I remember purchasing the CD in a record store on Berwick Street in London’s Soho. Berwick street is/was London’s equivalent to St Mark’s Place regarding the music and bohemian scene (Londoner’s will tell you it’s the other way around). In both instances, most, if not all, of the CD shops are now gone.
When I first fired up the CD and heard the opening bars of “Race For the Prize” I knew I was in for a treat. I was already a Flaming Lips fan but this was a departure from their prior grunge/pop sound. The Soft Bulletin marries the guitars of Pink Floyd to “Zeppelin-esque” drum beats and thick bass lines and wraps it all up with upscale piano and keyboard harmonies, and infectious melodies. For me, this record is the complete package and the critics agreed.
NME named it album of the year describing it as “a joyous, celestial celebration of sound.” AllMusic called it “not just the best album of 1999, The Soft Bulletin might be the best record of the entire decade.” Pitchfork gave it a rare perfect score of 10/10.
The writing reflects a maturation process for the band both musically and lyrically. Real life events such as family deaths and band member drug addiction seemed to have greatly impacted the boys from Oklahoma City.
All Flaming Lips albums come with instructions that the record should be played loudly. The Soft Bulletin is no exception. Do so, and the music will envelope you with a warm sonic comfort blanket.
The first track is a tour de force titled “Race For the Prize” which incorporates “bonham-esque” bass drum with a melody that stays in your head for days. It may be one of the best pop-rock tunes ever written.
It is followed by “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton” which opens with strings, piano, and Wayne Coyne’s strained and creaky vocal singing “and though they were sad, they rescued everyone, they lifted up the sun, a spoonful weights a ton”. The middle eight is another booming drum beat that reminds the listener that rockers don’t need to apologize for pretty melodies.
“The Spark that Bled” starts with a jazzy guitar jam which builds into a funky, string-bass tango reminiscent of the ending to the Stones “Moonlight Mile” or a Santana styled groove with Coyne repeating the simple chorus “I Stood Up and I said, Yeah”
After that is “Slow Motion” which is a beautiful ballad-styled song that should be listened to while bopping down your favorite street in your favorite city. “It takes a year to make a day and I’m feeling like a float in a Macy’s Day parade”. Both bass line and melody are surprisingly infectious. The production is reminiscent of Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound” and harmonious strings and horns ensures this piece punches above its weight.
“The Observer” which is an electronic pop instrumental that begins with a hypnotic bass drum beating like a heart and builds into beautifully harmonic, strings, synths, and guitars. It belongs on The Dark Side of the Moon or on a soundtrack to a Planetarium lightshow.
“Waiting For Superman” is one of the tunes on the album that can pose as a top 40 hit. The bass drum pounds a toe-tapping beat as Coyne asks “Is it overwhelming to use a crane to crush a fly. It’s a good time for Superman to lift the sun into the sky.”
Next is another “Wall of Sound” masterpiece called “The Gash”. A killer drum groove accompanies a mantra like piano riff with a choir- effect chorus that elevates the song into a battle hymn “Will the fight for our sanity, be the fight of our lives? Now that we’ve lost all the reasons we thought we had”.
“Feeling Yourself Disintegrate” is a bolero that builds into swirling guitars, drums, and strings. “Life without death is just impossible. Oh, to realize something is ending within us. Feeling yourself disintegrate”.
“Sleeping on the Roof” feels like Coyne’s personal reprieve where he can lie down and take a deep breath and reflect calmly and introspectively on the masterpiece the band just completed. It is an instrumental “spa- treatment” that brings your pulse back down with lush pianos and studio effects.
The final tune on the record is “Buggin” and is what you get when you cross The Monkees with Led Zeppelin. It is a fun, light song that lets the sunshine in. Again, always with the heavy bonham-esque drum beat to remind you that the Flaming Lips are first and foremost, a rock band.
Susan and I saw the Flaming Lips at London’s Royal Albert Hall where, walking towards the restroom, I ran into Wayne Coyne..it reminded me of the Woody Allen scene where Woody tells his date at the Bob Dylan concert “I just saw god coming out of the toilet”.
This concludes my top -10 album list without Beatles or Stones records. I hope you enjoyed the reviews, but more importantly, I hope it reawakens your musical nostalgia and inspires some musical curiosities.