through the flames"
Best Song: Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles
Worst Song: Kim's Watermelon Gun
I am so close to giving this a 14...SO CLOSE. But I have juuuust enough problems with the album to deny it that score...but just barely. After Transmissions, it seems that Steven's aspirations really took over. (And why not? He got them their first hit, after all!) As is obvious to anyone who knows Mr. Drozd's musical tastes, he's more of a melody/arrangement kind of guy than a "rockin'" kind of guy -- in other words, I'm pretty sure he was the main cause behind the band's grand exodus from the world of noisy guitar-rock to the world of beautiful, pretentious art-rock. This here album marks the big transition -- herein lies the only place where you can clearly say "okay, this is a blend of their two styles". It would be another 11 years before the band used an electric guitar as a crucial sound in one of their songs. Just chew on that...11 freakin' years.
So there's your set-up. Now, what exactly is causing me to deny Clouds the big 1-4? Hm...well, it's more of a feeling than anything concrete. You see, the album has an overall "loose" feel that can be a little hard to adjust to. It's most apparent in the really anthemic, epic tracks; songs like "Placebo Headwound" might not sound quite right on your first few listens. The individual pieces might not click well for you, until you really give it a chance. You'll eventually focus (hopefully) on the undeniably great portions -- that amazing "It's not so clear anymore to meeeee" hook, the stately piano lines, those swooning vocal arrangements -- and you'll have forgotten about the slightly uncomfortable transitions and near-imperceptible awkward pauses in no time. Again, this awkward feel is hard for me to nail down in writing; heck, I don't even notice it anymore. But I've read many a review commenting on it, and I certainly felt it at first, so it's definitely a factor here.
I think the band finally found its sense of wanting to make something great here -- you can tell they went into the studio looking to make a real classic, as opposed to just a good 'ol rock album. I think the bizarre feel that I keep referring to is a result of this; they wanted to make some kind of grand statement, but they didn't have quite the know-how to do so...yet. It would take a few more years for that to develop.
Any other reasons not to give it a 14? Well, the general sound of the album is very samey (every song has pretty much the exact same guitar tone), and it might take a while for you to start distinguishing the tracks (it's sort of like Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures in that way...although the Joy Division similarities end there). Plus, it's got more songs than any Lips albums other than Embryonic, and by the time that "Bad Days" reaches its conclusion at the end of the album, I'm honestly ready for it to be over.
But other than that...geez, this thing's perfect. I'm talking really high quality songwriting all around -- gold stars for everyone involved. This is most easily seen in the classic (and in my opinion, the best song they had released up to this point) "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles". It's easily at the top of the mountain as far as their more rocking efforts go, showcasing one of the greatest vocal melodies I've EVER heard along with a ridiculously gleeful sense of energy. If you're ever in need of a pick-me-up, "Psychiatric Explorations" should do it -- I can think of no other song that embodies sheer happiness like this one does. And this grin-inducing mania of a track is pulled off even as Wayne sings about...abortions, or the food chain, or something. That's right, Mr. Coyne was able to write one of the happiest songs ever and have the lyrics be about abortions. Suck on that, McCartney. Forget "I feel good in a special way", we Lip fans can get our kicks with "They beat you up, they make you leave / Sticking needles in your knees".
And how many uplifting love ballads do you know of that feature lyrics like "All of the subatomic pieces come together and unfold themselves in a second", a killer bass groove, one seriously shredding guitar solo, and magnificent, Zeppelin-level drumming? I know of none other than "When You Smile", and it's just as fantastic as it sounds. And for more brilliant arrangements, you need not look any further than "Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saved the World". At first glance it seems just like an ordinary, ultra-heavy rocker (albeit a brilliant one), but even aside from the hilarious title (and yes, the song's title is quite literally describing what goes on in the lyrics) you've got three-way vocal harmonies, at least four guitar overdubs, crowd noises, call-and-response sections featuring yet another appearance from the infamous ultra-deep voice, beautifully ascending keyboard lines, and a hilariously charismatic performance from Wayne as he imitates a radio announcer. Now THAT'S how you handle track arrangement.
And everything else is similarly great. The tale of two lovers broken apart by...erm, NASA, "They Punctured My Yolk" is absolutely breathtaking. Heartbreakingly regal and stately, driven by a tear-jerking melody that almost sounds like a lullaby, it's easily one of the best tracks here. "Brainville" is another classic, mixing some silly lyrics (I'm pretty sure Wayne's bashing college here, right?) with one of the best acoustic melodies I could possibly think of. And oh, isn't that guitar line in the "I know it must look bad!" section just so wonderfully triumphant?
"Lightning Strikes the Postman" is a deliciously crunchy rocker with clever lyrics, "Evil Will Prevail" is a GORGEOUS folk song, and "Christmas at the Zoo" is easily the best song I've ever heard with the word "Christmas" in the title (although, embarrassingly enough, I've always had a soft spot for "Do They Know It's Christmas?"). [EDIT: I completely forgot about The Who's "Christmas", which is one of my very favorite Who songs. Oops.] I suppose that the rollicking "Kim's Watermelon Gun" is the worst song on here just because it's fairly forgettable, but it's still a completely competent rocker with some fun backing vocals and a rousing lead guitar line.
This is definitely the best place to start with the band's pre-Soft Bulletin period -- it may take a bit to be able to sit through the whole thing in one sitting, but the songs here are a lot more immediate than anything on Transmissions or Priest Driven Ambulance. Plus, for those of you who aren't fans of noise-rock, this album also marked Ronald moving into a position of providing more riffs and licks, as opposed to providing sheer noise, so there's yet another reason for this being a great starting point. Anyway, accessibility aside, this is just an absolutely brilliant album -- one of the Lips' best, and one of the 90s' best.
So there's your set-up. Now, what exactly is causing me to deny Clouds the big 1-4? Hm...well, it's more of a feeling than anything concrete. You see, the album has an overall "loose" feel that can be a little hard to adjust to. It's most apparent in the really anthemic, epic tracks; songs like "Placebo Headwound" might not sound quite right on your first few listens. The individual pieces might not click well for you, until you really give it a chance. You'll eventually focus (hopefully) on the undeniably great portions -- that amazing "It's not so clear anymore to meeeee" hook, the stately piano lines, those swooning vocal arrangements -- and you'll have forgotten about the slightly uncomfortable transitions and near-imperceptible awkward pauses in no time. Again, this awkward feel is hard for me to nail down in writing; heck, I don't even notice it anymore. But I've read many a review commenting on it, and I certainly felt it at first, so it's definitely a factor here.
I think the band finally found its sense of wanting to make something great here -- you can tell they went into the studio looking to make a real classic, as opposed to just a good 'ol rock album. I think the bizarre feel that I keep referring to is a result of this; they wanted to make some kind of grand statement, but they didn't have quite the know-how to do so...yet. It would take a few more years for that to develop.
Any other reasons not to give it a 14? Well, the general sound of the album is very samey (every song has pretty much the exact same guitar tone), and it might take a while for you to start distinguishing the tracks (it's sort of like Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures in that way...although the Joy Division similarities end there). Plus, it's got more songs than any Lips albums other than Embryonic, and by the time that "Bad Days" reaches its conclusion at the end of the album, I'm honestly ready for it to be over.
