Is it my lack of knowledge on the Flaming Lips or has the band's style changed a lot since Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots? Perhaps it's because, again, I'm arriving at The Terror so late to the game and my musical life right now consists mostly of catching up to the old stuff I never got around to when the albums were first released and the flurries of excitement were thicker.
In the spirit of catching up, here we have everyone's favorite psychedelic band, fronted by everyone's favorite graying frontman Wayne Coyne, releasing a new album titled The Terror. It took me a couple of listens to figure out what's going on here, but eventually it became clear; which is that you have to take the title of this album literally in order to understand what's going on. The Terror plays like the soundtrack of a horror story or a scary B-movie, probably involving extraterrestrial beings. Maybe it's supposed to be the score for the story of an astronaut stuck on a distant planet? Looking at the stark artwork and the artist profiles on the album's interior gatefold, (the bandmembers appear dressed for an arctic climate), it certainly seems possible.
The possibility of ambitious thematic storytelling structures aside, it goes without saying that the days of conventional song structures where you have verse/chorus/bridge/chorus are gone. The Terror, when it has structure, is basically setting a terrifying mood with just a verse echoing and repeating over and over (check out “Look… The Sun is Rising”), with some spooky and sinister sounds and melodies building and going on for over five or even ten minutes (“You Lust” and the title track). Throughout the album, there's this cool musical motif of pounding drums or a guitar chopping through the songs (as happens on “Butterfly, How Long It Takes to Die” and “Always There in Our Hearts”). At least at first, the effect seems novel, but half the time you'll find yourself wondering if this is cool, or if the Flaming Lips are trying to fuck with us. Maybe this album is about death. Or maybe it's supposed to scare you shitless. Either way, it works – and stoners, again, will have a field day trying to figure it out.
The vinyl is a nice little package here too. With a gatefold sleeve, double LP, and a somewhat exclusive bonus track titled "We Don't Control the Controls" which plays like a long remixed reprise of the album, taking elements from every track into one gargantuan song. A nice album to have. An even nicer album to have on vinyl. Especially if you get the colored one.
Further Reading:
Ground Control Magazine – Flaming Lips – [Discography Review Part 1]
Ground Control Magazine – Flaming Lips – [Discography Review Part 2]
Ground Control Magazine – Flaming Lips – [Discography Review Part 3]
Artist:
www.flaminglips.com/
www.myspace.com/flaminglips
www.facebook.com/flaminglips
www.twitter.com/theflaminglips
Album:
The deluxe vinyl edition of The Terror is out now. Buy it here on Amazon.
