Reviews (page 4 of 10)
Just lovely.
Nerdy? Yes. Shrill? Very. Sloppy? Always. Overly sentimental? Of course. Somehow perfect despite all that? Absolutely!
It’s a meh for me. It has moments that sound like Owl City (and maybe that other dreamy Seattle-ish band I can’t place), which are pretty cool—but then those Neil Young-ish vocals kick in and ruin the mood.
Nhe
Layered, deep and cathartic. “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” hits you like no other.
Has moments of quality but the singing is so poor as to be a distraction 3*
This is a lot like "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" in that, outside of each album's one obvious radio single, there's not a whole lot to grab onto. That said, the overall experience here felt weaker than "Yoshimi", and I really had to force myself to listen to it a second time to see if I had missed something. I hadn't. The lyrics are simple and repetitive, and the meandering filler tracks (including two redundant remixes) felt even less relevant and more forgettable than the fillers on "Yoshimi".
I had to look up the last Flaming Lips album for reference. I stated it dragged, and so did this. There were brief moments I was getting into. I could seeing it grow on me. But those highs didn’t outweigh what goes against this album.
The flaming lips: I can barely tolerate this attempt at singing. Good and varied instrumentals. I should never feel imposter syndrome about my singing skills is the bottom line. 2*
Definitely doesn't touch at war with the mystics
I really enjoyed this album, the whole sound and vibe of this album still feels fresh and not that dated. Very cool find.
Love this album start to finish. Very creative energy.
I should like this more than I do, but I still dig it a good bit. 4/5
It's not Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, but all the pieces are there.
#143/1001. Sounds like another great Flaming Lips album. Sounds like the other ones, without the good songs in the other ones. But I was totally ok to play this again a few times. If I would have to remember any of the stuff later I couldn't.
First impression : So I put this on my headphones and after about a minute I was so convinced that my bins were broken that I had to play something I was very familiar with to put my mind at rest. Did they record the opening track in a nissen hut? And who the fuck is that singing? One of the engineers? Second impression: This really isn't that bad at all. I might even quite like it. Quirky Jury's still out on the singing though. 3½
Veldig ujevnt album. Flotte melodiøse partier, spennende arrangementer, men også totalt skivebom enkelte ganger. Velger å gi den en svak 3’er.
Watching the film clip of "Race for the prize" on late night TV years ago was a revelation. Loved them ever since. This album and Yoshimi are both 5/5
Took a while to get into - work was loud and the songs are quite gentle. Warmed up to it on a second listen and ended up really enjoying it. Doesn’t include my favourite of their songs but still a really good album. I like the storytelling and the vocals and actually really enjoy how gentle it mostly is. Fav song: Feeling Yourself Disintegrate Least fav: The Gash
Not a big fan of this at all I’m not going to lie. The voice is whiny, the music is bad and I just didn’t care for the overall tone. Thumbs down Specific rating - 1.6 Fav song-what is the light? Least fav- waitin’ for a superman
Was a real struggle to not just compare every song on this album to Do You Realize?? because I do really like this album, but I love that song. Favourite song: The Gash Least: The Spiderbite Song
Clearly I was too hasty in assuming my inability to sing would preclude me from having a career in music.
fucking beautiful this has to be psych rock at some of its best
I've always been intimidated by this band. They're well known, but have dozens of albums. Where do I start?! That's a lie. I do have one. I don't find it that exciting and I was, honestly, expecting a 'more of the same three stars album'. The sort of thing this list is loaded with. But I was really impressed with the opener. And while it never quite hit that peak catchiness again, I can see why this album is on the list. The vocalist's indie-soft Neil Young voice came through quite well on the album. It was a bit of fun. 4 Stars.
This album is like driving home after visiting your grandfather. While it was a great time seeing him, and you enjoyed updating each other about recent events in your life (the round of golf you played yesterday, the prospect of buying a new house, and his neighbour inviting him over for a gin the other day), you can’t shake this underlying knowledge that he looks more and more frail each time you see him. While you enjoyed the afternoon with him, you are aware that there won’t be many more like this.
I thought id enjoy this more than I did. Didn't really care for the opening track. Not huge on his vocal style. The song about his bleeding head was better. But overall, kinda more of the Indie same same
Not bad, but also not nearly as good as Yoshimi battles... Didn't hate it, didn't love it.
I’m sorry you guys his voice is annoying
Somehow both silly for the sake of it and awfully pedestrian. It's like the rock version of someone writing a derivative sonata but adding Rzewskian extended techniques.
3/10… psychedelic pop / alt.rock
I like good singing. This didnt have good singing.
Not my favourite flaming lips album
Another album that I've listened to from start to finish dozens of times. Sets the stage for the Flaming Lips' most commercially successful period and lays the groundwork for their best album (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots). Every track is at least an 8/10 with several 10/10s. Race for the Prize, The Spark that Bled, and Waiting for Superman poke their heads just a little above the rest of this album.
Decent
Not interested in this afternoon 2 or 3 songs
Thought I'd like this more than I actually did.
Boring
OK but why was it nicknamed the Pet Sounds of the 90s
Never really given the band a chance so this was a great album to start with. Lots of variety, lots of depth and an overall fun ride! I originally scored this as a three star album but I just keep going back to it. I’ve listened to it at least five times through now and it is clearly a five star album. The depth and creativity just continues to grow the more you listen to it.
Best Track - "Race For The Prize"
it's aight. Yoshimi was better Will I listen to again: 15%
Cover 6.5 Fun songs. Nothing too standoutish for me but I generally like it. Not sure I'd listen to it again.
hmm, this one is very interesting. can't say i've heard a sound quite like this on in an album, very surreal. a definite modernist take on psychedelic pop music, unlike stuff i've heard before. it's... very hard to describe this album. it's full of stories and isn't afraid to dive into moody themes... but man, what an odd sound... it's not bad, but it's so peculiar, a mixture of acoustic and electric... whoever's singing sounds a bit like neil young. i feel like i might need to listen to this album again to get used to it.
