Flaming Lips

Beloved in the underground rock world for its wacky psychedelic rock, Oklahoma City's Flaming Lips finagled a major-label deal with Warner Bros. in the early '90s, only to flirt with one-hit wonder status after "She Don't Use Jelly" blew up in 1994. But the Wayne Coyne-led outfit was unhindered by all the new attention. Instead, its records became progressively more high-concept and original, beginning with 1997's Zaireeka, a complete album with its constituent tracks spread across four distinct CDs. 1999's The Soft Bulletin featured some of the most beautiful music the Lips had ever fashioned, offering a compassionate counterpoint to ruminations on love, death, and the nature of life itself. The record drew the group previously unfathomable levels of critical acclaim which carried over into 2002's impressive Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. At first, you may have wanted to just turn them off, but now, you can't wait to hear what the Flaming Lips will unveil next.

Album reviews

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Warner Bros. (2002)
The future-pop masters let loose another thoughtful missive on the public. They won't let those robots defeat us.

The Soft Bulletin (Recommended)
Warner Bros (1999)
The Soft Bulletin, the Oklahoma City band's ninth album, touches on all of the records the Lips have released this decade.

Zaireeka
Warner Bros. (1997)
The Flaming Lips' Zaireeka is a great step in evolution for the band, and the recording age of music. The Lips completely throw out convention in creating the first multiple sound source record. The concept, created by singer Wayne Coyne, is four recordings of the same album -- eight tracks in the same order with the same length. The catch is that they're not the same sounds.

Transmissions From The Satellite Heart
Warner Bros. (1993)
I've discussed the strange arc the Flaming Lips' career has taken in other reviews, I won't rehash the whole thing here. Suffice it to say that they were very weird for a while, got comparatively normal for a spell, and have headed back towards oddness recently.

Telepathic Surgery
Restless (1989)
You always hear about bands getting absolutely fucked over by major labels. One of the funny things about the Flaming Lips (there are many) is that for them, the case has been the exact opposite.

Interviews

Wayne's World
January 12, 2003
Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne talks with NATN about the band's new album, its unique creative process, and the methods by which it gets its “message” across.

To Be A Flea On A Whale
October 18, 1999
Wayne Coyne holds forth to NATN about his musical career and always interesting viewpoints on the world.