New Flaming Lips album; suspicion of bullshit April fools prank, etc.
 

Read the news yesterday, and then more:

The Terror and stuff

forever torn between loving the music, and hating the douches who make it for their shenanigans and all the goddamn story-telling Wayne does at any given opportunity, I am skeptical to say the least.

Excitement mixed with fear, etc. Because I just love this band, and I hate it when they do stupid shit.

Anyway, if this is legit it deserves a thread. I loved Embryonic, and even Heady Fwends was good. But I don't like the sound of the album based on Wayne's pretentious explanation for its existence.

In guessing it will be awesome, and probably quite similar to every other lips albums from the past 11 years. I seem to recall someone saying it would be percussion-free ( ick ) but then again Thurston Moore said the Eternal would be reminiscent of black metal :p

the cover art is cool at least.

Ahh... Nothing??? Really???? What the hell?

Why bother.

Fuck that! I'm excited beyond comprehension for this muthafucker. I thought Embryonic was brilliant, and Coyne has me sold when he describes this. (If it sucks I'll burn him in effigy.) The tracklist shows 9 songs at about 70mins....that makes my nipples hard. I assume the superbowl/car song is not indicative (but I enjoyed it's vibe/energy, even though it is dorky.)

Sweet!!!!!

Sweet!!!!!

You can say that again.

Yeah...seeing the Lips live(more than a few times) kind of ruined it for me. Though...I still liked Embryonic...a lot. and...I guess I'll be checkin' this out on release...

I haven't cared for at least 1/2 of the Lips shows I've attended. The other half, though, rank among the best concert experiences I've ever had.

Anybody else think the human bouncy ball thing is seriously irritating? Yeah, it connects Wayne with his fans... As they pass him back and forth like a giant Jesus Christ gumball... But it also detracts from the actual music. So do the dancing fans in plush animal costumes.

Still, I am looking forward to this very much. I'm hoping for "Jesus Shootin Heroin" meets "electro thrash" or whatever that weird quasi electro psych pop shit was that fueled Yoshimi Pt. II.

I have to say I'm both surprised and .... Well, not.... that so few people here seem to give a shit about the flaming lips. On one hand it seems as though the Sonic Youth and lips fan bases would overlap quite a bit. At the same time, I can totally see Sonic Youth fans as the chainsmoking beatniks in black who gather in a circle and snicker at the ostentatious douchebg theatre kids [see: Flaming Lips] rehearsing their one-acts and doing voice exercises in costume in the cafeteria.

i remember when i first heard them, i thought they sounded great. and then got into all the other albums, and i thought they were alright. and then came The Soft Bulletin. it's alright, but i can't really get into it. or anything after that.
i must say, their version of SEVEN NATION FLORIDA is one of the best mash up's i've ever heard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDbpMl-b8kg

Fuck you wiki. Tracklist durations were all wrong before. Now I don't know how I feel about "normal" durations. I had visions of AMT sized freakouts, buildups and decays.

Gotta say, "Sun Blows up Today" does not sound anything like what they're describing when they talk about the sonic vibe of the new album.

It sounds like pretty much every non-embryonic lips song since Zaireeka. I mean, I like it. That's for goddamn sure. But it's got more of a "Yeah-Yeah-Yeah Song" vibe to it than I was expecting. And that song was... a mistake. A fun novelty that should have been a b-side to one of the two or three genuinely good songs on Mystics.

When Wayne says "punk rock" I feel kind of a Green Day reaction going on in my head. You know? Like someone who shouldn't ever be using those words is using them, and I wish they wouldn't.

Oh well. Here's to high hopes. Heady Fwends was damn good, so let's let this thing unfold a bit more, and have faith. The Lips are entirely capable of creating awesome music (Zaireeka, In a Priest Driven Ambulance, embryonic, etc) so I remain optimistic about this project.

yeah but Wayne was around when those two words first had meaning. The term has since been hijacked.


Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Fuckin leaked already?

What? Seriously?