But other than that...geez, this thing's perfect. I'm talking really high quality songwriting all around -- gold stars for everyone involved. This is most easily seen in the classic (and in my opinion, the best song they had released up to this point) "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles". It's easily at the top of the mountain as far as their more rocking efforts go, showcasing one of the greatest vocal melodies I've EVER heard along with a ridiculously gleeful sense of energy. If you're ever in need of a pick-me-up, "Psychiatric Explorations" should do it -- I can think of no other song that embodies sheer happiness like this one does. And this grin-inducing mania of a track is pulled off even as Wayne sings about...abortions, or the food chain, or something. That's right, Mr. Coyne was able to write one of the happiest songs ever and have the lyrics be about abortions. Suck on that, McCartney. Forget "I feel good in a special way", we Lip fans can get our kicks with "They beat you up, they make you leave / Sticking needles in your knees".
And how many uplifting love ballads do you know of that feature lyrics like "All of the subatomic pieces come together and unfold themselves in a second", a killer bass groove, one seriously shredding guitar solo, and magnificent, Zeppelin-level drumming? I know of none other than "When You Smile", and it's just as fantastic as it sounds. And for more brilliant arrangements, you need not look any further than "Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saved the World". At first glance it seems just like an ordinary, ultra-heavy rocker (albeit a brilliant one), but even aside from the hilarious title (and yes, the song's title is quite literally describing what goes on in the lyrics) you've got three-way vocal harmonies, at least four guitar overdubs, crowd noises, call-and-response sections featuring yet another appearance from the infamous ultra-deep voice, beautifully ascending keyboard lines, and a hilariously charismatic performance from Wayne as he imitates a radio announcer. Now THAT'S how you handle track arrangement.
And everything else is similarly great. The tale of two lovers broken apart by...erm, NASA, "They Punctured My Yolk" is absolutely breathtaking. Heartbreakingly regal and stately, driven by a tear-jerking melody that almost sounds like a lullaby, it's easily one of the best tracks here. "Brainville" is another classic, mixing some silly lyrics (I'm pretty sure Wayne's bashing college here, right?) with one of the best acoustic melodies I could possibly think of. And oh, isn't that guitar line in the "I know it must look bad!" section just so wonderfully triumphant?
"Lightning Strikes the Postman" is a deliciously crunchy rocker with clever lyrics, "Evil Will Prevail" is a GORGEOUS folk song, and "Christmas at the Zoo" is easily the best song I've ever heard with the word "Christmas" in the title (although, embarrassingly enough, I've always had a soft spot for "Do They Know It's Christmas?"). [EDIT: I completely forgot about The Who's "Christmas", which is one of my very favorite Who songs. Oops.] I suppose that the rollicking "Kim's Watermelon Gun" is the worst song on here just because it's fairly forgettable, but it's still a completely competent rocker with some fun backing vocals and a rousing lead guitar line.
This is definitely the best place to start with the band's pre-Soft Bulletin period -- it may take a bit to be able to sit through the whole thing in one sitting, but the songs here are a lot more immediate than anything on Transmissions or Priest Driven Ambulance. Plus, for those of you who aren't fans of noise-rock, this album also marked Ronald moving into a position of providing more riffs and licks, as opposed to providing sheer noise, so there's yet another reason for this being a great starting point. Anyway, accessibility aside, this is just an absolutely brilliant album -- one of the Lips' best, and one of the 90s' best.
Zaireeka - The Flaming Lips - Review
Zaireeka (1997)
Rating: 12
"You're invisible now, and I know that it's hard to get used to"
Best Song: Riding to Work in the Year 2025 or Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair
Worst Song: The Train Runs Over the Camel But is Derailed by the Gnat
Oh boy, where to start...well, after Clouds Ronald realized that he wasn't too crazy about that whole "fame" thing and decided to leave the music industry forever. This left the band without a lead guitarist, which was just enough to give Wayne, Michael, and Steven a good excuse to experiment a bit with their live shows. They proceeded to create something known as the "Parking Lot Experiments", where the band gathered loads of fans in a parking lot and handed out up to 50 individual tapes. They would then instruct their fans to place these tapes into their car stereo. At this point, Wayne would instruct everyone to press "PLAY" on their stereo at exactly the same time.
You see, the band intricately constructed a variety of songs that they would then break apart into several different tracks. These individual tracks were then placed onto the tapes used in this experiment. So the general effect was that if everyone pressed play on their individual stereo at a simultaneous moment, all of these different tapes would combine to create a sort of "mutated symphony", as Wayne puts it.
At this point during the "show", Wayne would proceed to "conduct" the various participants of the experiment, instructing audience members to increase or decrease the volume on their stereo depending on what the principle parts of the song were. For example, he might tell the guy playing the tape with the vocal melody on it to turn his stereo to maximum volume, whereas the woman with the overbearing horn part might be instructed to back off on her tape a little bit.
Shockingly enough, the experiments turned out to be a success -- most of the audience members were such hardcore music fans that something as ridiculous as a Parking Lot Experiment would actually interest them. As such, Wayne decided that he wanted the band's next album to be a sort of "home version" of the Parking Lot Experiments. The group would simply make ten discs as opposed to the fifty used in the original experiments.
As you might expect, Warner Bros. completely balked at this idea. After the success of "She Don't Use Jelly" and the Transmissions album in general, the company was greatly dissapointed by the poor sales of Clouds Taste Metallic. The band was just one mistake away from being dropped from their record label, and an album that required ten discs to be played simultaneously certainly wasn't an option. Saddened by their proposal's rejection, Michael and Steven were eventually able to talk Wayne into asking Warner Bros. if they would consider publishing an album of *merely* 4 discs. The company still wasn't entirely sold on the idea, however they finally cracked when Wayne ensured that their next two albums would both be made in this session -- the first would be the vastly experimental, four-disc album, and the second would be a collection of outtakes from the same recording sessions.
...what, did something there surprise you? Yup, that's right kiddies, The Soft Bulletin is actually a collection of outtakes from Zaireeka. Indeed, the songs on TSB, the album generally regarded as VASTLY superior to Zaireeka (a claim that I fully support), are the ones deemed either "not good enough for Zaireeka" or ones that simply didn't work in the four-disc format.
So the Lips set to work on creating their most ridiculous project yet, the four-disc experiment billed as Zaireeka. It was eventually released to very little fanfare (which basically amounted to a handful of publications saying "lookit this thing, ain't it weird?!?") and then followed up by The Soft Bulletin, released to loads of fanfare. This overshadowing led to Zaireeka being slowly lost in the annals of time, becoming nothing more than a bizarre collector's item for diehard Flaming Lips fans and a minor footnote in the band's history.
Or, at least, the album itself is minor -- the style that the band used on this album completely revolutionized their sound. They decided that the four-disc style wouldn't lend itself very well to their typical guitar-rock template, so they made a complete 180* turn into the world of...synthesizer-driven, art-rock songs. I'm guessing you can blame Steven for this, but really...who knows? Whatever the case, I'm glad they went down this path. I think they had plumbed the depths of noisy indie-rock for as far as long as they could. The band was definitely due for a change.
