Review: Flaming Lips--Embryonic

I thought the fact that I couldn't sit down and listen to this was my fault. I thought--like I always do--that I am the one to blame for all failures in relationships, and that this was no different and I refused to return to it because I am a BAD consumer of music.

However, I have come to realize something different.

This was a liberating moment for me, and ever since then I have been seeing things a bit differently. The sun is a bit shinier, the leaves are a bit crisper, the Vikings are a more viable Super Bowl contender... you name it. Things feel so much better for me.

So I am going to just say what has been floating around in my mind for a good while now, and that is this: Flaming Lips... you've got to meet me halfway here and be a *little* bit more engaging.

Now, I love the Flaming Lips (or... I love Transmissions From The Satellite Heart and Clouds Taste Metallic), and I was greatly pleased to see that they were moving away from the more precious sounds of The Soft Yoshimi Battles With The Mystics. And Embryonic is a decent album. I might even say it's a good album, honestly. But there's a bit of a problem with it that makes me think this is just a half-step in the right direction.

It kind of drags.

Perhaps this is due to the 70 minute nature of the beast, which almost always assures there are lows to go along with the highs. However I think the main problem is that it's just not as exciting and engaging as it could be. Sure, they've got a cool 60s-70s psychedelic atmosphere here. But it only *seems* to be dark and foreboding... I can't taste it.

"Convinced Of The Hex" is a bad choice to start off the album, since it plods along in an ugly manner, which ends up being the main impressions derived from the album. Slow, plodding, kind of ugly... which is OK and all, as long as you have counterbalance that with some more up-tempo numbers to keep a bit of interest. Unfortunately, that department is lacking a bit too much for my tastes.

There are some great songs here, though. "The Ego's Last Stand" is the cream of the crop, with the bass line menacingly forewarning an impending escalation in chaos. Everyone starts playing mid-song, and it's a treat--it seems as if it's the first time where the general atmosphere leads somewhere. It's quite delectably evil--and *exciting* too. I'm not sure if my appreciation for the track is due to the fact that the preceding songs seemed so middle-of-the-road, but nonetheless it's one of the best Lips songs since Clouds Taste Metallic.

"Sagittarius Silver Announcement" is another "generally middling and atmospheric" song, but the vocals sound as if they were sung by a 40's horror film villain, and it's really dark and cool. And honestly, the second half is a lot more fun to listen to (yet still remaining dark) and avoids the whole "sound like everything else" plague on the first half, which raises the album's effectiveness. But man, that first half is such a slog to get through that's it's sometimes hard to get to the rewarding part, you know?

Oh, and "Watching The Planets" is probably the best rock song they've made in 10+ years as well.

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