Not something I'd seek to listen on my own time, would rather have Yoshimi
gostosinho, bem vibes
really loved the first couple songs, was chillin with the rest. unique and i have a few songs i will keep, 4!
I like this one better than anything else I have heard from them. Which is enough to have an opinion. Though there doesn’t seem to be a standout track, this album is decent. I also thought I was further along in the album that I actually was. Longer songs than expected. You could do plenty worse things with your time. Whether this is a positive or negative towards them, I can’t really put them into a category. I guess in this day and age they are indie. The problem with that is these guys are too good for the indie scene. Both musically and lyrically.
This is not your typical Indie fare. The songs are thoughtful, elaborate, and well-crafted. The only thing about the Flaming Lips: the wispy vocals. If you can get past the singing, you'll enjoy the album.
Definitely an album of it's time. Not a personal fan.
Not too bad
The Flaming Lips are this perfect mix of crazy and wonderful. For me a lot of bands try to do what they do, be ridiculous, cerebral and different but no one pulls it off quite like they do. They have this aethereal astro-plan sound but then the songs are called Buggin' or Spiderbite Song. I think what is really great about them is they don't seem to take themselves too seriously but somehow sing songs that are really deep and meaningful. They also have a very unique special sound that just makes you smile but also makes you think.
This album took me a few listens. The songwriting is really strange in a good way but something about it is so dreamy and stream of conscious that it doesn't immediately click. I like they way they balance delicate soft sounds with really aggressive pounding rhythms. This album has a vibe and all the songs flow pretty well together. Almost so well that at times it seems like this album is one long song. I like it more each time I listen to it.
First class album all of the way through. I consider this album to be The Flaming Lips’ OK Computer or their Dark Side of the Moon. Wayne was dealing with the death of his father on this record and would further dig deeper into that feeling of gorgeous existentialism on Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots after the death of a dear friend from Japan. The lush sound on this record is a direct result of their experiments from their previous album Zaireeka, which was four discs designed to be played at once on multiple CD players. Before that they were a somewhat strange and at times goofy garage rock band. This album is a giant leap forward in their sound and vision, and on first few listens it may seem awkward, but Wayne’s heartfelt sentimentality makes it a powerhouse grower and one of the best albums from the 90’s.
Ugh, I love these guys so much. I was familiar with some of these songs but have never given this album as a whole a good listen. It gets better with each spin. They create such interesting and creative sounds, their lyrics are great, and so many of these songs are just so MOVING. This hasn't topped Yoshimi for me yet, but still an easy 5!
Wayne Coyne + constantly hearing that this band was great are almost enough to downgrade to 1 star. it doesn't deserve 1 star. it might be ok without Wayne Coyne singing. this band sucks. music: hated. (⌐■_■)
Wayne Coyne has tracked as an Old Guy the whole time I've been aware of him. So, as I have become an Old Guy, with each passing year he has become more insufferable to me. He’s a bad, unrepeatable, kind of Old Guy to a fellow Old Guy, is what I mean. It also doesn’t help that the band has musically gone further and further up its own butt from Yoshimi(ish) onward. Hadn’t listened to any of the older ones in some time. This one is more Fine than I expected. Not a true 3, but curved to Flaming Lips expectations, sure why not.
Started out liking it but then kind of lost interest part way. Some good songs in it though.
I like the group in general, but not really this album
Nice kick drum tone. Reminds me of they might be giants but with more ambience.
In theory, this band should be one of my favourites, but they're not quite there. Maybe if I saw a live show, I'd change my mind. When I'm focusing on the music, I think it's Wayne Coyne's voice that gets to me. I know there's another album in this list and I look forward to listening to it.
Wow - another one that hit me from out of nowhere. Fantastic! Trippy and musically sonic transportative. Love the all around vibe. Me likey! 8.9
I enjoyed this more than expected.
I’m going to rate this now because I think if I keep listening to it I’m going to hate it more and more. One of those strange albums that I LOVED the first time I listened to it but as I played it more it started to becoming grating and annoying. Race for the Prize is one of the best songs I’ve ever found through this project but the rest of the album is a mess.
Fancy music, echos, beats. Not lightweight, mostly happy sounding
Happy sounding music. The lyrics are dumb and a lot of the songs sound the same, but there are some pleasant musical flourishes. The two songs that were apparently released as singles were decent.
What can I say? I like music like this. Catchy, lil weird, some spacy stuff going on.
I did not like this at all
It’s easy to see why this album was their breakthrough into the mainstream. Imaginative and experimental instrumentation while maintaining strong and catchy songs.
What a lovely album. Genuinely a beautiful listen. Standouts are waiting for a superman, everything has changed, spiderbite song, and feeling yourself disintegrate.
It was ok
Better than Yoshimi
Dreamy, strange, and wonderful
This one took a bit of time to click. It leans theatrical in places and definitely has its own style, but there’s a lot of character underneath it all. Some moments really worked for me, others not so much — but it’s got a charm to it that’s hard to ignore. Highlights - • The Spark That Bled • Waitin’ for a Superman • Feeling Yourself Disintegrate • What Is the Light? 3/5 Bit of a mixed bag for me overall, but it was enjoyable nonetheless, definitely interested to check out their other album on the list.
Liking it so far
Pschedelic fun, great songwriting!
2,5
The first time I listened I really liked it. The lyrics are wild and tell stories....I guess his voice didn't bother me, but the second time I listened I thought wtf and couldn't stand his voice.
More listenable than expected.
Cool juxtaposition of sloppy, loud, bombastic percussion against the soft and airy vocals and strings. Can definitely sense influences from this album on more modern indie rock. Wayne Coyne's pitch can be grating at times, reducing overall listenability
So so so beautiful. Perfect blend of experimental and wonderful songwriting, listened to it driving to Nottingham and we saw a rainbow. Trancendental.
