THE FLAMING LIPS
The Soft Bulletin (Warner Bros.)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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At first glance, The Soft Bulletin looks for all the world like a soundtrack album, which it isn't, but the cinematic sleeve design is completely appropriate. These fourteen new tracks by the Flaming Lips are the audio equivalent of a Cinemascope release in brilliant Technicolor. The neo-psych trio manages to convey a nearly orchestral impact for much of the album, and the songs themselves are concise but complete vignettes of imagined worlds and ordinary lives.

All that is true, and yet they also manage to keep it all well within the bounds of pop. Twisted pop, at times. Big, overblown, wondrously elaborate pop on occasion. Weird, dreamy, lysergicly leaden pop in places. But pop, just the same. In the very best sense of the word.

Of course, their ability to allow their various tendencies to flourish within the realms of pop music is one thing. Achieving actual popularity, as in record sales, is largely up to you. If it were up to me, this one would be platinum tomorrow. See what you can do to help.

Track List: Race For The Prize * A Spoonful Weighs A Ton * The Spark That Bled * The Spiderbite Song * Buggin' * What Is The Light? * The Observer * Waitin' For A Superman * Suddenly Everything Has Changed * The Gash * Feeling Yourself Disintegrate * Sleeping On The Roof * Race For The Prize * Waitin' For A Superman

© 1999 - Shaun Dale