are without peers. Genuis.

Can't stand them - or Arcade Fire

All bleedin bollox ain't it?

Peace

Funnily enough the Arcade Fire are another blindspot of mine...

Posting 'Race for the Prize' and 'Do You Realize?' makes little difference to me as they happen to be the only songs of theirs I like. I just can't get into the rest. I tried really hard with The Soft Bulletin and just couldn't get it.

I dug it out again the other day because I thought my four-year-old son would like 'Waiting for a Superman' (he likes anything with Superman in it - including the R.E.M. song off Life's Rich Pageant and even the line in 'Bicycle Race' about "Frankenstein or Superman"). But I just couldn't abide it. And this coming from a man who will sit through a Steps CD for the sake of the kids.

that puts me off it is so weedy and straining a bit like that other lauded band Mercury Rev same problem now if either could sing like Jeff Lynne maybe I wouldn't have a problem cause some of the musical ideas are inspired

I tried. I really did.

But it always comes back to the voice.

The man just cannot sing. To save his life.

And it's all a bit too knowingly 'wacky' for me.

Strangely, I love The Arcade Fire.

to try to see what the fuss was about. And they're mostly absolute shite. His voice is even worse than Neil Young's.

Poor man's Super Furry Animals

EDIT: I will certainly not be conned into buying the new album. They always make it sound so great and then you get it and it's always such a let down. For a band so lauded as being innovators they're surprisingly pedestrian. Their songs never really take off.

with Yoshimi and the one before (can't even remember what it's called) but no, they go right over my head, or possibly way under it. Utter tosh. A pity, because I like the idea of them.

Gee thanks for pointing that out Wayne, that's really made my day.

were musically fine albums rendered unlistenable by the, already much-mentioned, unsurpassed awfulness of his voice. Last album whose name escapes me had no redeeming features whatsoever.

on the strength of Do You realize and what I did realize was that apart from that one song they are rubbish. I lump them in with Mercury Rev as well. Their songs are probably better but the singing makes them unlistenable after about 3 minutes.

at least they were present for the feature!

Partly: they seem to come with some sort of ready made premise and angle (see also:Fleet Foxes, Arcarde Fire, British Sea Power) that if you missed the first album/episode/issue, you've missed the point.

But mainly: I don't like the songs. Doesn't mean I won't, I just don't like anything I've heard so far..

and i won't hear a word said against them!

The Soft Bulletin is a masterpeice, the most uplifting and life affirming album i've ever heard and it's got me through a lot of hard times. Waynes's voice is flawed but that's what i like about it, obviously this is personal choice, but i prefer his style of voice to countless more technical and "perfect" singers as to me it's more human and heartfelt. their live shows are like the best party you've ever been to and they're probably the most ambitious band around, they frequently have an idea and follow it to frutition even if their budget doesn't allow them to do so in the way conventional wisdom would expect (hence wayne making stage sets and movie props out of junk in his back garden).

I also love the way that they sail towards perfect pop music, but then decide to go off in bizarre directions inadvertently sabotaging it for the everyday mainstream pop fan.

oh, and for the record, Fight Test's similarity to father and son is fully credited on the album sleeve and he does get a cut of the royalties...

They've totally passed me by

Not genius, admittedly, but still moments of greatness shine through in some of there songs.

Here's a couple I really like. Apologies if they make no difference for Mike. He has a weird firewall up on his mind that I can't be bothered to hack into at the moment.

With the Chemical Brothers, a forgotten classic, don't you know (and he sounds like Mac from the Bunnymen on this to me...)

they are the only party in town.

And they set up their own gear.

... how protective of them I have become. If this thread achieves nothing else, it has shown me what a Flaming Lips Fan Boy I am.

There. I feel better now.

but they pass me by too.
reminds me of a louche alex chilton fronting a neil young tribute band, at best.
...and i like alex chilton!!!!
i think you either get them or you don't.
never really got into SFA either.

with the high llamas being one of the finest bands on the planet, i never really found a purpose for the flaming lips, i suppose.

would it be too much to ask, if you were to take lilly allen off the front page of the website... i mean, please - we are here to talk about music, not soho-ites with famous dads who treat genres like some sort of pastiche jigsaw puzzle to elevate their egos.
wow... fills me with optimism seeing that gormless face looming out.
you should have mark e. smith on the front cover/page for ever, if you want to restore some sort of credo to the mag.

maybe i just hate posh people who try to rap...

the idea of Flaming Lips better than the execution. I have seen them live and it was no big thing. I found it irritating that they wandered on stage during the setting up to bang a few cymbals and shoot confetti into the crowd, then ambled around for half an hour while the roadies finished. Had the gig started or not - who could tell? And as for those poor people dressed as rabbits stage right ... embarrassing fun for a song or two possibly but I bet they were pissed off after a two hour set.

I would guess that they were genuinely drugged up, dangerous and possibly sectionable when they started out - however that is hard to maintain in the longer term, and the whole thing now feels more than a little forced. As opposed to say Captain Beefheart who was and remained genuinely barking.