Two versions of the same song is always weak filler, it's pretty decent but Wayne Coynes voice isn't the strongest
An ordinary rock band for me. An OK album.
Its a good album, some skips on here but really solid. I do prefer yoshimi
Gooood. I love it, beauty and chill, positive vibes.
It was fine. Wouldn't really listen to it again, though. Nothing really stood out to me other than the spiderbite song, and even that I would rate only a 4/10, imo. 2 cuz it wasnt bad, just not my thing.
Oh hell yes. I don't know if I'd put it over Yoshimi but it's just as good.
Very cool
Correcto
6/10 - traditional flaming lips sound, good for having in the background if you dont want hard rock
I can get down with the Flaming Lips once-in-a-while. This is one of those times.
This is the album where The Flaming Lips finally stopped messing around and became the psych-pop kings their were always destined to be. This was also a new sound for the new millennium. Psychedelic and very detailed, but with big hooks and radio-friendly song structures paired with strange, surreal lyricism. Many other acts either followed this path or came into existence in the wake of this record. Huge change for the band, considering their previous album was made up of 4 discs, all supposed to be played simultaneously. Key tracks: Race for the Prize A Spoonful Weighs a Ton Waitin' for a Superman
Excellent!
I know every beat of this album intimately. Complete masterpiece.
Only sooks don't like the lips
I like the lyrics and the variety, but his vocal range is limited.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯 is lush, ambitious, and often breathtaking, with orchestral arrangements and Wayne Coyne’s fragile vocals giving it both grandeur and intimacy. Frequently hailed as a masterpiece, I hear it more as a remarkable step on the way to what many consider their true peak. Still, it’s a beautiful and moving record that defines late-90s alternative.
Like Flaming Lips but they have better albums
One of my two favorite flaming lips albums
3.5
3.5
An undisputed all timer. Pet Sounds for when your dad dies.
It’s easy to listen to.
Awful
There are definitely still some great moments in here, but it's nowhere near as consistent as Yoshimi. For starters, having remixed versions of some of the songs be on the actual official tracklist is a weird choice, and makes is feel quite messy. And just in general, the whole project feels quite disjointed. But I suppose it still works as a collection of songs, and could definitely do with losing the remixes, nobody asked for those.
6/10
57/1001 The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ I love the melancholy on this album, along with the arrangements. It's a poignant and beautiful album. It maybe doesn't quite reach the same heights as Yoshimi, but brilliant nonetheless.
Not quite as good as yoshimi but still solid
I had high hopes after Yoshimi was so good, but this record was so unbelievably boring and repetitive
I prefer yoshimi but this should not detract from what is a quality album . The Flaming lips are a band that could never be accused on being boring, like a mash up of super furrys and mercury rev. What’s not to like
I think I was supposed to like this. On paper I should have, but I spent most of this asking what the dickens this absolute guff was.
I have a lot of goodwill towards The Flaming Lips, due to a combination of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots and them once releasing a record on vinyl that had four records that had to be played simultaneously for the record to sound right - essentially I have a certain level of tolerance for odd bods (though not Captain Beefheart levels obviously). Race For The Prize is a great song that sets the tone for a record. I like A Spoonful Weighs A Ton, The Spiderbite Song (with the weirdly Phil Collinsesque drum fills), and The Gash. I think this is another 3.5, but good enough to get me to round up, not down. 4/5
Nice sound but nothing special
not a fan of the intros, the rest goes hard
When I clicked on this I read "Velvet Underground" in my head rather than "Flaming Lips". As a result I was quite surprised at the sound. Once I came to and got over that, I enjoyed this a fair amount. Melodic and poppy with a couple standout tracks ("Waitin' for A Superman" is one). A worthy listen and enjoying more the second time. 3.5 but let’s go 4 side.
couldn't finish this... whoops
Found this to be suuuuper annoying to listen to. Not sure why, but I really disliked this
One of my favourites!
No creo que sea el mejor album de esta banda, igual suena bien.
Man I wanted to like this more than what I did. Started off well and progressively got worse. 5/10.
One good song in my opinion. Not enough to make the album a must listen. Listen to the single and leave the albm.
Mixed feelings about this. Some songs were enjoyable, others dragged on a bit. The singer was also not great, and some of the lyrics where childish and predictable. Overall- not bad, but didnt really enjoy it. 2.5/5, not a 3
tää pli hyvä, tykkäsin paljon
I hadn't listened to this album and was more familiar with Yoshimi. This is a really good album. It's a very strange dichotomy that this album has a Pitchfork rating 10/10, but isn't on the Rolling Stone Top 500. Pitchfork: 10.0 Rolling Stone: n/a Best Songs Race for the Prize The Spark That Bled Waitin' for a Superman Feeling Yourself Disintegrate Sleeping On The Roof
Another amazing album from The Flaming Lips. I prefer Yoshimi but only slightly. This one is a bit less focused on electronics which is a nice compliment to that album.
As Robert Plant once sang “I don’t know what it is that I like about you, but I like it alot!” That’s how I feel about the Flaming Lips. I’ve liked FL for awhile (off the strength of Yoshimi). But i couldn’t figure out why. Normally i would not like the vocalist’s sound & the songs are at times video game material (or movie about a video game). But now I know: the drummer, the engineer, and their producer make the band special. The drum sound — the tension between the cymbals and bass that makes the mic distort a little— is genius! And then, switching back to a very tight clean drumkit sound, mid-song — amazing! Really catches my ear — I like it… alot! Still, my 4 rating is a mystery to me. On most metrics this would be a 3 or less. But I will definitely play it again — the hallmark of a 4.
Fun songwriting, reminds of of Sufjan Stevens. Influence of his perhaps?
