Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshing pyschedelia for a young generation, 15 Mar 2006
Well wow! This album grabs you from the first listen.The opening track is worthy of any psychedlic fans attention and is reminiscent of Cat Stevens.The two part Yoshimi... is a brave attempt at threading a concept into the album and works well. The Lips' music has become better with time and this album sees them put new textures and sounds into their already quirky music. There are synthesizers washing in the background along with anime voices to capture the imagination and paint the story of Yoshimi. There are certain themes developed such as life,love,death and positivity throughout - particularly in the beautifully poignant Do You Realise. Overall the album ranks alongside any modern attempt at a concept album without being over-worked and laborious. If you like this lo-fi chilled yet uplifting tunes with a pop element then this is the album for you. Smoke a peace-pipe and enjoy ;)
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must have., 22 May 2004
In the tradition of popular music, concept albums are generally poor and unsatisfying. Dire, even, with the exception of that rare few - Van Morrisons seminal 'Astral Weeks', David Bowies loosely connected glam rock fest 'Ziggy star dust' and Mike Skinner's 'A grand don't come for free' are a few gems in a mine of mud and rubbish. It was with a certain degree of trepidation then that I approached a concept album about a girl battling an army of pink robots from a band who I'd never heard a lot about before, and despite critical acclaim, upon first listen I was dissappointed.The second listen was the same. And the third. But gradually the psychedelic, digital, orchestral indie-rock on display began to seep into my psyche and dig away at me, until the album had me hooked and stayed on constant rotation in my cd player for a number of weeks. Now I know that psychedelic, digital and orchestral indie-rock all sound contradictory, and they are. But 'Yoshimi battles...' blends the various styles and influences seamlessly into what initially may appear random and scattered arrangement, but will progressively unravel until it all makes perfect sense, much in the fashion of Captain Beefheart's classic 'Trout mask replica'. The album opens to a harsh electronic voice reverberating before breaking into a summery introspective tune which initially sounds reminiscent of 'Father and son' before finding it's own shape. One more robot / sympathy 3000-21 is blessed with Coyne's soft centred vocals which bring a ludicrous concept to have some emotional effect as he sings 'one more robot wants to be something more than a machine' to a pacy drum snare and electronic sounds. The two namesake songs of the album spiral towards a frantic and chaotic electronic climax yet somehow retain a sense of melody amidst the confusion of Yoshimi's screams and laser shots. Later the listener is sonneted by the innocent charm of 'Do you realize' as Coyne softly sings plaintive but touching lyrics to a low tempo track. Such a medley of styles and influences would normally provide a stumbling block for any artist or band, but apparently not with The Flaming Lips. Traces of artists ranging from Captain Beefheart to Kraftwerk to Blur are detectable within this album, yet for all their contrast they blend perfectly. Though the subject matter is ludicrous, the psychadelia of the record and the heartfelt vocals of Coyne combine to submerge the listener in the story and the music. Small touches such as a chorus of girls making karate chop noises in the back ground to the lyrics of 'Her name is Yoshimi, she's a black belt in karate' are a measure of the intracicy of the album, it's quirkiness, and it's charm. The production from the band, Dave Fridmann and Scott Booker is pin-point accurate throughout the album throughout, and the track-listing is perfect - the cd plays as if it were one song flowing through different phases, not a collection of songs - as any good concept album should. Infact the term 'good concept album' is not applicable here. It would be more appropriate for 'Yoshimi battles the pink robots' to inherit that rarest of terms 'great concept album' which has been passed down from The streets, David Bowie and Van Morrison. Fantastic stuff.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quite simply my favourite album ever., 18 May 2007
It looks like the other reviewers have done a good job of giving this album the respect it deserves. I doubt I will be as succinct and lucid as some of them, but I felt I just had to add my tribute.
I have a long history with this record. It started back in 2002 when I went to Amsterdam with some friends and took this record with me. The whole group of us just fell in love with it instantly, and would happily sing along in our mashed up states. These songs are so beautiful that some of them make me physically ache when I listen to them - "In the Morning of the Magicians" particularly.
"Do You Realise" was partially responsible for me getting together with my girlfriend. It's now "our song". I dount many couples have a "song" as cool as ours.
Not long after my girlfriend and I got together, we ate some magic mushrooms and had a bad trip. I had a particularly bad one as I'd taken 6 and a half times more than the recommended dose. While flailing around in the depths of despair and insanity I was listening mostly to the Screaming Trees' "Dust", which I used to like; but perhaps not surprisingly I haven't listened to since. Anyway, as the effects of the mushrooms lessened, and I started to realise that I wasn't dead or insane, I put this album on. Not only did everything get better, with the room starting to glow reassuringly, but Wayne Coyne's lyrics seemed to explain to me everything that I'd been going through, and everything I was then experiencing. It was a beautiful moment, and it helped to make the whole experience both the most terrifying experience of my entire life, and the most enlightening and worthwhile.
Perhaps that sounds sad to you, but I assure you that I feel enriched because of it, and wouldn't change a thing.
I am listening to this record now. I'm at work. On Fridays I always bring a selection of CDs with me, and today I brought Yoshimi, and it is tapping into my emotions and psyche as potently as it did when it was new. I just never tire of this record.
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![Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots [DVD AUDIO]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41YZ1PWF29L._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