What a goddamn world. I've never downloaded a lips album in advance. I bought the Convinced of the Hex iTunes single or whatever and that felt bad enough. Yet now I'm worried that it will be removed soon, and only a few assholes will have it. So I feel compelled to try for a download right away.

Rationalization. Plain and simple. Oh Autarch, may I stay strong!!

It just sounds a little forced. I don't mean that Wayne Coyne isn't just about as punk rock as the frontman of an arena headlining, platinum selling, Kylie Minogue covering band could possibly be... I mean, he obviously is. All I mean is that the words themselves sound a little clunky in the context of such an over the top song.

I really like the song actually, but... Man, I don't think anyone can pull off singing about "punk rock." Not even SY. It's not a "poseur" issue. The words just don't really roll off the tongue very well. I have a hard time saying "punk" out loud at all. But fuck it, Wayne posts nude videos of R&B singers and releases music via fetus. He's find of experimental noise, stage blood, fuzzy guitars and doing things just to piss people off. He's probably the most punk rock rock star in the world.

My rationalization for not downloading it: The first time I hear this thing is a) when the artists who created it want me to hear it, and b) when it is not some shit low quality leak that will cloud my first experience with it.

I don't know why everyone hates it so much. I actually really like the whole album. Also, it got me into Stardeath and White Dwarfs, who's debut album shows a lot of promise. It's not great, but I see possible greatness in their future.

Well, I did download it, but I haven't listened to it. I'll be purchasing the album in three formats anyway, and one is already pre-ordered.

I did this with The Eternal too, I admit. See, I had pre-ordered the album weeks in advance (possibly months- I don't actually recall) and when the release date arrived and my copy was still en route from Amazon. So, it was either A) wait it out and break my streak of hearing every new Sonic Youth album since Washing Machine within 24 hour of release or B) or download the thing and get my well earned first listen on the proper day. I'm glad I did too, because the record didn't arrive for another goddamn week.

it's really, really good.

That's all I'll say until I can buy it

Ok, due to the complete soul sucking boredom of my job, I popped the album into iTunes today and played it for several hours, over and over.

Yes, I am a bad human being. But this album is seriously one hell if a fucking ride. It's like the audio-sensory equivalent of floating through space and watching the world die.

It doesn't really rock, so the bonus tracks make a lot of sense. It has none of the textural brightness, lyrical whimsy, or crunchy riffs infused with zaney bleeps and bloops that have defined every Lips album since 1990. It's a challenging album that I'll wager almost no one would buy, and would sink them if it were released in the '90s. But god help me, it's fucking brilliant.

Another day, and four or five more listens. I am floored. The Flaming Lips have created something special. They've finally released the kind of album that either kills a band or turns them into gods. I can see people hating it, but it's haunting me like a past life.

I've gotta say, unlikely as it may seem, the Flaming Lips seem to have blown everyone, Nick Cave, Yo La Tengo, and even My Bloody Valentine included, right the fuck away with this one.

I'd love it if someone else said something, so I could stop feeling like the only cocksucker willing to "steal" the album.

love the Lips, but I'm gonna wait to it actually comes out.

I know, and I wish I had as well... Hearing it is amazing, but without their ever-stylish artwork to stare at, liner notes, and either the hissing of a turntable or a top quality cd blasting the thing at peak volumes through my home, it's just not the same. However, I've paid my Flaming Lips dues with countless concerts and multi-format purchases of albums/reissues, and I bought this album thrice before downloading it.

Also: I am really glad I'm getting to listen to it in the middle of winter instead of the beginning of Spring. Keep up the wait and you'll understand what I mean.

Though I give you props on your patience and loyalty.

I'm going to be castrated when E. reads this. If I edit and remove any mention of having heard the album, you guys will play along, right?

The Internet is where I went. More specifically, google. Then on to some torrenting site. Sorry, I really don't remember.

I'm done listening, though. Deleting the torrent, Wiping my devices, and probably issuing some kind of apology to the band. And to my girlfriend, who makes my love of the Lips look like a kitten's fleeting interest in its tail.

Very excited by your reactions so far and I can't wait until April Fucking Fools.