This album was just fine, I didn't have ant strong reaction to it.
Decently good, just not a huge Flaming Lips fan... Maybe a 3.5
Man, this was a long 58 minutes! This isn't really my thing but I guess it was OK.
Good
Weird album. Has a kind of circus/Sgt. Peppers-wannabe feel to it. Kinda corny and wonky throughout, with vocals that aren't always appealing. Not sure I like this one very much, even though I know how popular this group is.
Inoffensive and boring
Love this just discovered the group too ! Makes me think about an “old” version of Tame Impala but in the BEST way ever 💋 Never thought I’d be si happily surprised by this tysm
This is #day364 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… I'm checking off another artist since it's my second album by The Flaming Lips. As with their previous one, which I got on my #day46, there's some inoffensive summery psychedelic pop in here, with "Suddenly Everything Has Changed" being my favorite. I guess I'll follow suit and give it a 3 out of 5 as well. Otherwise, I can't think of an occasion I'd be willing to play this band again, especially if we're talking about summer and psychedelia. I have The Doors for that. P.S. Including those remixes as part of the original tracklist was a lame decision. Looking forward to #day365.
not my style 1 5
High 3/low 4, not much else to say
This album is dragging the life out of me.
Race for the Prize // Suddenly Everything Has Changed // Feeling Yourself Disintegrate // 3.5/5
Didn’t love this quite as much as the first Flaming Lips album we got, but still a solid 4.
I love this group and while this album isn’t quite as good as Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, this still rates a 5 for me, 4 for the album, boosted up one because of a wild surround sound mix. The band did three surround mix issues in the first decade of this century, for YBTPR, At War With the Mystics and this album. The mixes all push the envelope for surround sound with a variety of effects and instruments coming out of all the speakers, with swirling effects. For YBTPR, there is a newer 7.1 mix issues I don’t have yet, but it’s supposedly way different from what I have in 5.1 and gets rave reviews. The CD/DVD issues also have a ton of extras, with videos, b-sides, etc. The band also has stereo albums that replicate Dark Side of the Moon and Sgt. Pepper — both on streaming and well worth checking out.
Would listen again. Complex. Don’t know if it hits emotionally though.
This album was alright, very chill, It reminded me that the flaming lips opened for Weezer when I saw them and all the dads did not like the lips.
I just don’t think they’re my thing. Parts of songs were enjoyable. But often they were ruined by bizarre instrumentation that didn’t fit together for me. 2/5
Not really in the mood
Pretty great. Another band with a bunch of great material
Bread/Air Supply/ELO for cool kids
I feel like I'm supposed to like this album because everyone and their brother says it's a masterpiece. I guess I'm not hearing the masterpiece part of it. *shrugs* It's OK, but I don't need to hear much more from it. 2.3/5 stars after 2 full complete listens. I can't stand a lot of the songs, they're either just random sounds and what not or just annoying.
Niin monta Flaming lipsia tällä listalla mutta ei yhtään Mewiä? En valita, pidän tästäkin levystä kovasti. Tavallaan kaikki FL:n levyt kuulostaa ihan samalta kyllä. Sama tunnelma ja melodiat, tosin tässä aika rauhalliset. Sanoitukset ilahduttaa aina. Ei olla liian tosissaan eikä kikkailla liikaa, vaikka vähän vaikeesti pitää tehdä.
I kind of liked the Flaming Lips before I bought this album in '99. I kind of liked their stuff after this. I love every single note of this album, and I think I still would even if it weren't drenched in nostalgia.
I became a fan of The Flaming Lips when I first heard Yoshimi. I then worked backwards to this album next. I immediately feel in love with them, though their other albums for me are hit or miss. They have two masterpieces IMO and “The Soft Bulletin” is one of them. Amazing production and I love Wayne Coyne’s singing on the album. I saw them live a couple of times and they are such an enjoyable band to watch just be weird.
The Good: We not only get an album that starts with The, but also a band! The Bad: Those lips were too much on fire, makes wonder about std’s… The Ugly: Fearing the next the bulletin… I know that I saw this band live, at least once, back in the ‘90s. The problem is that I can’t recall what I thought about the show… and I can’t blame the booze I was drinking, as I remember all concerts I saw back in the 90s as I was still young, and with a well functioning brain… Anyway, when this album dropped this morning, I was excited to listen to them, as I’d seen them on many a list of bands/albums you need to hear… and I heared them… and now I don’t know what to think about them. It is nice, but it is lengthy. It is catchy, but forgettable. It is this, and it is that… Maybe my current state of mind is not helping as I am dealing with some kind of summer flu, and I am way behind on work… so I will have to give the album a fair try when things are a little more relaxed. For now, through the middle I go 3*
Precious. Not in a good way. It isn’t bad, though
Wasn't the greatest. thought some of the lyrics were not very good
This has some interesting elements but the vocals mostly made it an unpleasant listen.
This list has made me realize how much of a fan of The Flaming Lips I really am apparently.... I loved this entire album.
The was my intro to one of my favorite bands ever. I listened to this album about a hundred times, and it does not get old. Love it!!!
Softee
Race for the Prize has one of the ugliest drum intros of all time. MY GOD. Thankfully this recovers. I get Wayne Coyne's voice is pretty Marmite but I like his haunty melodies. Beautifully arranged instrumentals, with a mix of traditional indie rock, synth, and orchestral sounds.
dont really remember it
started off as meh but liked it when I got into it
Yuck.
I won't pretend I like this kind of music.
Prettty nice stuff again! I liked the sound of a lot of this. I could see more entering my possible likes on relistens, but I liked a decent bit as is.
This really teeters the line between a 4 and a 5 for me - in the end I've bumped it up to a 5 because I've been thinking about it, a lot. Some beautiful layered instrumentals here, an interesting voice, lovely juxtaposition, and some fantastic vibes.