And that, folks, is the entire story of Zaireeka. And, surprisingly, it actually kinda holds up to all of that hype and buildup. No, it's not their best album, but if you're interested I would highly recommend picking it up. It took me long enough -- I had already owned every other Lips album (well, other than Telepathic Surgery) for some time at the point when I finally bought it. I had listened to several various mixes on the internet, but I hadn't actually gotten the full experience, so when I started on this page I decided that I'd best purchase myself a copy on eBay. For the record, you can actually find it fairly cheaply; you shouldn't have to pay more than 20 bucks, and it's well worth that price.
At any rate, I have indeed listened to the album in its intended form -- all four CDs playing from four separate audio devices strung out across my basement. Of course, I didn't actually own four CD players so I ended up improvising. By the end of the evening, the only three actual "CD players" I could find were an old radio I hadn't used since the 90s, an alarm clock which had a CD player in it, and a boombox. Sadly, the boombox was cordless, and I was out of C batteries. Even more sadly, the alarm clock didn't even work. So I had to improvise. Firstly, I plugged in my laptop and turned on iTunes. I then burned a copy of the second disk onto my computer, which has a decent set of speakers. I then proceeded to put one of the discs on my iPhone, which I synched up via Bluetooth to a set of speakers I received for Christmas last year. I used the DVD player on my TV for the fourth and final disc.
I tell this ridiculous story for a reason -- this album (particularly in this day and age when most music is accessed through smaller, more portable forms) is almost absurdly difficult to get into "working order". But, let's be honest...that's part of the appeal. I'm not gonna lie to you -- if you can get a group of similar minded friends together, combing your house to find insane ways to play crazy, awesome music can be pretty fun. And no matter how great the remixes are, I've never heard a single mixed version of any of these songs that sounds better than what you hear if you're listening to all four discs synched up at least semi-well. The effect created by this bizarre set-up is truly mind-blowing; calling it "surround sound" doesn't do it justice. It's like you're in the middle of the sound, like you're "conducting" it. You control the album. Are those high-pitched harmonies coming out of speaker #4 too overbearing? Turn 'em down! Wanna really feel the true intensity of Drozd's drumming right in your chest? Turn the CD with the drum track up as loud as it'll go!
I mean, I completely understand why no one else would ever attempt something like this -- it's a logistical nightmare, I'm sure it's incredibly hard to make, and there isn't much of an audience for it. Still though, the sheer possibilities of this format are jaw-dropping. I've always kinda secretly wished that more of the tracks from Soft Bulletin had made their way onto here; the sheer power of something like "The Gash" or "What is the Light" attacking you from four sides would be...well, it'd be amazing.
That's not to say that the tracks here aren't any good, most of them are! It's just that there are a few low points on here, and even the high points aren't nearly as majestic as those on The Soft Bulletin. Nevertheless, some of these songs are truly great -- my personal favorite just might be the absolutely heartbreaking "Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair", a magnificent ballad about a pilot who commits suicide mid-flight. The song's climax is truly remarkable; hearing Wayne belt out "WHY IS IT SO HIGH?!? WHY IS IT SO MUCH?!?" over a sea of radar pings, trembling pianos, and soaring orchestral arrangements is a truly cathartic, ridiculously memorable experience. This is definitely one of those tracks that's greatly elevated (no pun intended) by the four-disc arrangement; the track isn't nearly as powerful if you don't feel truly surrounded and overtaken by the dense, heartbreaking sound effects and overdubs.
The other major classic on the album is, just like everyone else says, the brilliant "Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your [sic] Invisible Now)". "2025" is essentially the band's take on an epic, multi-part progressive-rock song, and they certainly succeeded. From the chaotic, disorienting opening to the almost saccharinely beautiful (but still affecting) chorus, it's essentially a perfect track. Okay, maybe it's a bit too long, but the melodies, lyrics, and arrangements totally make up for it. (And aren't Michael's bass lines here just astounding?) I mean, if I were to have to come up with another flaw for the track, I might say that the band didn't utilize the four-disc concept well enough here (this is actually one of the few tracks that sounds almost as great in a remix version), but eh. It works fine.
Another total winner is album closer "The Big 'Ol Bug is the New Baby Now", an attempt by Wayne to turn an incredibly dumb story about his puppies into a rousing gospel anthem. This was almost certainly the origination of that amazing choir imitation that the band eventually used in "The Gash". This track isn't quite as great as that one, but as silly as it is, it's still great. And how can you beat ending an album with what sounds like an army of rabid pit-bulls attacking you from four angles?
I have mixed feelings about "How Will We Know?". You see, if you were to only listen to the second disk, you would be rewarded with a beautiful, uplifting 2-minute ditty with a fantastic melody and some wonderfully over-the-top horns. However, if you decide to listen to discs one, three, and four as well (which, let's be honest, is how you're "supposed to do it") you would be attacked by a series of ridiculously painful high frequencies, the kind of sounds that you play for your dog to make him stop barking at the mailman. It's completely unnecessary, and it's a stupid gimmick. But the actual song is good enough to make me not hate the track in itself. I guess that's the beauty of the album, though -- all you have to do is just turn the three disks with the high-pitched noises down until the next song rolls around.
"A Machine in India" starts out as a decent acoustic piece; nothing spectacular, but certainly inoffensive. However, after the four-minute mark or so the track turns into a spectacular display of bad taste as the listener is subjected to 6 straight minutes of mind-numbing orchestral dissonance. I mean, I guess it's mildly interesting, and the way that the various sounds and noises are emitted from different speakers is kind of cool, but...eh, this thing shouldn't even come close to ten minutes. Even at four or five, it'd still be one of the weaker tracks on the album, but at 10? Eesh...
I don't like "The Train Runs Over the Camel But is Derailed by the Gnat" either, despite its awesome title. This is yet another attempt by the band to disorient the listener with a load of various melodic ideas that don't fit together well at all. I mean, it's part of the whole "experiment" vibe of the album, I guess, but experimentation does not necessarily a good song make. And "The Train" is certainly not a good song. I suppose the intro is nice, but otherwise it just confuses, bores, and irritates me. No thank you.
There's also a nice drum solo ("March of the Rotten Vegetables") and another disorienting bit of weirdness ("Okay I'll Admit I Really Don't Understand"), but that's pretty much the album. So, long story short -- should you buy it? Yes, yes you should. It's a fun collector's item, it's definitely worth the prices that you should be able to find it at, and the music itself is of a decent quality. Again, it's more of an experiment than an actual album, but if you're willing to put a little effort into it, I think you'll find it very rewarding. (And if you're looking for more info on the album's creation, Pitchfork's documentary about The Soft Bulletin contains lots of neat facts, interviews, and trivia about the Zaireeka sessions. I would highly recommend it if you're a Lips fan. You can find it here.)
So the Lips set to work on creating their most ridiculous project yet, the four-disc experiment billed as Zaireeka. It was eventually released to very little fanfare (which basically amounted to a handful of publications saying "lookit this thing, ain't it weird?!?") and then followed up by The Soft Bulletin, released to loads of fanfare. This overshadowing led to Zaireeka being slowly lost in the annals of time, becoming nothing more than a bizarre collector's item for diehard Flaming Lips fans and a minor footnote in the band's history.
