The Soft Bulletin - Flaming Lips

After the four CD madness of Zaireeka, the Flaming Lips returned to a more conventional approach for their ninth and most affecting album to date. Although The Soft Bulletin has been compared by many to Deserters Songs by fellow travellers Mercury Rev, Wayne Coyne's oblique lyricism invokes a world of science and humanity far removed from the frozen in time americarna of that record. The most striking thing about the record is the change in sound brought about by the band's new three man line up. Where before, the Flaming Lips where a psychedelic guitar band, now they are an all out psychedelic band, employing keyboards and strings at whim to conjure up ...  Read the complete review

Let me clarify something right from the start here. Wayne Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips very rarely sings in tune on this album. What's that I hear? A unanimous shout? "But Chev, surely that's a bad thing!" Well, is it? In most instances, yes, of course - off-key wailing is generally about as appealing as the Hunchback of Notre Dame with acne, and generally reserved for the live performances of Atomic Kitten. BUT, in very rare and special cases, a lead singer who just lets him/herself go and sings from the heart no matter the result only adds to the pure beauty of a record. Take the first Longpigs album 'The Sun Is Often Out' as a ...  Read the complete review

No doubt about it - The Flaming Lips are sick. Very sick. Lead singer Wayne Coyne shouldn't really be allowed to roam freely within our society. He takes puppets onstage with him, the band perform the same song three times in one gig, and he has an unhealthy preoccupation with 'The Wizard of Oz' and no Flaming Lips concert is complete without a half-baked rendition of 'Somewhere over the Rainbow.' The threesome struggled for years to make their mark with albums such as 'Clouds Taste Metallic' and almost found a place in the public's heart with the release of epic track 'Waterbug' in the mid 1990's. However it wasn't ...  Read the complete review

This, a concept album about physics, was the standout album of 1999 without question. Rather like Mercury Rev the year before, the Flaming Lips are an American Indie Rock outfit who had recorded several albums previously which were bought by very few people in this country. Also rather like Mercury Rev, they sound rather like Mercury Rev. But madder. And better. Stand out tracks include 'Racing For the Prize' which is included twice - one with the drums seemingly recorded at the bottom of an eighty foot lift shaft; and 'Waiting for Superman' a really sad song about how we shouldn't bother waiting to get saved because Superman's ...  Read the complete review

There are a bundle of great bands that you never hear on the wireless, and the greatest of them all is Flaming Lips. They remain a truly unique fusion of Punk, Progressive, Folk and Rock. Wayne Coyne's voice, or lack of it, is the cornerstone of what makes this band great. He genuinely cannot sing, and that's his greatness. I have seen them live twice (both times without a drummer) and Coyne usually takes the first two bars to get anywhere near the right key, and regularly never manages it. But their songs cover aspects of life no other band would look at. How about two scientists racing for a prize? How about the weight of the sun ...  Read the complete review