I feel like the 90s were when a lot of things clicked for weird neo-psychedelic bands like this, and this album delivers on that in spades.
I didn’t love it but I also didn’t hate it I guess. 2.5
Felt a lil nostalgic sometimes, but mostly generic...? Idk, I don't think I'd return to it. I kept thinking about the Queen album the whole time. It had some cool drum and guitar parts though! Standouts: Race for the Prize • The Spark That Bled
I did not expect to like this but I really did! Incredible album texture. I love the use of the different instruments and the guitar tones are absolutely luscious. I feel like I discovered a lot on my second listen through and I would easily enjoy this over and over. Fantastic.
It's a fun a quirky album, there's a sort of exaggerated drama to the lyrics that makes me feel like I'm in the middle of an anime. It has a unique sound too, very layered, a little kitchy even. I think though listening to an hour of this it just starts to feel a little too almost campy. It's almost like watching trashy reality tv, you can really like it, it might even be really well made, but you can't really take it all that seriously no matter how entertaining it is.
Interesting. Will come back to it. Liked it
7/10 starts really strong but gets really tedious towards the end
I liked this album, but I feel like I need to listen to it a few more times to appreciate it more. Liked Songs Added: Race For The Prize Buggin' Waitin' For A Superman Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
Absolutely phenomenal album.
Great early Lips work!
My favorite Flaming Lips record- beautiful layered arrangements that still sometimes have a noisy lo-fi feel around the edges from their earlier work. A great mix of indie, psychedelic rock and strings. Coyne's vocals are going to be the most divisive element of the album for most people, but I really enjoy his voice alongside the earnest, joyful yet melancholy lyrics. Love the whole album, but 'The Gash' fading into 'Feeling Yourself Disintegrate' and ending in the coda track 'Sleeping On The Roof' (the true last track, end the album here before remix songs) is one of the most affecting and emotional three track sequences off of any album.
Holy fuck this was painful
it clicked halfway through. great 95/100 im ranking like this now
Meh
I personally float between a 3 and 3.5 on this, but I'm rounding up to 4, because I do think they are well-crafted songs. However, I mostly find them to not say a lot to me and just float by. They feel almost too perfectly crafted to a sanded down sound that is pleasant enough for a lot of people to like it and not be offensive, but it also doesn't feel like it has a lot to entice me of anything more than that.
• Good but not great. It’s the album where they established the sonic foundation for what woukf become Yoshimi.
A blueprint for the sound that would eventually evolve into 2000s indie rock as we knew it. Hugely influential band for Gen X'ers and elder millennials
Good enough.
Büro, Heidenheim, Deutschland. Es kommt Langeweile auf.
I love this. It made me feel things.
- meh, hat mich nicht abgeholt - kam irgendwie nie richtig rein in die Platte
I am a fan of them so this album confirms my admiration. Is science rock a genre? A spoonful sounds a ton. Soft bullet, soft bulletin, whatever. Operatic, symphonic, poetic, ick upon interplanetary lick. The title separates music and songs, which makes me focus on the compositional. Which means don't settle back--pay attention.
Fabulous - I’d forgotten how much I love The Flaming Lips. They used to be played in my office a lot in the early 2000s. And then I forgot about them. But they still feel fresh and fun. Race for the prize and Waitin’ for Superman are fantastic. Doesn’t quite hit a 5 but one I will definitely remember to spin it again (maybe).
I discovered The Flaming Lips long before this album hit. I had been turned onto them by Scott and another musician, a drummer from a NYC band called Thin Lizard Dawn. They were a little outside my normal rotation, noisier than my usual fare, but I connected to the material and really liked the band. This album is one of those rarities where the band didn’t alter their approach so much as what they were doing came in to clearer focus and was therefore more accessible. There were a few albums in this FL era that are just fantastic, though I think this is probably their best. They veered off into abstraction in later efforts, but I always admired the fact that the band just seemed to do whatever they wanted to, and purposely pushed limits as part of their approach. Great album, landed a little soft on me today, but it gets the five. It was like hanging with an old friend I hadn’t seen in an age.
In '92 I attended a music conference in NYC. One night we went to see Mudhoney. The Flaming Lips opened. No one knew who they were and maybe only twenty people were there. I leaned up against the stage and proceeded to have my mind blown. They were incredible: noisy, weird, and most of all, fun. I went home and bought every CD I could get my hands on. I was obsessed. Every new CD was an immediate buy. I even got Zaireeka and we played it in the office on four work computers. Soft Bulletin was a nice departure from their earlier guitar-driven albums (though so was Zaireeka), and it was nice to see them gaining fans without compromising their sound. I like Yoshimi just as much. But then one day I just stopped listening to them. Not sure why. Maybe At War with the Mystics didn't wow me; maybe it's because I had kids; I don't know. I would pop on the occasional song but I never felt the need to revisit their catalog. So today was nice. I hadn't heard this in twenty years and was a little worried I wouldn't connect with it. But connect I did. It's great. Epic and playful, dense and airy, profound and silly; avant garde, childlike, trippy, sweet, and other adjectives as well. Glad I got to hear it again. I haven't heard any of their music since Mystics. Guess I have some listening to do.
LOVE
I guess I like this. I like other Flaming Lips more. Nice to listen to but nothing sticks afterwards. They always seem to try too hard to be weird. The result is always “neat.”
Flaming Lips forever.
The community reviews for this albums are all 1s and 5s and that makes sense.
I really like the flaming lips but only one song stuck out to me on this album.
Few words can describe my love for this album. A true classic in that you discover something new you love about it every listen. Also after watching the documentary of the making of this the emotional core behind it is so special. Bravo
Wow! Just gorgeous and also iconic and everything. They destroyed it with this one. Bra ta ta ta bra ta ta
What a flaccid snooze. Not a shred of personality to be found in this. Bonus "points" for the book review barely even acknowledging the album itself - the writeup describes the band's appearance at Glastonbury fest in 2000...? Like really, a 17-year-old band appearing on the New Bands stage speaks volumes, and this album backs it up: you sound like amateurs. This has no business being included here. You have wasted my time, 0 stars if I could.
