[.ca] The Soft Bulletin 5.1

What is the light?:
With every truly good rock band, they hit their peak in a stunning, magnificent album that leaves people breathless. For the Flaming Lips, that album is "The Soft Bulletin," their 1999 opus -- a trippy, epic, ingeniously strange collection compiled of only good songs. It's not musical perfection, but close to it. It opens with a glorious Mellotron wave, which is deliberately just a little off, at the start of "Race For The Prize (Sacrifice Of The New Scientists)." "Two scientists were racing/For the good of all mankind/Both of them side by side/So determined," Wayne Coyne croons. With, of course, offbeat echoes and electronic wavers and whispers layered over the indierock melody. Without sounding overpolished, the songs that follow seem very carefully structured and polished; not a single note is out of place. Coyne sings above smooth, flowing pop songs with a catchy edge. And what songs he sings -- about supermen, debilitating spider bites, buzzin' bugs, scientists trying to cure terminal diseases, and wounded mathematicians. "Soft Bulletin" also touches on some more uplifting topics -- "What Is The Light" is a purely enchanting variation on the typical love song: "What is the light/That you have/Shining all around you?" And "A Spoonful Weighs A Ton" is a soaring number about how "they" saved the world with the power of love. "And though they were sad/They rescued everyone/They lifted up the sun..." Not that "uplifting" means cheesy or sappy. The Flaming Lips seem to be completely in earnest. What's more, they add a space-acid flavor to their music which keeps it from ever getting too... well, ordinary. The best description I can come up with is: it's like a big inspirational show on another planet, complete with a celestial pop orchestra. There. If that doesn't make sense, nothing will. It's hard to find a given album that is entirely made out of excellent, listenable songs. There's usually at least one bad (or mediocre) apple -- including on most other Lips albums. "Soft Bulletin" has none. It has a unique kaleidoscope effect, with shimmering psychedelic music and hopeful, philosophical songwriting. Wayne Coyne's somewhat nasal vocals actually sound good over this offbeat music, especially when they are echoed and layered. The music itself is wildly complex: flowing basslines and rather muffled drumming, with strings and orchestration. Laid over it all are layers and washes of synth and blips, which add the spacey final touch. And what does this rerelease have? Among other things, outtakes and extra songs such as the enchantingly ethereal "Up Above The Daily Hum," the hauntingly beautiful "Switch That Turns off the Universe," and others. Wayne Coyne describes the experience of actually MAKING the album, which offers a bit more insight into the already evocative songs. And of course, the videos: "Race for the Prize" is suitably colorful and bizarre, with joggers covered in electrodes and Coyne singing in front of a brass band. And the other is a shimmering, sunset-toned video full of flowers, fountains, head injuries, and a little boy who finds amazing powers in his little superhero cape. Adorable. "Soft Bulletin" is probably the best album the Flaming Lips have ever made -- musically rich, lyrically uplifting, and thoroughly enjoyable to listen to. A modern classic.

• Race for the Prize
• Spoonful Weighs a Ton
• Spark That Bled
• Slow Motion
• What Is the Light?
• Observer
• Waitin' for a Superman
• Suddenly Everything Has Changed
• Gash
• Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
• Sleeping on the Roof
• Spiderbite Song
• Buggin'
• Race for the Prize \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Spoonful Weighs a Ton \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Spark That Bled \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Slow Motion \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• What Is the Light? \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Observer \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Waitin' for a Superman \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Suddenly Everything Has Changed \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Gash \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Feeling Yourself Disintegrate \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Sleeping on the Roof \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Spiderbite Song \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Buggin' \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• \oDVD\c \o5.1 Surround Sound\c
• Race for the Prize \oDVD\c
• Waitin' for a Superman \oDVD\c
• 1000ft Hands \oDVD\c\oOuttake\c
• Captain \oDVD\c\oOuttake\c
• Satellite of You \oDVD\c\oOuttake\c
• Up Above the Daily Hum \oDVD\c\oVersion\c
• Switch That Turns Off the Universe \oDVD\c\oVersion\c
• We Can't Predict the Future \oDVD\c\oVersion\c
• It Remained Unrealizable \oDVD\c\oVersion\c