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The
Flaming Lips
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
label: Warner
released: 07.16.02
our score: 5.0 out of 5.0
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The Flaming
Lips have long been a critics' favorite, but it wasn't until 1999
that the band released what is now considered their greatest masterpiece
upon the world. The Soft Bulletin made every rock critic's
jaw drop in awe with it's lush orchestral melodies and beautifully
crafted lyrical meanderings. They made us believe the world could
be saved through love and song, and to this day it's still one
of the greatest albums ever created.
When this
is the case, it can difficult to follow-up an album of this stature
- difficult to improve on what is basically an example of perfection.
Still, The Flaming Lips have decided to proudly push forward continuing
their traditional of psychedelic rock that they've been perfecting
in the 10+ years since their inception.
Yoshimi
Battles the Pink Robots finds these good ol' boys from Oklahoma
venturing deeper into the electronics bin than ever before, thus
imbuing the album with an overwhelming sense of futurism. The
song are crafted in a much less complicated manner than those
on The Soft Bulletin as well, but they still remain shockingly
good.
"Fight
Test" finds the band back at it's best from the opening with
Wayne Coyne uttering such festive nuggets as "I don't know
where the sunbeams end and the starlight begins, it's all a mystery."
Meanwhile, "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1" finds
the band at it's most carefree - spouting about bouts between
Yoshimi (of Japanese band, The Boredoms) and the evil robots who
are bent upon world domination. It's some of the happiest damn
music you'll ever hear; it's the kind of music to send a chill
through your body while at the same time sending you into fits
of uncontrollable joy.
The album
continues in its electro-funk-rock gait throughout, all the while
preaching the wonders of love and truth and how they just might
be the what it will take to save the world. "Do You Realize??"
and "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell" harken back
to earlier more rock-infused Lips, and the album's only down moment
is the misguided electro-instrumental track "Yoshimi Battles
the Pink Robots pt. 2."
Truthfully,
Yoshimi is not quite the masterpiece The Soft Bulletin
was - but nowhere does it ever try to be. Instead it's exactly
what the Flaming Lips are at this moment in time, and it's going
to be the best album you'll hear all year.
16-Jul-2002
10:00 PM
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liked Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots...
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