Or, at least, the album itself is minor -- the style that the band used on this album completely revolutionized their sound. They decided that the four-disc style wouldn't lend itself very well to their typical guitar-rock template, so they made a complete 180* turn into the world of...synthesizer-driven, art-rock songs. I'm guessing you can blame Steven for this, but really...who knows? Whatever the case, I'm glad they went down this path. I think they had plumbed the depths of noisy indie-rock for as far as long as they could. The band was definitely due for a change.
And that, folks, is the entire story of Zaireeka. And, surprisingly, it actually kinda holds up to all of that hype and buildup. No, it's not their best album, but if you're interested I would highly recommend picking it up. It took me long enough -- I had already owned every other Lips album (well, other than Telepathic Surgery) for some time at the point when I finally bought it. I had listened to several various mixes on the internet, but I hadn't actually gotten the full experience, so when I started on this page I decided that I'd best purchase myself a copy on eBay. For the record, you can actually find it fairly cheaply; you shouldn't have to pay more than 20 bucks, and it's well worth that price.
At any rate, I have indeed listened to the album in its intended form -- all four CDs playing from four separate audio devices strung out across my basement. Of course, I didn't actually own four CD players so I ended up improvising. By the end of the evening, the only three actual "CD players" I could find were an old radio I hadn't used since the 90s, an alarm clock which had a CD player in it, and a boombox. Sadly, the boombox was cordless, and I was out of C batteries. Even more sadly, the alarm clock didn't even work. So I had to improvise. Firstly, I plugged in my laptop and turned on iTunes. I then burned a copy of the second disk onto my computer, which has a decent set of speakers. I then proceeded to put one of the discs on my iPhone, which I synched up via Bluetooth to a set of speakers I received for Christmas last year. I used the DVD player on my TV for the fourth and final disc.
I tell this ridiculous story for a reason -- this album (particularly in this day and age when most music is accessed through smaller, more portable forms) is almost absurdly difficult to get into "working order". But, let's be honest...that's part of the appeal. I'm not gonna lie to you -- if you can get a group of similar minded friends together, combing your house to find insane ways to play crazy, awesome music can be pretty fun. And no matter how great the remixes are, I've never heard a single mixed version of any of these songs that sounds better than what you hear if you're listening to all four discs synched up at least semi-well. The effect created by this bizarre set-up is truly mind-blowing; calling it "surround sound" doesn't do it justice. It's like you're in the middle of the sound, like you're "conducting" it. You control the album. Are those high-pitched harmonies coming out of speaker #4 too overbearing? Turn 'em down! Wanna really feel the true intensity of Drozd's drumming right in your chest? Turn the CD with the drum track up as loud as it'll go!
I mean, I completely understand why no one else would ever attempt something like this -- it's a logistical nightmare, I'm sure it's incredibly hard to make, and there isn't much of an audience for it. Still though, the sheer possibilities of this format are jaw-dropping. I've always kinda secretly wished that more of the tracks from Soft Bulletin had made their way onto here; the sheer power of something like "The Gash" or "What is the Light" attacking you from four sides would be...well, it'd be amazing.
That's not to say that the tracks here aren't any good, most of them are! It's just that there are a few low points on here, and even the high points aren't nearly as majestic as those on The Soft Bulletin. Nevertheless, some of these songs are truly great -- my personal favorite just might be the absolutely heartbreaking "Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair", a magnificent ballad about a pilot who commits suicide mid-flight. The song's climax is truly remarkable; hearing Wayne belt out "WHY IS IT SO HIGH?!? WHY IS IT SO MUCH?!?" over a sea of radar pings, trembling pianos, and soaring orchestral arrangements is a truly cathartic, ridiculously memorable experience. This is definitely one of those tracks that's greatly elevated (no pun intended) by the four-disc arrangement; the track isn't nearly as powerful if you don't feel truly surrounded and overtaken by the dense, heartbreaking sound effects and overdubs.
The other major classic on the album is, just like everyone else says, the brilliant "Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your [sic] Invisible Now)". "2025" is essentially the band's take on an epic, multi-part progressive-rock song, and they certainly succeeded. From the chaotic, disorienting opening to the almost saccharinely beautiful (but still affecting) chorus, it's essentially a perfect track. Okay, maybe it's a bit too long, but the melodies, lyrics, and arrangements totally make up for it. (And aren't Michael's bass lines here just astounding?) I mean, if I were to have to come up with another flaw for the track, I might say that the band didn't utilize the four-disc concept well enough here (this is actually one of the few tracks that sounds almost as great in a remix version), but eh. It works fine.
Another total winner is album closer "The Big 'Ol Bug is the New Baby Now", an attempt by Wayne to turn an incredibly dumb story about his puppies into a rousing gospel anthem. This was almost certainly the origination of that amazing choir imitation that the band eventually used in "The Gash". This track isn't quite as great as that one, but as silly as it is, it's still great. And how can you beat ending an album with what sounds like an army of rabid pit-bulls attacking you from four angles?
I have mixed feelings about "How Will We Know?". You see, if you were to only listen to the second disk, you would be rewarded with a beautiful, uplifting 2-minute ditty with a fantastic melody and some wonderfully over-the-top horns. However, if you decide to listen to discs one, three, and four as well (which, let's be honest, is how you're "supposed to do it") you would be attacked by a series of ridiculously painful high frequencies, the kind of sounds that you play for your dog to make him stop barking at the mailman. It's completely unnecessary, and it's a stupid gimmick. But the actual song is good enough to make me not hate the track in itself. I guess that's the beauty of the album, though -- all you have to do is just turn the three disks with the high-pitched noises down until the next song rolls around.
"A Machine in India" starts out as a decent acoustic piece; nothing spectacular, but certainly inoffensive. However, after the four-minute mark or so the track turns into a spectacular display of bad taste as the listener is subjected to 6 straight minutes of mind-numbing orchestral dissonance. I mean, I guess it's mildly interesting, and the way that the various sounds and noises are emitted from different speakers is kind of cool, but...eh, this thing shouldn't even come close to ten minutes. Even at four or five, it'd still be one of the weaker tracks on the album, but at 10? Eesh...
I don't like "The Train Runs Over the Camel But is Derailed by the Gnat" either, despite its awesome title. This is yet another attempt by the band to disorient the listener with a load of various melodic ideas that don't fit together well at all. I mean, it's part of the whole "experiment" vibe of the album, I guess, but experimentation does not necessarily a good song make. And "The Train" is certainly not a good song. I suppose the intro is nice, but otherwise it just confuses, bores, and irritates me. No thank you.
There's also a nice drum solo ("March of the Rotten Vegetables") and another disorienting bit of weirdness ("Okay I'll Admit I Really Don't Understand"), but that's pretty much the album. So, long story short -- should you buy it? Yes, yes you should. It's a fun collector's item, it's definitely worth the prices that you should be able to find it at, and the music itself is of a decent quality. Again, it's more of an experiment than an actual album, but if you're willing to put a little effort into it, I think you'll find it very rewarding. (And if you're looking for more info on the album's creation, Pitchfork's documentary about The Soft Bulletin contains lots of neat facts, interviews, and trivia about the Zaireeka sessions. I would highly recommend it if you're a Lips fan. You can find it here.)
