The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin

When I think of The Flaming Lips, I think of the somewhat-electronic, extremely happy sound of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I honestly have no idea what they sounded like before. All I know is that after their guitarist left, they decided to change their sound and make a particularly crazy release (A quadruple album with the four discs intended to be listened to simultaneously) called Zaireeka. Afterwards they made The Soft Bulletin, which was extremely acclaimed critically and laid the framework for who they are now.

The Flaming Lips never completely gelled with me the way they seem to do with other people. I like them, but I don't quite find them amazing as bigger fans. They do a lot of nice things, and have made some really great, catchy songs. But they never blow me away, and some of their stuff doesn't seem to go anywhere. They have a very pleasant sound, and at their best some of their tunes might as well be the essence of joy, even if the subject matter of the often strange lyrics aren't. They can also still rock a bit too though, with some nice harder parts and solid bass, including a lot of synth. They never really do what other bands do when they want to make noise, but it's still fun to listen to.

"Race for the Prize" is a perfect encapsulation of what's good about the Flaming Lips, with the infectious melody and distorted vocals. "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" starts off sounding pleasantly orchestral before breaking into the drum and bass part that can only be described as awesome. "The Spiderbite Song" is more of the reason I don't like the band so much. There's a bit of potential but there just isn't much there musically, and the vocals sound more like he's just talking in his singing voice than an actual tune. "Buggin'" is actually a bit traditional sounding for them, but is a nice, enjoyable song. "What Is the Light?" starts with a repeating bass drum that carries through the song and lasts into the next, which is a nice instrumental. It starts off very minimally but builds to a nice crescendo before coming back down. "Waiting for a Superman" is a good, drum and piano-heavy song. I love "The Gash". It starts off sounding like a truly epic song from a final confrontation in a movie or something before moving into a nice groove with somewhat disconcerting vocals. There are another couple nice songs before the album ends a bit strangely. There are repeats of "Race for the Prize" and "Waiting for a Superman", with some slight changes, but nothing enough that seems to really warrant it. I don't mind since they're both good songs, it just seemed weird. I liked The Soft Bulletin more than Yoshimi, but I still didn't love it. It is a good listen, though.