Oh my gawwwd. Your music is so quirky and weird. That must mean you're like…really smart… and deep, right? Right??? I used to really dig this era of off-beat indie. But looking back, I'm coming to the opinion that it lacks staying power. Especially this brand of it. It's just a bunch of banal vocals churning out nonsensical lyrics over catchy beats with spacey soundscapes and some sci-fi sound effects layered in. I cared at the time because that's what was popular, but I find it really hard to give a shit about it now. It's too self-important. Too convinced that I, the listener, should care about what they're putting out simply because it's what they're putting out. I know this is a hot take, but there's nothing here that Bowie didn't already do - and do better - decades prior… or that other acts (like Animal Collective or Tame Impala) wouldn't go on to do - and do better - over the next two decades. You're the middle children of psych/art rock musical history, and I'm left wondering why I should care? Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but the more I listen to this trying to decide what rating to give it, the more I kind of hate it. I think I'm going to have to give out my 3rd ever 2-star rating. 2/5 Highlights: Race for the Prize - Remix
Very eclectic and talented band and lead singer, just not for me 2.5
I don't know why I never bothered to listen to The Flaming Lips until now, this might just be my favorite album of the list so far. It's everything positive about psychedelic pop as a genre in one album. If I could give this 6 stars I absolutely would.
I liked the sound on a lot of tracks, but did take me a little to get past one comment about not the best vocals...
Saw them onces together with Ween. Superb!
this surprised me, it went hard, all songs were great, i loved the emotions i felt when listening to it, great instrumentation and the vocalist has a nice unique voice, very good
This album was a bit of a chore. It wasn’t really anything special and I was just waiting for it to be over. I didn’t hate it… but I won’t reach for it again
In 2005 my fresh new friend Peter Jones told me enthusiastically about his favourite band: The Flaming Lips. Wasn't that part of the university experience? To be inducted into other subcultures, to be shown a world beyond the mean streets of south-east Maidenhead? And perhaps it says something about the faith I placed in this skinny teenager that I never actually listened to a single Flaming Lips song. Until now. As it turns out, his pretensions were somewhat justified. The Soft Bulletin is full of sophisticated sounds and big sonic arrangements, an order of magnitude above whatever dross I was listening to at the time. The opening track is phenomenal. It's a wonderful storytelling song, these two scientists locked in a fatal battle to save mankind. And as I listen, I hope that this becomes the album's central theme, a concept album telling the tale of mankind's survival through art rock. But as the record unfolds, that story never returns. The album circles and becomes loose, arguably baggy. This is an album of lovely songs, but the initial thrill of the opener is never matched, and the themes it sets me up with don't come around again. Still I love the ambition and the sonic landscapes, the songs and the hints of large narratives. A solid 3 stars, but not quite pushing into 4 star territory.
Liked it better when I wasn’t fully listening and he wasn’t singing
I used to love this band, but not any more :(
Intentionally weird. Annoying vocals. Didn't like them then. Still don't.
chill vibe 4 stars
Love the Flaming Lips. A must see live. Enjoyed the album but not my favorite if theirs.
Nice enough
This reaches Owl City levels of twee at certain points, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.
Not my favorite album by them. Bonus point for being prolific.
I really liked the spider song. Listened to these guys back in early 2000's didn't realize they had so many albums.
This is peak Flaming Lips.
I've heard of the Flaming Lips but never really knew anything by them, so I was interested to see what this was like. The best way to describe this is one of two ways: 1. A crappy carnival with a few good rides, but it all started to melt. 2. A jack-in-the-box which was low on batteries. Anyway, a couple of things stood out: - They have a very interesting style, one that takes a lot of risks, which is very cool. Occassionally this is to their determent, though I generally liked this, except . . . - The singer is terrible. I'm betting he is revered by a few for some strange reason, but his voice is very inadequate. Strained but in a bad way, with limited vocal range that stays in a very annoying spot. - The lyrics might be worse. Singing fly in the air, comb your hair over and over again? Completely uninspired. I take that back, the vocals are worse. Definitely. If you want to get the gist, listen to The Spark That Bled. Some weird chords at the beginning, terrible singing, then some cool instrumentals in between more terrible singing. Unfortunately, the redeemable qualities are well outweighed by the lack of good vocals or excellent song construction. Very confident that some people love these guys, mainly because they are looking for something different. Sadly, in this case, different = very bad. Still, giving them a 2 because of the risks they take (respect). Edit: Essentially all of the 5 star reviews I have seen are from people who already love the band and/or have seen them a series of times. None from someone discovering them for the first time, which I find very interesting. This is definitely a band that you either love or hate, there really is no in between. For me, I can't get past how bad the singer and lyrics are. This album would have been much better for me as an instrumental.
Listened to this before but will happily listen to it again. The Flaming Lips are a criminally underrated 90s band who deserve a lot more mainstream success in my eyes. This record is so experimental yet so cohesive. Compared to their preceding albums, this is so nicely layered and well mixed, and the songwriting is a lot more emotional and ambitious, with some cheek and wit syphoned in, and it still manages to be easy to follow and natural. It defies a lot of 90s instrumental orthodoxy and has bucketloads of personality and fun to enjoy. Post-punk and pop-punk-coded vocals as well work weirdly as the storytelling of the songs are wailed over these expansive instrumentals.
найс.
I am a sucker for strings, and there are strings on almost every single song here. "Race for the Prize" is insane, those drums? What are we even talking about? I totally did not expect to like this, but now if I see it, I might have to buy this on CD. The only thing holding this back from being a 4 is the lead singer's voice. I thought out loud, "Is this really what his voice sounds like or is he trolling?" Other than that? Beautiful music.
