Any Flaming Lips fans on this board?

[Enraged_Ape]

I just bought "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" after hearing the song "Fight Test" on the Smallville soundtrack. (And, yeah, I know that song was cribbed, consciously or unconsciously, from Cat Stevens' "Father and Son", but the Lips have always been upfront about that. It's still a GREAT SONG, and anyway Stevens has cowriting credit now.)

Anyway, about "Yoshimi", all I can say is...well, I can't think of anything to say right now. It's a truly phenomenal album, kind of a mixture of Neil Young, Radiohead, Mike Nesmith, and Pink Floyd with a smidgen of Supertramp's "Breakfast in America" thrown in, and unlike 90% of records I buy today, I cannot stop listening to it. And even though I think Wayne Coyne's lyrics are simplistic and that he often tries to be weird solely for weirdness's sake, I can't help thinking this may be one of the greatest groups (or at least albums) of the last ten years.

So does ANYONE have an opinion on any of this?

[sleepystudent]

1. I'll say something...

I like Yoshimi a *lot* more than The Soft Bulletin, which I think is really overrated. I got so suspicious about all these hipsters "discovering" the Flaming Lips after they had been around for fifteen years at that time, but Yoshimi deserves all the praise it gets. I like their louder early mid nineties guitar based stuff more-Transmissions from the Satellite Heart remains their best album IMHO and I would like to see them get back to that-people from Texas and Oklahoma(I grew up in TX) remember that fondly, when they were deafeningly loud, had so many Christmas lights and flashing pinwheels on stage that it would make you cry, and everyone on the coasts just thought they were acid case hicks. Good times.

I met them once in San Francisco, and Wayne Coyne is truly a nice man. Steven Drozd, their incredible drummer(he plays all the instruments on the records), not so nice, but at the time, he was kicking a heroin problem. I got their autographs and they are pretty accessible people-Wayne still lives in Oklahoma City.

[Enraged_Ape]

4. Wayne Coyne does seem like a great guy

I read an interview with him and he seemed like a real down-to-earth, funny, and creative guy. They also asked him about the Cat Stevens lawsuit (which had already been settled), and he had nothing but high praise for Stevens and was very apologetic about the whole thing. You almost NEVER hear that.

One thing I really appreciate about the "Yoshimi..." album is that although there are a lot of songs that deal with downbeat or even depressing subjects, there is an air of optimism and hope that comes out of these songs. I am so sick of the pretentious, pseudo-angst-ridden "alternative" music of today.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

2. It's good, but it's not as good as the phenomenal 'Soft Bulletin'

Mercury Rev have surpassed the Lips though, I'd say.

[Enraged_Ape]

3. I intend to get "Soft Bulletin" next...

and work my way backwards.

That was the same thing I did with Pink Floyd when I "discovered" them in 1981. I worked my way back to "Relics" and stopped. Their early stuff is a just a bit too unstructured for me.

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

5. A new fan - via Okie Noodling

They did the soundtrack for a great documentary about these crazy mofos who catch HUGE catfish with their hands.

Original music and sweet outtakes.

http://www.okienoodling.com/

[Kazak]

6. My first Lips show, 1987.

Yep, I live in Norman...used to work with Michael, and got the opportunity to hang out with Wayne a few times. They are all really great guys, deep down. Favorite album would be Preist Driven Ambulance probably...it's impossible to pick.