They weren’t terrible, but A.) they would go on to make much better music in the ‘90s and beyond and B.) there were other bands around doing much better work, like the Butthole Surfers. In the 2005 Flaming Lips documentary,* Fearless Freaks*, Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes brazenly states that the Lips “Stole our songs, they imitated us, and Wayne wishes he was me.” He’s referring to the ‘80s, when the group were DIY punk rock road warriors, or better stated, a time few Lips fans care about. We look back at Flaming Lips entire discography, and pick out the best of the best, sorting through the “proper” studio albums (Yes, they still do those), weird collaborations, soundtracks, EPs, or whatever. It’s a necessary evil with any band like the Lips whose creative juices are firing on all four cylinders.
They can be forgiven for occasionally going overboard on the pretentious scale. In recent years, they’ve recorded and released every idea to pop in their heads, with mixed results. “Weird” is a word typically dropped in any sentence mentioning them, but how that’s expressed is what’s interesting: quirky alt-rock, sinister psych-punk, haunting synth ballads, inspirational orchestral anthems. The point is that the Flaming Lips are unpredictable. Oczy Mlody it turns out, is surprising in how closely it sticks to the recent eerie Pink Floyd-inspired sci-fi soundtrack playbook, though more heart-wrenchingly emotional. Between all these official albums and crazy collaborations, talk of any new Flaming Lips release always poses one question: What phase will they be in with this record? It’s hard to think of a band that has redefined itself as much over its four-decade long career as the Flaming Lips. This doesn’t include EPs, collaborations and compilations, which are aplenty in the Lips world. 13, the Flaming Lips released Oczy Mlody, the group’s 16th official album.
0 kommentar(er)