Sunday, June 9, 2013
The Soft Bulletin -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
The Soft Bulletin (1999)
Rating: 14
"Life without death is just impossible / Oh, to realize something ending within us"
Best Song: The Gash or Race for the Prize
Worst Song: The Observer
...yeah, it's a 14. A low 14, but still, a 14. "The Pet Sounds of the 90s", the critics called it. And rightfully so, as no other contemporary of this album was willing to be so....sissy-ish. I mean, just listen to that opening! Sweeping harps, swooning synth strings, a triumphant piano line -- this is some seriously sappy stuff. But the melodies are SO GOOD that the normally cheesy arrangements actually become emotionally involving. And in all honesty, I'm kind of a sucker for schmaltzy arrangements like this anyway, so I would really never dislike this kind of thing the way some people would. If Kurt Cobain had heard this, he would have probably broken out into spastic fits of nausea.
But somehow, the "hipster" press latched on to this thing for dear life, and I'm not sure why. I mean, geez, this album's the very definition of all the things that the late 90s press hated! Sentimentality, prog-rock tendencies, tear-jerking melodies, lavish arrangements -- this is the anti-Slanted and Enchanted, that's for sure.
Hell, it's the anti-Hit to Death in the Future Head, for that matter! As I mentioned in the Clouds review, Zaireeka took the band in a far-off art-rock destination, and this album most certainly continued that streak. Not that I mind, though, as I was never too head-over-heels with the indie-rock stuff, as much as I respected it. But now that I think about it, CTM was actually leading to this album, albeit somewhat subtly. The epic swoop of "The Abandoned Hospital Ship", the gloriously busy production of "Psychiatric Explorations", the trumpets and other assorted "regal" instruments in "Bad Days" -- all of these things were most certainly headed in this direction.
And what a direction it is. As far as I can tell, it's something of a concept album roughly divided into three parts. The first one (comprising tracks 1-3) tells of the creation and later deployment of the atomic bomb, the second one (comprising tracks 4-6) is essentially about the "power of love" (I told you this thing was cheesy!), and the final one touches on the lasting power and effect of negative experiences in life (such as death) and how to move on from them.
Now, my analyzation of the last two parts probably won't be argued by anyone, but the first third is a point of contention. Admittedly, I first read the idea of it being about the atomic bomb on the internet, but as soon as I read it, the lyrics to those tracks immediately clicked and made sense. Think about it -- "Race for the Prize" is about the scientists creating the bomb ("Their (goal) is to win, if it kills them", "Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high"), "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" is about the launch of the bomb ("And though they were sad, they rescued everyone", "Being drunk on their plan, they lifted up the sun", and of course the title itself referring to the relatively small bomb packing so much power), and "The Spark That Bled" is about the effect on those who were within the radius of the bomb ("I accidentally touched my head, and noticed that I had been bleeding", "What was this that struck me? What kind of weapons have they got? The softest bullet ever shot", "From this moment on, blaring like a trumpet coming from above us"). But enough about the lyrics -- how's the music??
Well to start with, we have the fabulous "Race for the Prize", chock-full of the aforementioned strings, harps, and pianos. There's a great vocal melody, that piano is infectious as all-get-out, and the whole track works like a charm. No flaws here, ladies and gents -- this just might be the greatest Lips song ever. Triumphant, beautiful, inspiring...I've heard it hundreds of times, and I could hear it another hundred more. Such a classic.
Another definite highlight is "The Gash". It features an incredibly hilarious and over-the-top opening that simply HAS to be purposefully over-pompous, as well as one MONSTER of a drum groove. Seriously, if the song was nothing but that one groove, it'd still be amazing, and there's also a catchy-as-heck vocal melody sung mainly by choir. (Oh, did I mention I'm a sucker for choirs? I am. Big time. That's probably why I like early 70s Pink Floyd so much, to be honest) Another winner is the gorgeous "Waitin' for a Superman". It features yet another amazing vocal melody (probably the best on the album) and a shockingly emotive and pretty vocal performance from Wayne. Good stuff.
There's also the catchy, tempo-shifting "Suddenly Everything Has Changed", which is great, despite the slightly overlong instrumental sections. I particularly like the lyrics; the main point is that although our lives can go on after experiencing a tragedy, whenever that event crosses our mind, our disposition suddenly changes. Good point, Wayne. Speaking of tempo-shifting, there's also "The Spark That Bled", which starts out well-enough, but quickly improves with each proceeding section. That whole "I stood up and I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahhhhh" line is one of the most gorgeous things ever put to tape. MAN, are those harmonies pretty. The sorta psychedelic "jam" section is also quite good, even if it's pretty much a direct rip-off of "Any Colour You Like" from Dark Side of the Moon. STILL speaking of tempo-shifting songs, there's the epic "What Is the Light?" which is yet another solid, star-gazing effort (literally -- the song's chorus features the line "Look out into space, it surrounds you!") from the boys about the power of love. And no, it's not a Huey Lewis cover.
There's also the irresistible "Buggin'", featuring a great melody that's as catchy as anything else on the album combined with some adorable lyrics and one of the happiest, most-positive moods I've ever heard. Plus, the piano line is fantastic. The album also features two ambient-ish instrumentals -- "The Observer" and "Sleeping On the Roof", which are both quite nice. "The Observer", while a bit overlong, actually reminds me of the fantastic "Through Hollow Lands" from Brian Eno's Before and After Science, and that's a definite compliment.
And of course there's also the lovely penultimate track, "Feeling Yourself Disentigrate", which segues directly proceeds the soothing "Sleeping On the Roof". I can't overstate just how powerful "Disentigrate" truly is. The melody is simply gorgeous, the lyrics are extremely affecting (the above quote is taken from this song), and the mood created by the song is absolutely spell-binding. It's the perfect finale to this extremely emotional album, and it brings all the catharsis and pathos you'd hope it would. Brilliant.
And that's The Soft Bulletin. It's definitely the best place to start with the band, and it just might be my favorite album of the 90s. Get it immediately -- a rock collection without this album is a sad rock collection indeed.
But somehow, the "hipster" press latched on to this thing for dear life, and I'm not sure why. I mean, geez, this album's the very definition of all the things that the late 90s press hated! Sentimentality, prog-rock tendencies, tear-jerking melodies, lavish arrangements -- this is the anti-Slanted and Enchanted, that's for sure.
Hell, it's the anti-Hit to Death in the Future Head, for that matter! As I mentioned in the Clouds review, Zaireeka took the band in a far-off art-rock destination, and this album most certainly continued that streak. Not that I mind, though, as I was never too head-over-heels with the indie-rock stuff, as much as I respected it. But now that I think about it, CTM was actually leading to this album, albeit somewhat subtly. The epic swoop of "The Abandoned Hospital Ship", the gloriously busy production of "Psychiatric Explorations", the trumpets and other assorted "regal" instruments in "Bad Days" -- all of these things were most certainly headed in this direction.
