The Soft Bulletin

by The Flaming Lips

Overview

So where does a band go after releasing the most defiantly experimental record of its career? If you're the Flaming Lips, you keep rushing headlong into the unknown -- The Soft Bulletin, their follow-up to the four-disc gambit Zaireeka, is in many ways their most daring work yet, a plaintively emotional, lushly symphonic pop masterpiece eons removed from the mind-warping noise of their past efforts. Though more conventional in concept and scope than Zaireeka, The Soft Bulletin clearly reflects its predecessor's expansive sonic palette. Its multidimensional sound is positively celestial, a shape-shifting pastiche of blissful melodies, heavenly harmonies, and orchestral flourishes; but for all its headphone-friendly innovations, the music is still amazingly accessible, never sacrificing popcraft in the name of radical experimentation. (Its aims are so perversely commercial, in fact, that hit R&B remixer Peter Mokran tinkered with the cuts "Race for the Prize" and "Waitin' for a Superman" in the hopes of earning mainstream radio attention.) But what's most remarkable about The Soft Bulletin is its humanity -- these are Wayne Coyne's most personal and deeply felt songs, as well as the warmest and most giving. No longer hiding behind surreal vignettes about Jesus, zoo animals, and outer space, Coyne pours his heart and soul into each one of these tracks, poignantly exploring love, loss, and the fate of all mankind; highlights like "The Spiderbite Song" and "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" are so nakedly emotional and transcendentally spiritual that it's impossible not to be moved by their beauty. There's no telling where the Lips will go from here, but it's almost beside the point -- not just the best album of 1999, The Soft Bulletin might be the best record of the entire decade. ~ Jason Ankeny

Product Details

Release Date:	06/22/1999
Label:	Warner Bros.
UPC:	0093624687627

Tracks

1. Race for the Prize
2. A Spoonful Weighs a Ton
3. The Spark That Bled
4. The Spiderbite Song
5. Buggin'
6. What Is the Light?
7. The Observer
8. Waitin' for a Superman
9. Suddenly Everything Has Changed
10. The Gash
11. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
12. Sleeping on the Roof
13. Race for the Prize
14. Waitin' for a Superman

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Flaming Lips   Primary Artist
Steven Drozd   Vocals,Drums,Guitar
Michael Ivins   Guitar (Bass),Vocals,Bass
Wayne Coyne   Vocals,Guitar
Scott Bennett   Guitar (Bass)

Technical Credits

The Flaming Lips   Engineer,Lyricist,Producer,Recording,Composer,Mixing
Dave Fridmann   Engineer,Mixing,Producer,Recording
Jae Monroe   Composer
Josh Klempner   Composer
Wayne Coyne   Composer
Scott Booker   Producer
Michael Ivins   Composer
Steven Drozd   Composer
Alexander Spence   Composer
Peter Mokran   Additional Production,Remix Engineer,Producer,Remixing
Steve Hall   Mastering