When one thinks of solid concept albums, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon certainly comes to mind as being one of the primary examples. The band's testament of how money and time have such control over our lives remains one of the landmark concept albums of our time (some even dare to call it the best album ever).
Since the release of Dark Side, many bands have been influenced by Pink Floyd and their seminal LP to make their own concept albums. The Flaming Lips are one of those bands with the release of their new concept album titled Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.
After listening to the new Flaming Lips' CD, we could say this new album will be proclaimed the new best album ever. We could say that, but we would be wrong.
The newest effort, however, from a band known more for its interesting live shows than its studio prowess, is certainly a solid, if bizarre, concept album.
Noted for their unusual live shows, where among other strange events, extras in fuzzy animal costumes are known to dance across the stage, the Flaming Lips have had little studio success. In fact, one of their albums, Zaireeka, is downright impossible to listen to without your own recording studio, as it is recorded on four separate audio tracks, each making up its own CD. Of course, it's supposed to sound really cool, but I don't own four stereos. Do you? If you do, can I come over and listen to Zaireeka?
Moving on, we come to the Lips' latest release Yoshimi, a rich, textured, existentially-tinged album that tells the tale of one pink robot that learns to have emotions, and a small Japanese girl, who happens to be "a black belt in karate," who was delegated to defend the city against the pink robots. Pretty standard stuff really.
We learn about the aforementioned plot elements in the third track, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part I, a lyrical acoustic ballad with some electronic studio tweaks, such as guitar drop offs. In the following track, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part II, a battle ensues, told not through lyrics but through a driving rhythmic beat and bass riff topped with the screams of apparently-tortured souls.
At this point the album departs from the standard Japanese girl fighting emotional pink robots motif to a more existential one. This is where the Lips prove their artistic merit, after already proving their somewhat odd sense of humor.
Each song poses a question about the nature of life through a unique blend of electronics, which contribute a futuristic feel, and acoustic elements that help keep the album down to earth. However, all the questions revolve around existentialist themes.
The song In the Morning of the Magicians brings up the depressing question, "what is love and what is hate?" and goes on to say that neither is relevant in a world that seems to be devoid of meaning.
Not to be outdone, the epic Do you Realize?? contains the haunting lyrics "Do you realize that everyone you know some day will die?" The song, however, like all of the tracks on the album, is somehow not depressing. Perhaps it's the juxtaposition of the lyrics against the flowing, predominantly major melodies.
Still, the Lips offer qualifying lyrics. While they describe a world where nothing matters and everyone will die (which sounds a lot like this world), the second to last song on the album reminds us "all we've ever had was now/all we have is now [and] all we'll ever have is now." While this "carpe diem" theme has become clich?©d, the Lips somehow make it seem novel.
After a rough week, Yoshimi is the perfect album to relax to; it's silly and reassures you that none of your mistakes really matter in the end as long as you take advantage of the moment.
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