The Soft Bulletin

My impression is that this album sounds like an indie record from the late 2000s or early 2010s. In other words, it sounds at least a decade ahead of its time—which might explain its inclusion on this list. But aside from that, musically speaking, there’s nothing special about it. 3 stars.

A fine album with some brilliant songwriting. First 2 tracks are the standouts, Race For The Prize in particular. Heard it before? ✅ Listen again? ✅ Rating out of ten? 8️⃣

Legit one of the best album of the Aughts.

One of my childhood favorites! CD somewhere at my parents’ house. Still great after all these years!

Always interesting, and definitely a sound like no other. Great musicianship and recording, catchy bits throughout.

It's fine but I certainly did not have to listen to this before I die.

Lead singer’s voice kept grating on me, and I eventually just hit stop and moved on to finishing a podcast I started last night. 2.5 / 5

Этот альбом такой интересный, прикольненький и оригинальный, такой миленький что аж хочется потрепать его за щечки!! хахаха Просто я, наверное, рад найти что-то новое и оригинальное (наконец таки) и чтоб сходилось с моим вкусом. Тут классные аранжировочки, приятный голос, интересные музыкальные текстуры, мне нравится что оркестровки тут не являются самоцелью, в стиле "посмотрите, мы как большие дяди", нет, тут оно сделано с целью, подурачится и сделать что-то интересное и дурашливо-очаровательное, чтоб создать все эти любопытные, инопланетные звуки. Всамоделишно, альбом довольно Пет Саундовский по своей природе.

1.4/5 I like a few of their songs, but they weren't on this album. I nearly fell asleep listening to this.

i liked some, i hated some. is that just life idk

Nothing at all special. Come on now.

Cool

This is easy to listen to music. I like it quite a bit. I can hear both the influences that made them, and even more evidently, the influence they seemed to have on the following generation in bands like Tame Impala and Portugal the Man. Solid effort.

The first couple tracks seemed to be mixed way too loud and a bunch of loud spots distorted pretty badly. Otherwise it was fine, but the lead vocals got pretty whiny-sounding after a while and it was just too long for me. Three stars.

Prog rock for the USA. This was quite a listenable album. It feels like they are just telling a story as they go. I quite liked it on in the background, although I'd probably go to Yoshimi first

Nice calming background music, imagine it would be much more intense if stoned though!

O ponto mais alto da discografia da banda. Belas melodias, com arranjos sofisticados e interpretações emotivas.

I have much the same feelings on this as I did for the previous album of theirs I heard on this challenge... I just never got the hype for them. There's also nothing on here that matches Do You Realise??... and I'm also not a big fan of his voice.

Viel zu oft abgeschreckt, dass Alben von den Flamingo Lips zu vertrakt sind. Trifft gar nicht zu. Sehr schöner verspielter Indiepoprock mit einer interessanten Stimme. Schöne Melodien, ohne melodisch zu wirken.

I'm more of a Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots guy, but that's not far off of this great album, they really got a great thing going on. 4.5 Stars for his hair.

Ugh. This is very white, middle class music. It's cutesy and lacks a sense of rhythm or backbeat. I'm not interested in the story about the scientists either. Some of the textures are pleasant but that doesn't cover for the lack of tunes.

would definitely come back to some of these songs

ani spoko ani nie spoko takie na 3

This and Yoshimi are the best thing the Lips ever did and two of my favorite albums.

Aburrido

Pretty dreadful.

I don't get why people like this band. They only really had the one decent song. Everyone I know who's into them is also a Deadhead....so make of that correlation what you will.

Meh, I liked Yoshimi better.

Vomit

Rasittavaa laulua. Sekavaa muzakkia. Indietä siis.

Päällisin puolin aika perus amerikkalaista jotain alt indie whatever poppia tai rokkia. Paikoitellen instrumentoinnit oli mielenkiintosia ja siistejä, mutta muuten omaan makuun aika peruskauraa. TämänKIN kuunteli ihan mielellään läpi.