And what a direction it is. As far as I can tell, it's something of a concept album roughly divided into three parts. The first one (comprising tracks 1-3) tells of the creation and later deployment of the atomic bomb, the second one (comprising tracks 4-6) is essentially about the "power of love" (I told you this thing was cheesy!), and the final one touches on the lasting power and effect of negative experiences in life (such as death) and how to move on from them.
Now, my analyzation of the last two parts probably won't be argued by anyone, but the first third is a point of contention. Admittedly, I first read the idea of it being about the atomic bomb on the internet, but as soon as I read it, the lyrics to those tracks immediately clicked and made sense. Think about it -- "Race for the Prize" is about the scientists creating the bomb ("Their (goal) is to win, if it kills them", "Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high"), "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" is about the launch of the bomb ("And though they were sad, they rescued everyone", "Being drunk on their plan, they lifted up the sun", and of course the title itself referring to the relatively small bomb packing so much power), and "The Spark That Bled" is about the effect on those who were within the radius of the bomb ("I accidentally touched my head, and noticed that I had been bleeding", "What was this that struck me? What kind of weapons have they got? The softest bullet ever shot", "From this moment on, blaring like a trumpet coming from above us"). But enough about the lyrics -- how's the music??
Well to start with, we have the fabulous "Race for the Prize", chock-full of the aforementioned strings, harps, and pianos. There's a great vocal melody, that piano is infectious as all-get-out, and the whole track works like a charm. No flaws here, ladies and gents -- this just might be the greatest Lips song ever. Triumphant, beautiful, inspiring...I've heard it hundreds of times, and I could hear it another hundred more. Such a classic.
Another definite highlight is "The Gash". It features an incredibly hilarious and over-the-top opening that simply HAS to be purposefully over-pompous, as well as one MONSTER of a drum groove. Seriously, if the song was nothing but that one groove, it'd still be amazing, and there's also a catchy-as-heck vocal melody sung mainly by choir. (Oh, did I mention I'm a sucker for choirs? I am. Big time. That's probably why I like early 70s Pink Floyd so much, to be honest) Another winner is the gorgeous "Waitin' for a Superman". It features yet another amazing vocal melody (probably the best on the album) and a shockingly emotive and pretty vocal performance from Wayne. Good stuff.
There's also the catchy, tempo-shifting "Suddenly Everything Has Changed", which is great, despite the slightly overlong instrumental sections. I particularly like the lyrics; the main point is that although our lives can go on after experiencing a tragedy, whenever that event crosses our mind, our disposition suddenly changes. Good point, Wayne. Speaking of tempo-shifting, there's also "The Spark That Bled", which starts out well-enough, but quickly improves with each proceeding section. That whole "I stood up and I said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeahhhhh" line is one of the most gorgeous things ever put to tape. MAN, are those harmonies pretty. The sorta psychedelic "jam" section is also quite good, even if it's pretty much a direct rip-off of "Any Colour You Like" from Dark Side of the Moon. STILL speaking of tempo-shifting songs, there's the epic "What Is the Light?" which is yet another solid, star-gazing effort (literally -- the song's chorus features the line "Look out into space, it surrounds you!") from the boys about the power of love. And no, it's not a Huey Lewis cover.
There's also the irresistible "Buggin'", featuring a great melody that's as catchy as anything else on the album combined with some adorable lyrics and one of the happiest, most-positive moods I've ever heard. Plus, the piano line is fantastic. The album also features two ambient-ish instrumentals -- "The Observer" and "Sleeping On the Roof", which are both quite nice. "The Observer", while a bit overlong, actually reminds me of the fantastic "Through Hollow Lands" from Brian Eno's Before and After Science, and that's a definite compliment.
And of course there's also the lovely penultimate track, "Feeling Yourself Disentigrate", which segues directly proceeds the soothing "Sleeping On the Roof". I can't overstate just how powerful "Disentigrate" truly is. The melody is simply gorgeous, the lyrics are extremely affecting (the above quote is taken from this song), and the mood created by the song is absolutely spell-binding. It's the perfect finale to this extremely emotional album, and it brings all the catharsis and pathos you'd hope it would. Brilliant.
And that's The Soft Bulletin. It's definitely the best place to start with the band, and it just might be my favorite album of the 90s. Get it immediately -- a rock collection without this album is a sad rock collection indeed.
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
Rating: 12
"The sun's eclipsed behind the clouds"
Best Song: Are You a Hypnotist??
Worst Song: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 2
A pseudo-sequel to Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots follows up on the synth-based style of its predecessor, but in an entirely different way. Whereas Bulletin was mainly comprised of massive, orchestral progressive anthems, Yoshimi tends to play it a bit closer to the vest. It's a very subtle album, filled with songs that sound VERY samey and somewhat dull on first listen and then gradually proceed to grow on the listener. This is actually slightly odd, since on the surface these songs are far more simple and poppy than the ones on Soft Bulletin. Heck, most follow a simple "verse-chorus-verse-chorus" structure and include rather straightforward melodies!
Of course, there are a handful of songs that have more progressive leanings. "One More Robot" features a nice contrast between mellow, laid-back verses and a busier, synth-filled chorus, not to mention some wonderful bass lines and an awesome vocal melody (albeit one that takes a few listens to get good). The song then finishes with a lovely, wistful instrumental entitled "Sympathy 3000-21" that's absolutely fantastic; it manages to capture all the wonder and emotion of any given instrumental on The Soft Bulletin in about a minute and a half.
Also progressive in nature is the MARVELOUS "In the Morning of the Magicians". Alternating between an epic instrumental section and a gentle, swaying ballad, the track continues the band's streak of awe-inspiring songs about love in wondrous, star-gazing fashion. However, other than these two tracks, one would be hard-pressed to call any of the songs on this album "progressive". No, the rest of the album is composed of songs like "Fight Test", which is just a simple pop song...BUT WOTTA SIMPLE POP SONG. The "I don't know where the sunbeams end..." hook in the chorus combined with those endlessly memorable keyboard riffs and interlocking rhythms is simply synth-pop heaven.
And the title track is even better! The vocal melody's practically perfect, the electronic layering of acoustic guitars is unforgettable, and the lyrics are completely adorable. How can you not love a song about a vitamin-swallowing Chinese girl saving humanity from people-eating robots???
And speaking of lyrics...geez, lyrically this has to be their best album ever. Obviously there's their most famous song ever, the uplifting, cathartic hymn "Do You Realize??", but that's not the only one with some great poetry behind it. "It's Summertime" rides the same basic theme to similar effect, and "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell" has my favorite Lips lyrics ever (although the recent "Be Free, A Way" comes close; "Did God make pain so we could know the high that nothing is?" is spectacularly crushing), with a story of letting life and love pass you by just because you keep holding out for the perfect opportunity. And remarkably, the track does this with an EXTREMELY small amount of actual lyrics. It's minimalistic writing at its finest.
And the music on "Ego Tripping" is no slouch either! The falsetto backing vocals ("I must have been trip-piiiiiiiiiiin'"), the killer bass line, Wayne's dreamy vocal melody, the recorder that's subtly soloing over the whole track from the second verse-onwards...gosh, these guys were so skilled at arrangements at this point in their career!!!
