[djgustashaw]

I got a landslide of CD's for Christmas this year. Among them was The Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin, an album I've been waiting to hear for a long time. And, well, why does everyone like it so much? I'm gonna keep listening to it a lot to see if it grows on me, but upon the first few listenings, Coyne sounds like he shouldn't be doing vocals and the everything else seems off by a key; not catchy like I was expecting from the group that produced "Do You Realize?". At any rate, it's not music to play for friends.

Most importantly, though, the themes seem redundant and meaningless to me. Or maybe I'm just thick headed? Two scientists working on a discovery just seems... odd. I haven't had a chance to read the lyrics yet in the booklet so maybe I'll see the point after I do. Also, I'll admit that when you get a plethora of new CD's at once it makes it hard to pay as much attention to any one as you should.

Anyway, just wanted to throw my two cents in. Gotta be careful not to pee off any of you major Lips fans.

PS: At least it's great 'headphone' music.

 

[hop ham]

hey djgustashaw

i actually didn't like it at first either. i got it after yoshimi and i liked yoshimi right away. i think at first it sounds a little quirky IMO but give it a chance, it will change and all the little things will start to make sense.

i also hate it when i get a lot of cds at once. i like it cause i got all this music but then i hate it becuase it is hard to really give an individual albulm the time it deserves. so i say be patient with it, it should start to make sense...it has become one of my favorite cds over the last year.

 

[princeclassic]

i also bought yoshimi first and enjoyed it right away. i wasn't crazy about the soft bulletin when i played it the first few times. but now i like it even more than yoshimi.

so...as with a lot of music...give it time to grow on ya

 

[markl]

If you want "moon, june, spoon" you've come to the wrong place.

And yes, I have to agree in pure technical terms, Coyne is not a great singer at all. But he has something in that voice, a sort of unrestrained joy that's pretty hard to resist. IMO, the album takes a number of spins to get under your skin, but then most great albums are like this. Some of the songs seem almost trivial at first (spider bite song), but grow on you after a while. It's the kind of record that keeps revealing new things to you each time you listen. I always feel better after listening to it for some reason.

Mark

 

[DarkAngel]

Can't comment on "soft bulletin" or "yoshimi" but tried 2-3 of thier highest rated albums from mid 1990's and after giving several spins sold them all. The lead singer had very irritating vocals only a mother could love.

Places like Pitchfork undoubtly will like this indie style because they do have a different sound..........but different is not always better or even good. Also I am not a big fan of the "keep listening and eventually you will kinda like it" school of thought, there has to be something to make me want to explore further.

BTW, I suspect that people who love Flaming Lips also liked recent MARS VOLTA album (which I didn't)

BTW 2, if you want more Flaming Lips check half.com first for used CDs.

 

[redshifter]

markl,
funny you should mention the "spider bite song". the second i heard that song for the first time i knew i had an album i would like. and i do like it; after a few listenings there is an undercurrent of emotion in the lyrics, music and especially wayne's voice that is unmistakable.

yoshimi is also a strong effort, which delves even deeper into human feelings, but is overall a less even album than soft bulletin. i’m also partial to their “christian” album, “in a priest driven ambulance”.

 

[markl]

DA,
FYI, Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi might as well be the work of a totally different band than the rest of their stuff, which also bored me (I also ended up selling those, too). They completely changed their sound, got a fancy producer, too. SB and Yoshimi sound *nothing* like Mars Volta, either, BTW.

 

[markl]

Redshifter, the huge drum roll in spider bite song makes that song for me, love that sound.

 

[hop ham]

Darkangel - I hear you. Some people just can't stand his voice and will never get past this. If you try either of the two newer albums (soft bullitin, yoshimi) I think your view of them might change...well, maybe.

I am a firm believer that some albulms will reveal themselves in time. There have been many albulms which I didn't like at first and thought was too weird and then they turned out to be really good. I totally understand those who don't believe they need to "keep trying until they like it", but sometimes you need to keep an open mind. For instance, classical music had no appeal to me at all when I first tried listening to it but I thought I would at least have an open mind. Sometimes you owe it to yourself to try things a couple times...at least you know you gave it a shot.

 

[redshifter]

Quote:

Originally posted by markl Redshifter, the huge drum roll in spider bite song makes that song for me, love that sound.

that's what drew me in too.

i disagree that the f'lips sound like a "totally different band" though on earlier albums. for example, that HUGE drum sound you mentioned is alive and well on their earlier albums. i agree that sb and ybtpr are much trickier productions, but underneath, the wacky exegesis-journey the band is on is the same.

most classical music takes two or three listens before i really know if i like it or not. i distrust music i like instantly, usually it has a short shelf life.

 

[Ptrick]

Quote:

Originally posted by princeclassic i also bought yoshimi first and enjoyed it right away. i wasn't crazy about the soft bulletin when i played it the first few times. but now i like it even more than yoshimi. so...as with a lot of music...give it time to grow on ya

Couldn't have worded it better, really.

This is exactly what happened with me and Yoshimi/The Soft Bulletin. I've had this one playing for a very very long time now.

 

[DarkAngel]

Quote:

Originally posted by markl DA, FYI, Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi might as well be the work of a totally different band than the rest of their stuff, which also bored me (I also ended up selling those, too). They completely changed their sound, got a fancy producer, too. SB and Yoshimi sound *nothing* like Mars Volta, either, BTW.

I think Mark is correct in his asessment, I checked some samples of YOSHIMI and it has a cool spacey/trippy vibe and has much better more polished vocals vs earlier work...........therefore got used copy for $5 at half.com

Also went back to check older albums I owned previously and "satellite" is really not too bad (probably should have kept that) I guess the one that pushed moe over the edge was "metallic clouds" which kinda got on my nerves and caused me to sell all FL albums.

 

[eyeteeth]

Quote:

Originally posted by djgustashaw see if it grows on me

I give it a spin occasionally, not much impact. Im lazy-time is short-NEXT!

 

[djgustashaw]

I've been listening to it a bit more, and I got a chance to go through the lyrics. They're much more meaningful when you read them at once as opposed to having huge gaps between phrases in the songs. I still hate "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton", though.

Anyway, I have a question. WHY did they put "Race for the Prize" and "Waitin' for a Superman" on twice? It screams "filler." The second versions just seem to have a bit more static in the background, that's all. Can anyone tell me if there's any reason for this besides creative license?

 

[chadbang]

I rarely "give albums a chance". Like any piece of art, I think that your first emotional response to a work is instinctual and expresses who you are and where you are aesthetically. I've never had to "teach" myself that a painting, poem or, especially, a melody was beautiful. Art "appreciation" classes might have taught me the history behind say, Renaissance bronzes, but I never emotionally appreciated them more, whereas, paintings by DeChirico or Vermeer struck an immediate chord. Likewise, Beethoven leaves me exhalted while Bach leaves me bored. I just don't see trying to get into an album, unless you just feel bad about having blown the money on them. (Thank you, Kaaza). How many hundreds have gotten just one listen (or even just auditioned for few tracks) before they were deep-sixed? I think the only album I've "tried to appreciate" was a recent stint with "OK Computer' - just because I was desperate to "get into" a new album. At best, my opinion moved from lukewarm to mildly receptive. djgustashaw, thinks Coyne can't sing. I'm not turned on by Yorke's voice. (I actually don't think Coyne can sing that great either, but his vocals move into the range of "amusing" for me, like a little kid in a choir squeaking his way through a song - funny).


BTW, I loved "The Soft Bulletin" from the start (well, from the second track onwards, anyway.

)