An outstanding achievement and well worth the wait.
The Flaming Lips are an odd band to review. With this being their 12th album in their 22-year existence, you would think people would have figured this lot out by now. Instead, we've relied on this group, much in the same way we've relied on Beck, to be predictable in their unpredictability. Because this album fits sonically between and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and The Soft Bulletin it appears that some have already rendered the band tired... please excuse me while I pick my mouth up off the floor. If you spend your every waking moment trying to pick apart a band just because they're different, you're occasionally going to miss the point. Just like Beck's Guero it was almost intimidating that the masters of weird could have come up with an album that's at all familiar. But seriously, if you think about it, you could take the world's supply of mind-altering drugs and a Virgin rocket trip around the moon and still may have a hard time pushing the envelope much further than The Flaming Lips have. That being said, At War With the Mystics is a masterpiece and if I wanted to be incredibly bold I'd say that this will be the album of the year when it's all said and done, but since it's only April I suppose I'll hold off on that statement for awhile. The opening trio of songs are as solid as anything the band has ever released, particularly "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" which is almost too fun for it's own good. The political overtones are much more abundant in this homage-if-you-will to President Bush than they've ever been in any other of their albums working in literal commentary rather than metaphors. What is amazing about this album is how alienating yet radio-friendly it is, thus combining the best of both worlds of the aforementioned previous two releases. "It Overtakes Me" is an absolutely superb seven-minute opus that never gets tiring and leads to the equally poignant "Mr. Ambulance Driver," which is a wonderfully bittersweet song. "The W.A.N.D." is by far the best song on here, and after one play will likely be stuck in your head for the rest of the day, it's just that addicting. The song carries an impeccable energy, particularly through the awesome electric guitar riff is enhanced through the punchy vocals and handclaps really make it a worthwhile three and a half minutes. Another great track is the closing "Goin' On" which serves as a great social commentary and appropriately gives a sign of hope in what's been to say the least a difficult time. If you haven't bought the album already, I do recommend getting it on iTunes as you'll get three incredible bonus tracks including an outstanding cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," that can almost match the original. Otherwise, this is an astounding record that shouldn't really be viewed so critically. No, they didn't reinvent the wheel, but when you're still ten years ahead of everyone else, maybe you don't need to.
Overall Rating: 100
1 comment:
fantastic review. Love the album, as you could probably tell from going on my blog.
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