You know, I almost liked this album. I was driving home after working late one night. I was tired, I was stressed, and I was hungry. This was maybe the fifth or sixth time I was listening to the album, and it felt like it was finally clicking. But then I got to track 5, "The Terror", followed by "You Are Alone". It felt like I was listening to the first four tracks again, but this time with worse vocals.
The Flaming Lips have never been about the singing. It is no secret Wayne has a terrible voice. But you never care, because they always make it work. Whether it's a vibe that Wayne's voice fits into, or he's yelling to a rockin beat and quality of voice doesn't matter. But on this album, the poorly sung vocals really stand out. My initial thoughts on my first listen were that the album sounded like your buddy who lives down the hall in your dorm in college had recorded it in his dorm room and he didn't want to sing too confidently in fear of annoying his neighbors.
At times, the sounds the band produce are interesting and psychedelic. But I feel like they made this album and are like "here's where you are supposed to feel sad" and I recognize it, but I don't feel it. I feel very disconnected when listening to it.
Which is a bummer, considering how much I liked Embryonic, and this feels kind of like a companion piece to that album.
One good thing is, this album isn't bad because the band is sitting still and I am getting bored with their sound. Even in their 30th year as a band, they are still challenging themselves to make music they've never done before.
Speaking of which, I am really looking forward to Lip$ha... a rumored collaboration between the Lips and Ke$ha that would kick so much ass.
No comments:
Post a Comment