But none of that compares to the album's true high point. I am speaking, of course, of the brilliant "Are You a Hypnotist". After an entire album of carefully constructed drum machine-programming, Drozd is finally allowed to let loose (albeit in a digitized manner) over some lovely, regal synths and one of the band's best vocal melodies. And then there's the chorus, of which words can do no justice. Many have made the "Brain Damage" comparison before, and they're quite right -- "The sun eclipsed behind the clouds" sounds in context nearly as chill bump-inducing as "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon". Alas, if only the album had been named Behind the Cloud, or some such...
The rest of the tracks are relatively uneventful, in my opinion, but they're all perfectly listenable and for the most part, extremely pleasant overall. No, it's not as great as The Soft Bulletin, but it's not too far off, and the more you listen, the closer it gets. It's not quite perfect, but I still love it to bits, if only because it both completely satisfies my catchiness quota AND makes me feel tiny and want to look up at the universe above me shouting questions that are simultaneously deep and ridiculously silly. WHAT IS LOVE AND WHAT IS HATE?!? DOOOO YOOOOU REALIIIIIZE THAT YOU HAAAAAVE THE MOOOOST BEAUUUTIFUL FAAACE?? IS IT WRONG TO THINK IT'S LOOOOOOVE WHEN IT TRIES THE WAY IT DOES?? The Flaming Lips, everybody. Gotta love 'em.
VOID -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
VOID (2005)
Rating: Um...I'll say 13
"Two scientists were racing / For the good of all mankind"
Best Song: Uhh...Race for the Prize?
Worst Song: Mr. Ambulance Driver
I can see you there sitting on your laptop (or iPad, or phone, or whatever). You're thinking to yourself, "What the heck is VOID?!?". Well, I'll tell you -- it was a collection of the Lips' music videos released in 2005. You continue, "Okay...but this is a music reviewing site, not a video reviewing one. Why are you reviewing a DVD?" to which I'll respond with this -- the DVD is essentially out of print now. So the only way to acquire this collection is via MP3 format on iTunes. Which, if you think about it, makes this into what is essentially the band's only greatest hits compilation. Which, if you think about it, comes in handy for new listeners; it covers everything from Hit to Death up to "Mr. Ambulance Driver", the first single from At War with the Mystics. And since the band made music videos for most of its singles, this is, in essence, a singles collection. Pretty handy, eh?
So are these singles good? Well duh, most certainly. You've got "Frogs", you've got "Race for the Prize", you've got "Everyone Wants to Live Forever", you've got "Turn It On", you've even got "Be My Head" and "Are You a Hypnotist??"! And of course there's also the usuals like "Do You Realize", "She Don't Use Jelly", and the like. Are there some notable exclusions? Sure, yeah; I would've liked to see "Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles" and "Slow Nerve Action", but eh-- beggars can't be choosers. It works perfectly as a compilation for a new listener, and I would highly reccomend stopping here first thing after Soft Bulletin. Then you could go on to At War, and maybe Clouds, and after that Yoshimi, and then maybe Transmissions, and then Embryonic, and then...you get the idea.
Bonus note of interest to hardcore fans: there are indeed some "rarities" to be found here. For one, there's a dramatic under-arrangement of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1" entitled "Phoebe Battles the Pink Robots", which is alright. There's also a decent alternate mix of "Bad Days" and my personal favorite, "SpongeBob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy". Yes, it's silly, and yes, it was made for a children's movie, but the melody, busy arrangement, and wondrous guitar lines more than satisfy my tastes for a good Lips song. A lost classic, I say.
At War with the Mystics -- The Flaming Lips -- Review
At War with the Mystics (2006)
Rating: 11
"Now we'll be forever holding hands / Lava and tephra will form our beds"
Best Song: The Sound of Failure / It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark??
Worst Song: Haven't Got a Clue
One quick note before I begin: the band's song-naming tendencies reached a level of absolute insanity on this album. As such, and for comedic and entertaining effect, I've decided to use each song's proper title throughout this review. Enjoy.
Now, with that out of the way...geez, what a weird album. The band apparently decided that it would be best to split off into a variety of genres, which, now that I think about it, wasn't a half-bad decision. I mean, if the band had created yet ANOTHER psychedelic chamber-pop meditation on love and death, I imagine that the press would've chastised them for a lack of creativity. Of course, the press chastised them about the album anyway, but we'll get to that in a minute.
So as I said, instead of releasing yet another copy of Soft Bulletin, they decided to try out some different genres. What genres in particular, you ask? Well, there's a horrifically stiff attempt at something resembling funk, some late 70s-sounding soft-rock (parts of this sound EERILY similar to the kind of stuff Daft Punk is doing on Random Access Memories), a few songs in their now-standard synth-pop vein (although this stuff's far poppier than the things on Bulletin), as well as what seems to be the band's newest obsession -- good 'ol fashioned PROG.
Of course, I did say previously that the band had been showing progressive tendencies, didn't I? I mean, shape-shifting songs like "The Spark That Bled" and "In the Morning of the Magicians" seem pretty darn progressive, don't they? However, there is one key distinction to be made here -- these songs, while certainly progressive IN FORM, didn't exactly sound like Yes or Genesis (okay, maybe the first part of "The Spark That Bled" kinda did, but whatever). In other words, nothing the band had made previously sounded even slightly close to the epic Floydian stomp of "Pompeii am Götterdämmerung". This isn't fruity synth-pop; this is an all-out attack on the senses, a hopped-up attempt at making a "One of These Days" for the 21st century.
And woo, did they ever. Steven finally gets to sing lead on a track, and he's remarkable (as is the melody), but the real thrill here is in the arrangement. Okay, the sound peaks out at times (which reveals one major problem with the album; whoever mixed this thing was a total hack), but woah...the way that those near-metal guitar riffs combine with the apocalyptic drumming and jaw-dropping mellotron melodies, ON TOP of Steven's already brilliant and atmospheric vocals...it's sheer progressive perfection.
Yet somehow "The Sound of Failure / It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark??" is even better. The general atmosphere of the track perfectly evokes a dark, ethereal night in my mind (this idea is complimented by the wondrous line "Standing there in the graveyard / While the moon sprays its fireworks in your hair"), and the general story of the song is a good one too! It seems to be describing the effect of death on a young girl, thus causing her to reject vapid modern pop music (thus the oft-debated references to Gwen Stefani and Britney Spears in the chorus; personally, they've never bothered me), as it's quite the opposite of this "sound of failure" that the girl seems so desperate to find. And despite the fantastic lyrical content, the truly brilliant aspect of the song is still the music! Wayne sounds fantastic as he sings a mystifying (and ridiculously catchy) vocal melody over some brilliantly prog-y keyboards and dueling guitars that just keep soloing over each other in an absolutely magical way. And I also love how the song gradually fades into that beautiful, near-ambient "It's Dark..." section right at the end.....hoo boy, this stuff's great.
