- Vinyl (18 Aug 2009)
- Number of Discs: 3
- Label: Warner
- ASIN: B001VA1ASO
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 207,166 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details
|
Product Description
Review
Glastonbury Festival, in the summer of 2000. It is, predictably enough, wet. And Saturday’s Pyramid Stage headliners could well be described similarly. Travis have had an amazing 12 months, their second studio album The Man Who earning the Scottish outfit the Best Album and Best Newcomers awards at the Brits in March. The crowd for them goes back, back, and back some more, fires flickering up the hillside. But this is something I only witness in passing, as another band has had an equally brilliant year.
The Flaming Lips, Oklahoma oddballs responsible for the four-discs-at-once headache of 1997’s Zaireeka, have crossed into the mainstream courtesy of The Soft Bulletin, NME’s album of 1999. Experimentation has been tempered; the group’s out-there tendencies reined right in for a collection that sings with the same warmth and composure that characterised The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. It’s proggy, it’s rocky – but it’s not prog-rock, really; nothing that the average man on the street can’t lean an ear towards and be immediately rewarded. Seventeen years and nine albums since their formation, The Flaming Lips are headlining at Glastonbury, playing to a packed tent.
That stage, after 17 years: the New Bands tent. On paper, it makes no sense. In the presence of Wayne Coyne and company, with hand puppets in place of crowd-surfing bubbles and multiple dancers dressed up as aliens, everything’s exactly as it should be though. Race for the Prize and Waitin’ for a Superman – these are anthems built for mass celebration, and while the crowd isn’t wholly won over yet, fast-forward a few years and the reverence for these tracks is clear wherever The Flaming Lips pitch up with their travelling freak(ishly brilliant) show.
Ultimately, this record paved the way not only for The Flaming Lips to enjoy commercial success far beyond their homes, but also opened the doors for younger acts with a spirit of adventure in their blood to breach the pop charts. Just as previous releases had influenced the likes of Grandaddy and Mercury Rev, The Soft Bulletin and its successor Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots have informed acts including MGMT and Empire of the Sun. This is an album of its time, sure – but one with a reach that continues to feel its way around the modern musical landscape. Those thousands singing along to Why Does It Always Rain on Me?, in the drizzle, are probably kicking themselves over a decade on that they missed the opportunity to be at what was, in hindsight, Ground Zero for The Flaming Lips’ evergreen appeal.
--Mike Diver
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Vinyl
The Soft Bulletin remains one of my favourite Flaming Lips albums, despite me struggling with it to start with, and there's enough been said and written about it already that I will concentrate on the format, rather than the content, for this review.
Having owned a UK CD copy of this album for many years I have looked in on ebay from time to time for a vinyl copy, always being discouraged by the unaffordably high price, frequently £80+ for a decent copy.
So, when The Soft Bulletin was reissued on 180gm vinyl for a reasonable price I grabbed a copy quick, and despite having hearing not so acute that I can easily spot the difference between one format or the other, was glad that I did.
For one, there is an extra track on this release not present on the UK CD version, but mostly nothing beats holding a good gate-fold sleeve with a full-sized print and artwork for me. And when the stylus finally kisses the vinyl after its slow, damped decent, well, there's magic there too!
On the technical side my copy came with nice thick edges, so there was none of the knifing that seems to be so prevalent with mail order vinyl these days. And while I'm not totally averse to coloured vinyl, neither am I a huge fan of it, so I was glad to see that this pressing is on the good old black stuff. The outer sleeve is made of stout card and the inner ones are poly-lined paper, which hopefully extends the life of the vinyl and accounts for some the (relatively) high price of this album. The music is spread over two discs, which I guess is good for quality, although it does mean you will be getting out of your chair three times instead of just the once to hear it through!
Having owned a UK CD copy of this album for many years I have looked in on ebay from time to time for a vinyl copy, always being discouraged by the unaffordably high price, frequently £80+ for a decent copy.
So, when The Soft Bulletin was reissued on 180gm vinyl for a reasonable price I grabbed a copy quick, and despite having hearing not so acute that I can easily spot the difference between one format or the other, was glad that I did.
For one, there is an extra track on this release not present on the UK CD version, but mostly nothing beats holding a good gate-fold sleeve with a full-sized print and artwork for me. And when the stylus finally kisses the vinyl after its slow, damped decent, well, there's magic there too!
On the technical side my copy came with nice thick edges, so there was none of the knifing that seems to be so prevalent with mail order vinyl these days. And while I'm not totally averse to coloured vinyl, neither am I a huge fan of it, so I was glad to see that this pressing is on the good old black stuff. The outer sleeve is made of stout card and the inner ones are poly-lined paper, which hopefully extends the life of the vinyl and accounts for some the (relatively) high price of this album. The music is spread over two discs, which I guess is good for quality, although it does mean you will be getting out of your chair three times instead of just the once to hear it through!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Review of the vinyl, not of the album
24 Sep 2009
Format:Vinyl
There are plenty of reviews of the music out there, see the CD listing The Soft Bulletin for example. If you're buying the record album, two beautiful slabs of virgin vinyl, you're either a fan or a collector. For the fan, yep, it sounds great on a good turntable and there's always something special about putting a record on, flipping it, watching it spin up, and the needle touch down. For the collector, okay, enjoy.
Two records, gatefold album, 180 gram virgin vinyl, bonus CD contains "The Captain," "Satellite Of You," and "1000 Ft. Hands"
Two records, gatefold album, 180 gram virgin vinyl, bonus CD contains "The Captain," "Satellite Of You," and "1000 Ft. Hands"
Excellent!
25 Jan 2012
Format:Vinyl|Amazon Verified Purchase
The Soft Bulletin arrived in perfect condition and within days of ordering it. It arrived in bubble wrap in a tightly-sealed white box. It was great!
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Why change a masterpiece?
20 Oct 2009
Format:Vinyl
Ok, so some people will think I'm nuts, but I am truly upset with this release. When the Soft Bulletin finally came out on vinyl a few years ago, they used alternate takes, different mixes and the track order was a little different. I was so excited to see this was finally coming back out on vinyl, because I thought it would finally be redone just like the CD, however, this just seems to be a repressing of that original vinyl, which still has the different takes and one song not on the CD, "Slow Motion". There is also a CD with 3 bonus songs. While I think there would certainly be interest in an alternate release of demos, outtakes, etc. from the sessions for this record, am I the only one who wishes they would release the album just as it came out on CD? It's such a great record, and I would just enjoy hearing it (on vinyl) the way I remember the CD.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