Fun indie
2,5
It was really chill. I enjoyed listening to it.
Sehr nah an dem, was ich eh höre
Not as big of a fan vs Yoshimi
Below Average
possibly the last PERFECT thing the flips ever release.. yoshimi is a 5 but a low five
Surreal and beautiful with a soft evocative edge
I did not like the album. I see so many people loving it and I just don’t really understand. I think it all would have sounded better without any lyrics or singing. The lyrics are so bad, I feel like they just put whatever rhymed together. The singer was not even really singing and he was not even singing the right key half the time. I also agree with some people who says he sounded a little like Kermit the frog.
Very eclectic mix of music. I quite enjoyed this
Dull...
I was a bit surprised that I didn't enjoy this as much as I expected.
This is a boring album and a slog to get through. The Flaming Lips are a bit too precious.
Yoshimi clears but I still liked this one.
listening to this for an hour was akin to torture porn for me. maybe if this album was 5 minutes long it would be ok?
Not bad, but not amazing. I quite like parts of it, but it feels pretty generic at time. Consider it a high 3, almost a 4.
Liked this better in my twenties.
Adore this album.
This is like a slightly less refined yoshimi, I like this though 4/5
Startet ziemlich gut, wird dann aber langweilig 3-4
Interesting
Maybe the only Flaming Lips album that doesn’t sink into self-indulgence.
Just alright
DOG SHIT
This was my first time listening to The Flaming Lips. At first I wasn't liking it much but by the end I really liked this album. I honestly don't think I've heard anything like this before.
Who is the lead singer Kermit the frog? What an embarrassment this is. Fucking shit band. It’s like something 12 year olds listen to when they first discover music that isn’t their parent’s and think they are edgy.
Meh. It's interesting I guess? Too showy, voice too soft, too cute.
It all sounds rather uninspired and unexciting. Plus I don't really like to vocals on this album. It's not clear to me why this is considered highly enough to be included in the list - it's not even average.
Sort of grew on me as listened, so by the end was not too bad. 3 Star
Why do the US and UK printings of this have all of one track different, it's so weird not hearing Slow Motion in this. Anyway, this is such a great album, but it can be a bit one-note - it's another one where it's probably a 4.5, but I'll see which way Future Em rounds.
This is one where we need a more refined scoring system, because it's a great album, but is it five stars?
Not my favourite Flaming Lips album (At War With the Mystics is still the best, don't @ me), but 'a mid-range Flaming Lips album' is still objectively a very good album. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate in particular gets stuck in my head for days on end.
I love the drums sounds and the cover art
I've heard of (and probably listened a bit to) The Flaming Lips, but really only in the context of their album "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots", so I'm guessing there's at least one more Flaming Lips in store in this collection. I feel as if I've always wanted to like them more than I actually do, and this album kind of reinforces this feeling, largely due to the sort of quavery/out-of-tune vocals singing about young adult style fantasy stories, and with a bit too many precocious ersatz flourishes. It *is* impressive how seamless the tracks blend into each other, though, and I thought "The spark that bled" and "What is the light" and "The gash" were strong songs (contrivances notwithstanding). I can definitely see why this is sometimes referred to as a 1990s version of "Pet Sounds", and I had about the same reaction to this album as I did to "Pet Sounds". It's interesting too to read that this album was a huge break from their previous style; I guess we'll find out how noticeable the difference is if we get any of their earlier stuff in this collection.
Loved this album--what a great sound and the lyrics are fresh, mundane, and fun. Favorite songs were the Spark That Bled, Suddenly Everything Had Changed, and the Gash.
I'll give it higher than what it should be based off the other albums on the list. It's different and at least tries to gain my attention
Mér fannst og finnst Race for the prize vera æðislegt lag og þakklátur X-inu gamla að hafa spilað það. Svo er restin af plötunni bara ansi skemmtileg.
It was absolutely marvellous. Way beyond my expectations. I just loved "The Soft Bulletin". Now I regret not listening to it sooner. 2 awesome albums within a week. 5 stars for "The Soft Bulletin".
Ok
Music was OK. Vocals were horrible. How this is in the 1001 is beyond me.
Decent electronic-rock album with some solid moments. Starts to veer into whiny/dorky indie-pop at points which I wasn't super into, but overall decent and unique enough sound to keep my interest. Top tracks: Race for the Prize, The Observer, Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
oklahoman pride 🗣️🗣️🗣️ lowkey the only good thing to come out of this state 😭
I own this album and have always found it disappointing, I do like some of Yoshimi but this is both pretentious and seems overly simple both lyrically and musically.
Me: "I'll take 'Apparently Beloved Albums of the 00s You've Forgotten Entirely' for 400." Alex: "Answer: This 1999 predecessor to their more well-known 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robot' was apparently so beloved by you that you still remember all of the lyrics to all of the songs 25 years later." Me: [....] Jeopardy sound effect: *bonk bonk bonk* Alex: "That would be The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips."
this is the platonic flaming lips sound to me, oft imitated, never duplicated. i legitimately like this more than yoshimi, but even i struggle not to wonder if i'm just saying that to sound cool.
I checked to make sure I hadn't accidentally hit "Repeat All" because I thought maybe it was repeating the album but there were still three songs left. We had Pink Robots so idk why we have this one too.
Off-key
The Flaming Lips are a very specific acquired taste that I never acquired. I tried but just wasn't for me.