"Race for the Prize" is pure joy and one of those songs I can never play loud enough. The rest of the album flows from there as a cohesive epic of "gorgeous melodies, orchestral flourishes, and sweetly psychedelic imagery." (Couldn't have said it better, Apple Music.) I get how the quirky voice and lyrics might not work for some people but they work for me.

If I wanted to listen to someone sing like this then I'd listen to deserter songs by mercury rev. Not a big fan of the overly processed drums throughout or kookiness of flaming lips in general, although this album isn't the worst example of that

quand meme cool actually 100/1001

Controversy ahead: this album is cohesive, exponential and forgettable. In context of time: I can see how this album was influential because they were the only thing non-Blake Shelton or tornado story coming out of Oklahoma. You can hear later bands like Death Cab and even Wilco AM in there mixed with the Pink Floyd/Bestles-era psychedelia. At the time when metal was fading, Nu Metal, boy bands, and Britney were rising, they were the most out there thing and helped usher in the Indie-Revolution . I appreciated the variety of instruments from synth to standard rock to horns to symphony-strings. It was like someone took a music exploration class and threw it into a blender. But after listening to it twice I neither tell you a song that stuck or the meaning of the album. I am confident that it’s in there, but I don’t know if I am either too sober enough or intelligent enough to get it. I’m ranking this higher than I think I should but again, half points aren’t available.

Random thoughts: * I've owned this one for a long time and have it both on CD and on zoetrope vinyl. Kind of a perfect album for zoetrope. * Cool songs throughout and it feels like a concept album. Maybe it isn't but I've always thought of it as concept album about coming up with a cure for a disease or a weapon - the softest bullet? * I loved the sound of the drums. It really is a unique sound that the Flaming Lips have for their drums. I swear I could pick out the drums. When the drums drop on "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" is an awesome part of this album. One of my favorite songs on here. * This album is closely related to Yoshimi as they both explore the same themes. Yoshimi definitely has a more direct concept than Bulletin. * One thing that really stood out to me was the lack of guitars. It really a lot of synthesizers leading the way. * Fun album I will keep returning to and continue to enjoy, but it is not quite Yoshimi level classic for me.

Remember when the Flaming Lips were on "Beverly Hills, 90210"? It's understandable if you don't. It was during the fifth season after the ratings had fallen off a bit. Brenda was off the show and the kids had all graduated from West Beverly High School (even Donna Moss). Tiffany-Amber Thiessen had joined the cast as Valerie, the grade-A frenemy of our beloved gang. Valerie had taken over the artist bookings at the AfterDark nightclub (oddly named after a popular screensaver) from Ray, a beleaguered musician who would later spin off to "The Heights" (both the band and TV show.) As a demonstration of her savvy as a talent scout, Valerie books the up-and-coming Alt-Psych-Rockers, The Flaming Lips at the AfterDark (The Peach Pit must have been unavailable that night). The band admirably performed their underground hit single, "She Don't Use Jelly" to the adulation of the crowd and our favorite group of rich kids. Afterward, Steve Sanders delivers the Emmy-worthy line, "You know, I've never been a big fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked the house!" Anyway... This is a very good album, but "Yoshimi" is the better record, rendering this one's inclusion unnecessary.

I almost love this album, and band for that matter, but after 3 songs it starts to feel like that seen in step brothers when John c Reilly farts during the interview. With that said, this album is definitely a work of art, brilliant blend of electronic and rock elements and thought provoking lyrics (The two scientist song and spiderbite for example), bit unfortunately the lead lips man’s voice starts to sound like a fart. I feel bad about this but I’m giving it a 3 I guess it’s a 7.9 out of 10 so the strongest 3 possible.