Wow. Not many albums blow me away on the very first spin. I'm quite surprised that none of the reviews I have seen so far fail to mention how fucking beautifully melodic this album is. It is just as "songworthy" as Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi, but here they are dressed very differently. I can't say very much after just one spin but I know I'm going to wear this motherfucker out over the next few weeks.

Agree.

I picked up my physical copies. Haven't listened in a month. My only complaint is that the bonus songs, one of which I still haven't heard, are iTunes-only.

Why?

I get "sun blows up.." Because it sounds like a unit shifter pushed by WB. (Why isn't it on the album? Couldn't say)... But the other track is 14:00 and iTunes-Album only. That's disappointing. Like the Lips need people to buy two-to-three formats of their album. That's exactly what I've done of course, but I'm a little pissed about if.

Still, This is a drop dead gorgeous album. If "Priest Driven Ambulance" marked the band's first turning point, and Zaireeka and Soft Bulletin represented their second big shift, this is their fourth game changing masterpiece. Ahead of its time and space. I'm not surprised about the lukewarm critical response.

It shocked me that just about every line that Wayne sings is dripped in superb melody, while this eclectic soundscape whirls around it. I loved Embryonic for what it is, and what it tries to be, which is a very different kind of animal than Terror. Terror is not fragmentary or schizophrenic like Embryonic. It flows and plays like a 55min piece, and dipping into it here and there will not work. Terror is an album that we will still gush over in 20 years time, like Automatic For The People. I suspect this is a sleeper/grower for many, but it hit me like a ton of bricks.....this strange and beautiful thing. Onto spin number 2 then.

I'm glad you like it. Most of the people I've spoken to seem to be disappointed. It's like they want the band to keep playing Yoshimi for the rest of their career, instead of expanding and trying out new things. Unfortunately for those people, repetition is not what the Lips are about, and they love to push boundaries and put their fans to the test.

I love this album, and I think it's far and away the best of 2013 so far. But is it for everyone? Not at all. It's not even necessarily for Lips fans. Why won't people just accept that "She Dont Use Jelly" was a flash in the pan from two decades ago, and that it wasn't even representative of the Lips back then!

This album actually makes me a little watery in the eyes at times. Tough listen, emotionally.

Actually, as fucked up as this sounds, this album now seems more relevant since that week from hell in Boston. It roughly arcs the blast to the arrest.

I can't believe this topic has been such a relative dud, or that so few people seem to give a shit about this album. Why it's not turning heads like the Kid A from hell is beyond me.

... I haven't been reading much entertainment news or anything lately, so I could be way off, but it seems like this is the most poorly received Lips album since, Jesus, Clouds Taste Metallic, I guess.

Embroynic is better, but I still dig this. The opening track is one of my favourites of the year

I like the relatively experimental direction the Lips are in now. It's way better than the Yoshimi/Mystics/art pop crap (though Soft Bulletin is good) and about on-par with their noisier stuff

Agree with all, except vs Embryonic. I think this is much better....much more focussed and seamless. But then again, I love The White Album precisely for the opposite reasons.

My hope is that the Flaming Lips have yet to make their White Album. I'm considering the possibility that the end might be near for the band. I'm not sure why, but nobody can go on forever. I hope they release another 2-disc spazz out with more variance in sound than Embryonic, and no singular "feel." Just fuckload of songs that cover every realm of their spectrum.

I'm still pretty much bathing in this album non stop though. I just put it on and listen. I don't even know half of the song names.

What sucks is that only my CD copy came in. The vinyl is still "on it's way" and the cd did not come with an iTunes copy, so there's still one song I haven't heard all the way through. Bummed. Jn certainly not going to buy an iTunes only copy when I've purchased two others, but I'd still like to feel like I'm getting the whole experience.

Did anyone esle catch the you lust you tube video that was removed after about 3 hrs?

did you guys also buy the cheap cellphone that he's hawking?

got this album for my bday from my mom. Haven't listened yet. Probably tomorrow!

so listened today... I think it might be my least fav Lips album in a long time. Just me?