Mr. Ambulance Driver is one of the BETTER songs on that album. Seriously. Yoshimi was great. The new one has some moments that really make you wonder WTF. No songs all gimickry studio tricks.

I own Yoshimi, and while I like some of the songs, I agree that album really suffers from overprocessing. I remember the flaming lips as having a real raw sound, and that album ruined that perspective of mine.

Also, does anyone think that they're synching to a click track on Yoshimi? I'm not a fan of that myself, and there are several dynamic parts on that album that completely suffered due to the overly metronomic rythym section.

Anyway, just throwing that out there. any thoughts?

here's my experience with flaming lips.

at some point in my youth i subconsciously hear the song "she don't use jelly".

some guy tells me "the flaming lips are incredible. they have songs with 100 tracks. 100 tracks!"

my mom (yep, my mom) tells me she had a religious experience with this song she heard on the radio. she plays me an mp3 of "do you realize" which begins with some scary promo douche voice going "hello. this is 'do you realize' by warner brothers recording artists, flaming lips. enjoy!" or whatever.

it plays. hm, it's kind of a pleasant beatlesy thing.

she's all enthused and wants to go to the concert with me -- tickets on her. she wants to smoke weed first. ok. we smoke weed. maybe this will make me more open to something i normally wouldn't enjoy. we go to the concert.

i take a look at the crowd and i see neurosis shirts, cypress hill shirts, shirts representing very different kinds of music with the only common thread being weed.

the stage show is over the top. the music is boring pop. the singer looks like dennis miller. the "psychedelic interludes", the boxing nun, the mascots, the topless women footage, it all added up to a big headache. everyone is so enthused. what is all this crap? why is the music boring?

they play "she don't use jelly". holy crap this song is bad.

at one point the singer says "tonight, please don't just play it cool. if you want to sing along, if you need to cry, even if you've got to pee your pants, just do it. let go." woah, motherfucker. don't give yourself too much credit. but hey, maybe someone really did need to release bladder control... i hope not near me.

i later hear the rest of yoshimi. crap except "in the morning of the magicians" which is almost crap just for the title.

i hear something lame in tower records recently. i guess that it's the new flaming lips. i ask someone at the counter. i guessed right.

maybe, maybe, maybe i just haven't heard the "good stuff", but presumably they played some at the show. i feel like i've already given them a chance.

that's a funny story.

the new album is lame. i don't like yoshimi either. that really low bass thumping in that song from the soft bulletin is cool.

Sebastian J. wrote:anyone else here thinks that yeah yeah yeah song its really annoying ?

No.

bri2u2002 wrote:Mr. Ambulance Driver is one of the BETTER songs on that album. Seriously. Yoshimi was great. The new one has some moments that really make you wonder WTF. No songs all gimickry studio tricks.

I think your comment applies moreso toYoshimi Battles the Pink Robots; however, I do agree that their reliance on studio trickery is taking the place of strong songwriting. In the past they were stumbling around in the studio with the end result being these weird noisy pop songs. Twenty years of stumbling around in the studio to create these happy accidents seems to have turned the Lips into professional musicians utilizing the studio as such.

I always think of Flaming Lips as the antithesis of musician's musicians. They are a band I would expect musicians to unflinchingly deride.

To read about Flaming Lips, you'd think they were some kind of musical revolution, something so unbelievably fresh and original with influences so varied and unlikely that one's mind would be blown by time the intro finished.

Not the case however; the music is boring, predictable CRAP with added stupid sound effects and a spongy production aesthetic. They sound like they should be seminal, but stripped back to the musical content they are desperately conservative. Safe. Boring.

AdamCR wrote:They sound like they should be seminal, but stripped back to the musical content they are desperately conservative. Safe. Boring.

Exactly! I expected so much more out of Yoshimi, and almost every song has the same rythym. I haven't listened to it in probably 8 months at least.

unarmedman wrote:I own Yoshimi, and while I like some of the songs, I agree that album really suffers from overprocessing. I remember the flaming lips as having a real raw sound, and that album ruined that perspective of mine.