This is an absolute time-travel record for me. Hearing it immediately brings me back to where I was when I first discovered it, but it also feels like such a perfect time capsule of the late ’90s and early 2000s. There’s a certain millennial earnestness to it, that slightly quirky, emotionally sincere sensibility that has become easy to make fun of in retrospect, but none of that really matters because the record is just so freaking good. Wayne Coyne’s vocals are a huge part of it. He has this delicate, vulnerable quality, like he might emotionally disintegrate at any moment, and there’s really nobody else who sounds quite like him. The Flaming Lips hit exactly the right level of weirdness here while still having incredible pop instincts. There are genuinely great three-minute power-pop songs alongside these huge, atmospheric, layered, almost Pink Floyd-esque soundscapes. It’s not quite my favorite Flaming Lips record. That would be the next one, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. But they’re neck and neck, and The Soft Bulletin is still a great record that means a lot to me. 8.1/10.

What a beautiful album. I love it from start to finish but it's been long enough since I've listened to it there was plenty of it that felt like it was brand new to me. I was particularly moved by "Sleeping on the Roof" and "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate." I saw them play live in Prospect Park in Brooklyn the summer after this album was released (2000) and hearing "The Spark That Bled" transported me back to that moment.

Not my vibe

A third five-star album in four days! I could get used to this. The Soft Bulletin is pretty much a perfect record, though I haven't listened to it in some time. I think the last time was before their Berlin concert in June 2025, which was one of my best live experiences ever.

The Flaming Lips always catch me off guard. I know that I like them, but I never think to put on their albums. Then I have a reason/excuse to listen, and I'm blown away all over again.

A strong 4. Really a pillar of a magical time for indie rock. They were the psychedelic weirdo drugged out cousins from Oklahoma that strangely was the perfect pairing with the hip stuff from NYC. Soft Bulletin is a great album that still feels like a breath of fresh air.

There's clearly a lot to love here, but Yoshimi is my Flaming Lips album and my perception of this suffers somewhat as a result.

symphonic in the good way, stayed just long enough

it's meh

I don't really know how to rate it, I mostly enjoyed it, but nothing stood out as much.

On the surface level, it's very enjoyable. How is this that much different or in any way better than Yoshimi though? It's hard to listen to this without feeling like it's a bit wasted due to the shadow of that Yoshimi. "A Spoonful Weighs A Ton" is super sweet. Love that loungy bossa drum machine pattern which follows that FAT synth a little over a minute in. Very hard to drum up more original thoughts or strong feelings about this one. It's neat but safe, a blueprint for better projects to come from The Flaming Lips

Album 201 starts here! I have to have heard this, right? I probably have, but I don't remember. I feel like I'd have remembered having an opinion on one of arguably the most important albums of the turning century. It cannot be understated how big a change Steve Drozd brought to the Flaming Lips. This and Yoshimi feel like Drozd albums more than Lips albums. Wayne Coyne's warbly thin vocals are bolstered more strongly by the instrumentation and the composition. The early weirdness had toned down by the 90s anyway, and even the “she don't use jelly” quirk is rarer here. It's a straightforward indie album from a band known for drug fueled weirdness, so there's a certain loss there, but it's also just a better album, pianist and big fuzzy bass and wall of sound drums be damned. And it's not like there's none of that ti be found here. The Spiderbite Song absolutely mines the absurd despite leaning into the more Life Affirming Nostalgia vibe of this Lips era. I saw the Lips during the Yoshimi tours, and Wayne absolutely cracked a fake blood capsule for “The Spark that Bled”. You can't take the weird out of the weirdo for good. The obvious highlight here (though I do have a soft spot for The Spark) is Waitin for a Superman. It is a masterclass in motivational despair. You're not alone. It's just too much for anyone to bear for you. It's so heavy that no one has figured out how to lift it. But we're working on it. We're here with you. And that somehow makes it feel both uplifting and wildly sad at the same moment. Yearning for hope and completely destroying at the same time. It's a feat. But the shame is that so much of the rest is musically competent but so much less weighty. This is an album I like more than love. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"tWO sCiENtiSTs ARe rACinG FOr tHe CuRe ThAT iS tHE priZE!" 4/5

There aren’t many rock bands from OKC, but here’s one. This is their ninth album. The album has a couple of instrumentals which are mellow and pretty good. The rest of the tracks seemed too plodding and forgettable for me.