Not bad, but not too special.
no
God damn right in the feels this album has so much emotion / memory / moments attached to it
It's basically impossible for me to review this album objectively. I have so many good memories associated with it and seeing the Flaming Lips live countless times. The way they're able to go from silly and lighthearted to sincere and heartfelt is something very few bands can do. The music backing it has the same level of flexibility, going from jammy vibes with a lot of air and space to tight riffs matches the lyrical contents of the songs. Wayne's vocals probably aren't for everyone but I personally love his voice and its imperfections. Waitin for a Superman is one of my absolute favorite songs of the 90s. Learning about the Mokran mixes was also super interesting. Basically this guy was a super super successful R&B producer and the Flaming Lips wanted him to come in and mix a couple of their songs. I have to say, his mixes are definitely better than the original versions of the song. He polishes it in a way that doesn't rob the song of its soul. I'm going to give it a 5 because of my bias but I think it would be a very strong lock for a 5 if he had mixed all the songs.
One of my favorite records, I haven't listened to it front to back in a while, this was a treat. Race for the Prize and Feeling Yourself Disintegrate into Sleeping on the Roof are the perfect bookends to an amazing record.
The singer was so bad I had to quit halfway through, I just couldn't take it anymore
cool cool
A good solid 'Lips album. They're not my favourite by a long shot, but there's no denying this is good.
When it’s just playing in the background I really like it. As soon as I start paying attention I sort of hate it. Guess that’s why I never got into this band!
4/5
Long ago, long enough ago that I had a camcorder and not an iPhone, some friends met at my place to collectively ingest some sort of now-forgotten psychoactive drug. As the effects began to kick in, we sat in the living room, I turned on the camcorder, and someone popped The Soft Bulletin on the vinyl player. When Wayne sang ‘Lifted up the suuuuuun,’ my friend flailed his arm like a windshield wiper, erasing the real world and revealing the rainbow-soaked cartoon world behind everything. At one point, a cow riding a bicycle collided into me. I felt it gently on my cheek. Years later, I found that camcorder and replayed that video, and saw mostly a bunch of giggling kids. No miniature cows on bikes, sadly. This album encapsulates that experience to me. It reminds me of a time in my life where I was young and the world was vast and full of imagination and opportunity. At the same time, I was old enough to know that the way one imagines the world does not actually reflect the world at large, as it is. You can internally feel this psychedelic wonderland, but looking at it later with objectivity, you’d feel silly noticing the discrepancy between what was firing off in your mind as opposed to the actual reality of sitting on a couch at home. And this album seems to know this, as it begins with whimsical high-energy love songs and descends into steadily darker places. The beginning tracks against the second half becomes an understated conflict against forces- the free-form will against what’s actually possible with our frail human frame, happiness vs depression, existence against nonexistence. But, even with that gash in your leg, Wayne says you have to power on. (By the way, ‘The Gash’ was my profile name for a lot of websites at this time, so I’ll admit to being a fan.) I can see why people might not get this album. It has a song about bugs crashing into windshields (which is excellent). It is childish in its sound. But its subject matter is crushingly heavy. Not even Superman can lift it. That freaks some people out. But to me, The Lips are simply real. These guys get it. And they’ve made some killer art by shucking off all fear, be that of rejection or infinity. It seemed to have caused a chain reaction… Long live The Soft Bulletin!
2 estrelas
I am not sure if I will be coming back to this album any time soon or even at all but it was a beautiful album, very interesting, it was my thing. Great album.
Pop rock classic, nerdy
Under the wildly creative noise and avant garde creativity, there exists beautiful pop that would succeed on its own. It’s not enough for the flaming lips. Through that veneer, they establish that they are dealing in time-travelling intergalactic circles and they have a message to share that wells up from the universe, all with childlike wonder. This album threatened to make me cry a few times and I may be back to do just that.
Oh man, this is one gorgeous sounding record! Layers of sound and everything in the low end is super rich. Just based on the songs, I'd say this is a 3-star album. Considering the beautiful, rich and layered sound though, I'm giving this 4 stars.
Not their best
A few good songs, the rest is sometimes a bit annoying. Probably requiring you are in the right mood. I dont always like the singers voice.
Flaming Lips never really did it for me. Nothing technically wrong with this album, I didn’t hate myself while listening to it. Just doesn’t inspire me in any major way.
A very important album to me. Waiting for Superman was on a mix cd made for me that got me back into music after a break when my daughter was born. Outside of that sentimentality, it is a phenomenal album with a lot of notable songs and a beautifully well structured album. I want to own it. 4.5 stars
Both with bias and purpose, I think Yoshimi is a better album with a more complete story. However, the Soft Bulletin proved that lushness and weird could coexist in the same place. Debuting at the end of a millennia, it changed how many people listening and writing would come to view music.
S-tier drum production. I also really liked the soundscapes and the arrangements. I liked the album as a whole, but only saved a couple of songs. I think this is one I'll come back to, but as of right now I mostly just appreciate the creativity and the vibe. Still an easy 4.
Another great Flaming Lips album. Psychedelic and eccentric arrangements combine with the indie elements to make something one of a kind.
i really enjoy this album. specifically race for a prize & waiting for a superman. really enjoy this band and their sound
Another possibly fun album torpedoed by an unlistenable lead vocalist. There were some fun songs in the back half, but at the beginning I thought this was a parody album made in some amateur capacity.
Honestly great album. Very consistent and I like the sound a lot. Feels very grand and a little out of left field. I feel like the singing could have been better at parts but I love the instrumentals. 7.8/10
not even my favorite flaming lips album but I love the sound. -1 for the stupid lyrics, would be a 5/5 with good lyrics
I really liked this, the instrumental sections were fire. But it's not as good as Yoshimi.
This was really fun and silly as I expected Flaming Lips to be, I am a big fan of Yoshimi vs The Pink Robots but I've never listened to this album before. I recommended it to my wife since she's a fan too, I think this is a fun 4 star album for me.
Yoshimi (reviewed a while back) hits me in the right spot (as long as I'm in the mood for it. This album didn't do it for me. 2 stars.
Not very interesting and at time far too maudlin.
Couldn’t get past the whiny, grating vocals.
It's allright but I ppprefer the grander instrumentation of Yoshimi.