Also, does anyone think that they're synching to a click track on Yoshimi? I'm not a fan of that myself, and there are several dynamic parts on that album that completely suffered due to the overly metronomic rythym section.

Anyway, just throwing that out there. any thoughts?

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is actually my least-favorite Flaming Lips album, relatively speaking. Unlike the lot of you, I'm not very knowledgeable in regard to recording techniques so I'm not able to discuss those matters at length. I do have a nice set of ears, though. The last two releases do have this manic, overprocessed sound. It all sounds very digital, much to my chagrin. I, too, miss their raw sound, but they still have strong melodies and interesting dynamics. They're a completely different band nowadays, still creating engaging music after twenty years of being in existence. Not many bands can lay claim to this.

trilonaut wrote:here's my experience with flaming lips.

at some point in my youth i subconsciously hear the song "she don't use jelly".

some guy tells me "the flaming lips are incredible. they have songs with 100 tracks. 100 tracks!"

my mom (yep, my mom) tells me she had a religious experience with this song she heard on the radio. she plays me an mp3 of "do you realize" which begins with some scary promo douche voice going "hello. this is 'do you realize' by warner brothers recording artists, flaming lips. enjoy!" or whatever.

it plays. hm, it's kind of a pleasant beatlesy thing.

she's all enthused and wants to go to the concert with me -- tickets on her. she wants to smoke weed first. ok. we smoke weed. maybe this will make me more open to something i normally wouldn't enjoy. we go to the concert.

i take a look at the crowd and i see neurosis shirts, cypress hill shirts, shirts representing very different kinds of music with the only common thread being weed.

the stage show is over the top. the music is boring pop. the singer looks like dennis miller. the "psychedelic interludes", the boxing nun, the mascots, the topless women footage, it all added up to a big headache. everyone is so enthused. what is all this crap? why is the music boring?

they play "she don't use jelly". holy crap this song is bad.

at one point the singer says "tonight, please don't just play it cool. if you want to sing along, if you need to cry, even if you've got to pee your pants, just do it. let go." woah, motherfucker. don't give yourself too much credit. but hey, maybe someone really did need to release bladder control... i hope not near me.

i later hear the rest of yoshimi. crap except "in the morning of the magicians" which is almost crap just for the title.

i hear something lame in tower records recently. i guess that it's the new flaming lips. i ask someone at the counter. i guessed right.

maybe, maybe, maybe i just haven't heard the "good stuff", but presumably they played some at the show. i feel like i've already given them a chance.

In the end it's a futile exercise to try and change someone's opinion regarding any one band. I feel that your experience is more than likely a common one. Especially if you're coming from a space where you're more likely to appreciate artists like Tar or Six Finger Satellite, (I don't know what you listen to, but since you post here I'm making assumptions). I've been listening to the Lips for over fifteen years. Telepathic Surgery was my introduction to them. My buddy who turned me on to them had a massive Big Black poster on his wall. We smoked many bong-hits and listened to a lot of Butthole Surfers and Telescopes. To me, they will forever remain this weird, loud, noisy, fucked-up band because of that night. I instantly loved them.

Your experience? You first heard them on a mainstream radio station. You got stoned with your mom and went to rock-out with her at a show. You seem to have a problem with a wide and diverse representation of t-shirts donned by the audience. However, what I don't seem to understand is how in the world you had a shitty time at a freakin' Flaming Lips show?! Believe me, I have my own issues with their current incarnation, but, goddamn! Those sure are some entertaining performances. To each his own, I guess.

If you would like to possibly hear "the good stuff," then please buy Oh My Gawd!!!...The Flaming Lips, In a Priest Driven Ambulance With Silver Sunshine Stares, or Clouds Taste Metallic. Three very different albums reflecting an amazing band who never made the same album twice. Well...