Hmm, interesting. I only know their Yoshimi song (not on this album), which I like moderately well. I think I tried to listen to the rest of that album once and couldn't get into it, kind of similar to the situation with the Arcade Fire and their singles. But Wiki says this is the Pet Sounds of the 90s! We'll see about that. . . . Nah, it's not. Pet Sounds is good because the songs are so different from eachother, and all these songs feel pretty similar (at least on first listen). Fewer hooks too. I guess the instrumentation is similar, and both bands have high pitched voices?? Maybe I'm predisposed to think so, but the lyrical content on this album also seems pretty depressing, which is the total opposite of Pet Sounds! I give it a Sloop John C+ . Also, it's weird to include 2 versions of 2 songs. I was like "oh, these last two songs are OK", but that's because I heard them already. Sneaky! Highlight: "'Cause it's gettin' heavy / Well I thought it was already as heavy as can be" (#emo)

I’ve enjoyed some of their tracks over the years and even saw them live once. This album was just okay to me.

Ok

What a wonderfully weird experience this was. I’ve listened to 2 Flaming Lips songs ever, one of which is from this album and another is a cover they did of a John Lennon song on a compilation album. The thing that struck me most was the way some of the guitar riffs would grab me and draw me in, but what I was drawn in to felt like an intimate conversation that maybe I shouldn’t be listening to. I would come back to this and will look for some more Flaming Lips soon.

Откровенно очень слабый альбом где были хорошими две три песни , от полного провала спосает хорошее звучание в некоторых композициях

Something really odd about the mixing on this version.

It may be that I just wasn’t in the mood for The Flaming Lips when this was given to me, but I found Wayne’s voice kind of annoying and I guess this made me realize that he’s never been a strong singer. But the rest of the music is interesting enough for a 3.5.

I just love the delicious weirdness that is the Flaming Lips! I didn’t like this album quite as much as “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” but this was still a very solid entry. 4/5 today but I could see raising to 5 stars if I revisit at some point

3/5

In my top 20 ever. Bizarre, gorgeous, poignant, and brilliant.

There’s some interesting songs on here. I’m more of a fan of the instrumentals than the singing though.

I had this on while doing some work at my computer and I heard it all, and what I heard I thought was pleasant and nice enough, but at no point did it gain enough attention for me to switch to actively listening to it or forming much of an opinion. The moments that broke through were the thought that Buggin' sounds like a less annoying Owl City, and The Gash is pretty cool musically. Apart from that, I thought very little.

A pretty good version of not so good punk.

The drums! I can see some not liking the distorted, heavy, hall reverb drum sound. I like it. The instrumentation is really great on this, so much going to keep my attention. Part of me also wants to hear these songs live without all the production. This album gets better the more I listen to it.

Some nice melodies (Waitin’ for Superman) but not particularly memorable and the vocals are weak.

This is not my usual type of music, but I must admit some tracks did make my smile.

I don't have much experience with the Flaming Lips and this album was so much softer and sweeter than I imagined. I did found it raw and refreshing. I love a whiney vocalist. Catchy and weird at the same time. At times, theatrical and bizarre. I strongly enjoyed this one, doesn't quite push over into masterpiece territory.

Need to do another listen. Overall its a lot.

Very good atmospheric album. Normally I prefer music with a bit less going on, but the full sounds on these tracks just seems to work.

4.9/5 Special stuff

Weird album full of songs about spiders and bugs but it worked for me. Had an air of child-like wonder to it.

Ok

Surprisingly better than I would have thought, but considering how good Yoshimi is I'm not that shocked this is so good. I've only really heard race to the prize and the production on this one really convinced me. The sound is just so pristine and it meshes out really well as a record.