For the record I very much like Mercury Rev, Neil Young and Arcade Fire.

had The Word in one hand and Mojo in the other. - which shall I buy? Flaming Lips on one cover and Kraftwerk on the other. Sorry guys, no contest.Ich bin ein Mojoer; for this month anyway.

The Flaming Lips are, like modern-day Kraftwerk, performance artists. It's all about putting on a show, and that's unusual these days. The interview with Wayne explains it very well.

and all that gimmicky stage-gear and overly long songs, and i think...
Gratefull Dead.

not that i'm anti gratefull-dead... but they just did it first, and better.

It's like they don't have much to say. Singer's a handsome chap though. Charming too I'd wager.

grossly overrated uninspiring guff - please don't mention them in the same breath as the mighty dead!

And I'll say how much I liked the last record, At War With The Mystics. Bought it on big thick chunky double vinyl which makes it much more enjoyable a 4 little mini EPs.

I saw them live 2 or 3 years ago at the Hammersmith Apollo and I had heard (and seen) so much online and in magazines about the live show, the costumes, the bubble and all that I was expecting an anti-climax. It was sensational and I have never felt a crowd leave a venue so happy and full of love. No, really. At the end we were all showered with balloons and loads of people carried them onto the tube home where we kept throwing them all around the carriage.

I don't buy the whacky arguement, every show you see is an artiface, even Johnny Cash was propped up by costumes and catchphrases, so it's nice to make an effort like the Lips do.

And Celine Dion has a "proper" voice, but who wants to listen to her?

great live band, they don't take themselves too serious-what's not to love?

granted they've only made two fantastic albums and obviously grown too big for their boots but who's better?

'the soft bulletin' is a great album

mercury rev ditto

which bands/artists are better?

Wayne Coyne does go the extra mile in the live scenario. Whilst the overwhelming opinion is thumbs down on the music, The Lips do try to give it absolute stacks in the live arena. And good for them.

I think they're great - The Soft Bulletin is one of my favourite albums, and live, they're in a field of their own.

Pretty pointless trying to explain why I like them - you get them or you don't - each to their own I guess.

Fantastic - but I'm not buying the album. Once, twice, three times bitten.

Arent they just very annoying witha very poorsinger and not very good songs..speshally that tedious one about the robot!!
like Arcade Fire..well the first album anyway

Oops, i meant to say I like The Fire,but only the first album!!

I came to the Lips relatively late, but was so pleased to get on board. Somethings they do might not work, but when they do, they're sensational. I've seen them live four times now, I never thought I'd travel to see a band again, but my Lips fervour has taken me away, twice with non believers who returned convinced. The live show is explosive, exciting, funny and - best of all - entertaining.
Surely you've got to admire a band who don't rest on their laurels, who constantly strive for better things?
The Fearless Freaks film is a great introduction and shows just what a nice bloke Wayne Coyne is. So what if he sings in a strained voice? At least it's his voice, not some third rate copy of what he thinks you should sound like.
I smite down with my flaming sword all you Lips non-believers, for you are wrong and misguided.

I have every album except Zaireeka, which I plan to get put haven't yet due to the practicality issues of playing it. Really pleased to see them on the cover. Vocally, there is just an inescapable charm for me.

Hoorah with knobs on ! I shall smile at total strangers today, even if they are large feral bald women with tatoos ! No. Maybe not. Anyway, not working today, and it's Flaming Lips day! All is well with the cosmos.

Seems like I am not the only one on here to buy multiple Flaming Lips albums (3 in total) and not like any of them. Why did we go past one? Did the same with Joanna Newsom - second album was complete bollocks whereas first was only partial bollocks. Love Arcade Fire though - especially Neon Bible.
Truly bad American bands? My vote goes to Counting Crows and Hootie and the Blowfish.

sucker. Love 'em.

or does Wayne Coyne bear an uncanny resemblance to ex Chelski manager and chosen one Jose Mourinho.

I received this last Saturday, and have to admit a twinge of regret. I like them a lot, one of the best live shows I've seen, but this record is going to take some work. The sounds on it are out of this world, the engineering (heaviest drum sound since When The Levee Breaks) is first rate, but other than the tracks posted above, it's a bit short on *actual material*. It is still an interesting listen, but... not convinced.

The Suzuki Q-chord (omnichord) is all over the thing (Somewhere Down the Crazy River by Robbie Robertson, Mood Swinging Man by the Finn Brothers are examples if you want to find the sound). Listen for the synthetic pinging harp sound and the Casio-like chords, and the home organ beatbox. Once you've noticed it, you can never un-notice it. They've disguised it well in places, but it really is everywhere.

Also, has Wayne switched to bass? Reason I ask is that the bass playing is very creative but not very adept.

I'll keep at it. This is, after all, the only band to have a new idea in audio (Zaireeka) since the 1960s and their track record so far tells me I should not dismiss it instantly.