The tenth album by The Flaming Lips, characterized by electronic-influenced, psychedelic-tinged alternative rock compositions.
Despite the story-type title and science fiction themes of the album, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne has said the album is not intended to be a concept album. The lyrics of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots concern a diverse array of subject matter, mostly deeply melancholy ponderings about love, mortality, artificial emotion, pacifism, and deception, while telling the story of Yoshimi's battle.
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots appeared in the best albums of the decade lists of many music magazines, such as Rolling Stone (#27) and Uncut (#11). Fortune magazine described the album as "a lush and haunting electronic symphony." Calling the album "as strange as it is wonderful," Billboard magazine explained, "Beneath the sunny, computer-generated atmospherics and the campy veneer of talk about gladiator-style clashes between man and machines with emotions, Yoshimi is actually a somber rumination on love and survival in an unfathomable world." Giving the album four-out-of-five stars, Rolling Stone called the production "ambitious". Uncut declared "even by their standards, Yoshimi is astonishing" before declaring it the greatest album released in the magazine's lifetime.
Do You Realize?? - The Flaming Lips
One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21 - The Flaming Lips
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1 - The Flaming Lips
Fight Test - The Flaming Lips
Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell - The Flaming Lips
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The Golden Path - The Chemical Brothers (feat. Flaming Lips) (2003)
Chemical brothers feat the flaming lips - the golden path by Chemicalbrothers
Listeners, thoughts on the music?
While The Soft Bulletin is their best album, this is the one that made me a fan.
ReplyDeleteI have fond memories of going to their shows and singing along to "Yoshimi" with confetti falling from the rafters. Plus it's always so much fun to see Wayne riding around the crowd in his giant hamster ball. :) If you haven't seen them live, it's an absolute must. Never seen a concert like theirs.
@Eric: I agree The Soft Bulletin is their best LP, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) is my 2nd favorite
DeleteI haven't seen the band live, hopefully one day!
I've heard about that hamster ball ( : If you haven't already, you should check out the documentary The Fearless Freaks (2005) . You really get to know the musicians behind the music.
This has to be one of my top 10 albums of the last decade. There aren't a lot of modern albums I can listen to from start to finish but this is one of them. Though I think Cat Stevens deserves some of the credit for that.
ReplyDelete@Bonjour Tristesse: High quality Flaming Lips album indeed. That Fight Test trivia was news to me, and I duly checked out Father and Son by Cat Stevens (a superb song in its own right)
DeleteI don't much about The Flaming Lips' music. As usual, my first exposure to bands is through films. Their song "Bad Days" on The Batman Forever Soundtrack is fantastic. I still listen to that song. Maybe this album would be a good place to start. I've been scouring my local CD store lately for back music I missed the first time around.
ReplyDelete@Colleen: Well my Flaming Lips appreciation posts are as good a place to start as any :)
DeleteSo true! You are very thorough. Hey did you see The Flaming Lips on The Colbert Report this week. They were great, check it out.
Delete@Colleen: I try to be thorough, can't escape that favorite songs are inevitably subjective. I missed Colbert Report show, I'll take a look at the rerun!
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