Despite the love for TFL, I've never really got it. I've heard the singles many times through radio airplay, but never a whole album; and my unenthused attitude remains. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ ★★★☆☆(6/10) Total reviewed : 431 Already owned : 97 Purchased : 21 To buy : 5 Nope : 308

I didn't have a nice time like at all

I'm not sure I get this band - they sound like Death Cab for Cutie if they all went to private school. It's a nice album don't get me wrong, but it's pretty homogenous

I did not really like the vocals, but this had some strong instrumental parts.

4/5

Not too bad but instantly forgettable

I like this album and the odd upbeat but slightly dissonant energy.

Tämmönen läpisoitto josta ei jäänyt mitään mieleen positiivisesti eikä negatiivisesti. Kai siellä jotain kuunneltavaa oli

Tämmöstähän tää, kuunteli ihan mielellään läpi, mutta ei tästä huomenna enää mitään muista.

Varmaan vähän jakaa mielipidettä tääKIN meininki. Kuitenkin tässon oma vaikkakin vähän outo näkemys päntillä ja sitä seuraavat. Biiseissäkin on hyvii joukossa ja paketti pysyy kasassa. Sitä en muista olko tää nyt paras näiden levy omasta mielestä vai miten meni. Mut vg+ kuitenkin tääkin.

Eipä ollut tältäkään bändiltä aikaisemmin tuttu mikään muu kun vissiin seuraava levy (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot). Aika erikoismeininkiä paikkapaikoin, soitto kuulosti jotenkin epävireiseltä, mutta silti ihan hauskasti tavallaan sopi tähän. Kyllä minä ihan viihdyin tämän levyn parissa, mutta ei se sillain enempiä hetkauttanut suuntaan eikä toiseen.

No

Good album

Extraordinary

I feel like The Flaming Lips are one of those bands that everyone with even the slightest bit of deeper rock knowledge has heard of, but far fewer have actually heard. Case in point: me. This was my first time listening to my first ever Flaming Lips album, and it certainly did not disappoint. The psychedelic euphoria of these songs is astounding, and Wayne Coyne’s quirky but earnest lyrics add a dash of fantasy. With the departure of their lead guitarist two albums prior, it’s poetic to hear a rock band utterly forsake the guitar and opt to craft MIDI-symphonies instead. The moniker “Pet Sounds of the 90s” might be a little precocious, but I can certainly see how listeners in 1999 were enchanted enough to say so. Fav Tracks: Race for the Prize, A Spoonful Weighs a Ton, The Spiderbite Song, Buggin’, Waitin’ For a Superman, The Gash, Feeling Yourself Disintegrate Least Fav: The Observer Score: 8.5

Great album, though not quite at the level of Yoshimi. I especially like the first tracks: "Race for the Prize" and "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton". But really the whole album is a welcome listen.

Yoshimi is still my go to Flaming Lips album, but if you are looking for more of that sound, without I suppose the concept album hook, this is a good place to look.

só bom. Ouviria de novo

Great- feels like it shouldn’t work but it just does.

Sounds like an album made under the influence of Heroin, Disney and Lucky Charms

Great album, Race for the Prize is such a killer opener. It would be cool if a band that these guys opened for had albums on the list.... like, I dunno..... WEEZER!!!!

me on a first date: haha yeah I actually heard this was borat's fav band... because it's... very nice... hahahahaha...

I don't mind this, but the singer's accent is very irritating.

++: The Spark That Bled, The Spiderbite Song, The Gash, Feeling Yourself Disintegrate, Waitin' for a Superman +: A Spoonful Weighs a Ton, The Observer, Waitin' for a Superman, Suddenly Everything Has Changed, Sleeping on the Roof, Race for the Prize +-: Race for the Prize, What Is the Light? -: Buggin' 5,8/10

2,5/5