But that's about all the prog there is...or maybe not. You see, there's one other song that's at least somewhat prog -- the incredibly divisive "It Overtakes Me / The Stars Are So Big... I Am So Small... Do I Stand a Chance?". Of course, the first half is an INCREDIBLY silly pop song, but personally I don't mind silly pop songs as long as they're well-constructed (see: ABBA). This, however, isn't the case here; ok, parts of the melody are somewhat enjoyable, and the bass line is pretty fun, but it's just a bit too inane and repetitive for me to really enjoy it. The second half of the song, though, is quite good; it's basically a remake of "It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark?" from earlier in the album, but I think it might be even better! The closest comparison I can find is "I Get Up I Get Down" from Close to the Edge, and that's a pretty big compliment in itself. Soothing steel guitar, ethereal choirs, great singing from Wayne...very pristine and very, very pretty. So in all honesty, it's hard for me to dislike the track.
I can, however, dislike "Haven't Got a Clue". It's yet another silly pop song, but with this one I can find next-to-no positive attributes whatsoever. The melody is annoying, the sound effects are ridiculously overbearing, and every time the song builds up any bit of fun or momentum whatsoever the whole thing just drops out into floaty-ambient-land, a place where no song like this needs to go. And after a few seconds of that it just JOLTS right back into the irritating melody. And those little mouth sounds that Wayne makes are absolutely disgusting...those "*puhdddddd, puh ddd ddd, puh dd ddd, puh ddd ddd*" noises are as irritating as some of McCartney's unfortunate vocal excesses on Ram ("...a peeee-ano up mah nose! and the wind! played! a dreadfuuuuul! contataaaaaa, contataaaaaa, contataaaaaa!" Ugh.).
And while I don't *hate* the opening "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)", I certainly don't love it either. I suppose the vocoder bits in the chorus are fun, and Wayne's melody is decent enough, but those over-the-top sound effects come daaangerously close to ruining it for me. In all honesty, I used to love this song, but if anything it's grown off me over the years. Same for "Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber), a sloppy (but fun!) attempt at funk. I can TOTALLY see how someone could despise this song, and again, I don't love it like I used to, but still...I get a strange sort of joy out of that addictively twitchy guitar riff and those "Helter Skelter"-esque backing harmonies. Sue me.
"The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat)", however, is an undisputed classic -- the band's first attempt at guitar-rock in years, and in all honesty, one of their best. Melody? Great. Riff? Great. Drumming? Great. Even the wacky sound effects and production tricks work here. It's one of the two or three best tracks on here, no doubt.
So there's the prog, guitar-rock, and synth-pop....wait, what was that other genre I was talking about? OHHH, right, soft-rock. Well, it's here, and it's not completely great (although some of it is), but most of it's pretty good. I'm not completely sold on "Mr. Ambulance Driver" (I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the mood and atmosphere; I just wish the melody had more than two notes...), but "Vein of Stars" and "Goin' On" are both pretty fantastic. "Vein" is simply another great song in that classic "star-gazing" Lips vein, one filled with all the wonder and beauty you'd hope it would, and "Goin' On" is a fairly nice piano ballad that ends the album on a sweet, although not extremely memorable, note. I still love it, though.
Yeah, it's somewhat flawed. It's the worst that they had made since at least Hit to Death, but there's still a lot of GREAT stuff on here that any Lips fan worth his/her salt needs to hear. I still listen to it quite regularly, but I just wish that they had trimmed it down a bit. A forty-minute version of this could easily be a 12, but it's still pretty great the way it is. It's also quite accessible; definitely make this among your first purchases from these guys. But eh, forget this stuff -- EMBRYONIC IS NEXT, YAAAAY.
But that's about all the prog there is...or maybe not. You see, there's one other song that's at least somewhat prog -- the incredibly divisive "It Overtakes Me / The Stars Are So Big... I Am So Small... Do I Stand a Chance?". Of course, the first half is an INCREDIBLY silly pop song, but personally I don't mind silly pop songs as long as they're well-constructed (see: ABBA). This, however, isn't the case here; ok, parts of the melody are somewhat enjoyable, and the bass line is pretty fun, but it's just a bit too inane and repetitive for me to really enjoy it. The second half of the song, though, is quite good; it's basically a remake of "It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark?" from earlier in the album, but I think it might be even better! The closest comparison I can find is "I Get Up I Get Down" from Close to the Edge, and that's a pretty big compliment in itself. Soothing steel guitar, ethereal choirs, great singing from Wayne...very pristine and very, very pretty. So in all honesty, it's hard for me to dislike the track.
I can, however, dislike "Haven't Got a Clue". It's yet another silly pop song, but with this one I can find next-to-no positive attributes whatsoever. The melody is annoying, the sound effects are ridiculously overbearing, and every time the song builds up any bit of fun or momentum whatsoever the whole thing just drops out into floaty-ambient-land, a place where no song like this needs to go. And after a few seconds of that it just JOLTS right back into the irritating melody. And those little mouth sounds that Wayne makes are absolutely disgusting...those "*puhdddddd, puh ddd ddd, puh dd ddd, puh ddd ddd*" noises are as irritating as some of McCartney's unfortunate vocal excesses on Ram ("...a peeee-ano up mah nose! and the wind! played! a dreadfuuuuul! contataaaaaa, contataaaaaa, contataaaaaa!" Ugh.).
And while I don't *hate* the opening "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)", I certainly don't love it either. I suppose the vocoder bits in the chorus are fun, and Wayne's melody is decent enough, but those over-the-top sound effects come daaangerously close to ruining it for me. In all honesty, I used to love this song, but if anything it's grown off me over the years. Same for "Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber), a sloppy (but fun!) attempt at funk. I can TOTALLY see how someone could despise this song, and again, I don't love it like I used to, but still...I get a strange sort of joy out of that addictively twitchy guitar riff and those "Helter Skelter"-esque backing harmonies. Sue me.
"The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat)", however, is an undisputed classic -- the band's first attempt at guitar-rock in years, and in all honesty, one of their best. Melody? Great. Riff? Great. Drumming? Great. Even the wacky sound effects and production tricks work here. It's one of the two or three best tracks on here, no doubt.
So there's the prog, guitar-rock, and synth-pop....wait, what was that other genre I was talking about? OHHH, right, soft-rock. Well, it's here, and it's not completely great (although some of it is), but most of it's pretty good. I'm not completely sold on "Mr. Ambulance Driver" (I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE the mood and atmosphere; I just wish the melody had more than two notes...), but "Vein of Stars" and "Goin' On" are both pretty fantastic. "Vein" is simply another great song in that classic "star-gazing" Lips vein, one filled with all the wonder and beauty you'd hope it would, and "Goin' On" is a fairly nice piano ballad that ends the album on a sweet, although not extremely memorable, note. I still love it, though.
Yeah, it's somewhat flawed. It's the worst that they had made since at least Hit to Death, but there's still a lot of GREAT stuff on here that any Lips fan worth his/her salt needs to hear. I still listen to it quite regularly, but I just wish that they had trimmed it down a bit. A forty-minute version of this could easily be a 12, but it's still pretty great the way it is. It's also quite accessible; definitely make this among your first purchases from these guys. But eh, forget this stuff -- EMBRYONIC IS NEXT, YAAAAY.
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