The Flaming Lips are a well known band as of today. They're probably most well known for the title of their newest album Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. I have to admit, as far as titles for albums go that is one of the most unique and odd titles I have ever heard of. I guess you could say I'm a Flaming Lips fan. I own three of their albums and I listen to them from time to time. The band has been around since 1982, and they released their first full length in 1983. The Flaming Lips are a unique and pleasent listen, no matter what album of theirs I am listening to. The funny thing is, that Oh My Gawd... is the Flaming Lips most odd, and bizarre album. Don't be fooled by the titles of albums, because this is by far the most weird and intriguing Flaming Lips album. The Lips fuse together rock, blues, psychadelica, punk, and experimental tape effects into their music. Every one of these songs are unique and no two songs sound the same. When the Lips mix these sounds and genres together they create sort of an eerie, trippy, carefree feel.
Oh My Gawd... is not an overly trippy, and eerie listen, The Lips combine so many different influences so they don't stick to one genre. I would say that the biggest influence here would have to be rock, or psychadelica. This album is full of catchy hooks and grooves. Although the Lips debut album was a bore, Oh My Gawd... is exciting and fun. The instruments blend together very well. The guitars are fuzzy and distorted. The guitars play a key role in every single track, for the most part they are usually fuzzy, distorted and sloppy. Most of the time that is a bad thing, but it fits the druggy and carefree feel of this album. The drums arn't too difficult, but they show up often and are a key role in the most punk and rock influenced tracks. The basslines are simple yet effective. They are distorted for the most part, but sometimes you can hear a few bass grooves here and there. The Lips add in one more key element, that would be the computer or tape effects. Dominating some of the all out noise tracks like the Ode To C.C. series. This is where the weird part of the album comes in. These songs are looped awkwardly, and the computer effects mess with the sound and the vocals constantly. There are no normal straight forward rock tracks on here, Wayne Coyne is always adding in some odd element to change things up. While this may sound unappealing, the music is actually quite refreshing.
All of the instruments on here create a trippy, punkish, psychadelic sound. You will not here another album like this. Wayne Coyne's vocals were a lot different back in 1987. He does not have a soft, soothing voice like he did on the Lips most recent albums. His voice is still high-pitched, but he has a more rough-edged and raw voice. Even on slower songs when Coyne is ment to sing in a softer tone, his voice is still more rough and hard to hear. That's why I like this album so much, it is more raw and sloppy. There are no clean, well produced tracks, everything on Oh My Gawd... is more carefree and experimental. You can really hear how different the band sounded about 20 years ago, it is much more rock influenced and the psychadelic and blues influences are very relevent. Coyne's vocals fit this album almost perfectly, even though he doesn't sound as clear and soothing as he does on later releases, he sounds just as good if not better on this album.
Overall I would say that this is my favorite Flaming Lips album. If you are looking for some old Flaming Lips material, this is just about as old as it gets. This is by far the bands weirdest album, there are simply no normal rock songs and the music is constantly being messed with. Weather it is looping odd effects in and out of songs, or meshing very fuzzy and distroted electic guitars together to create a psychadelic fusion there is just nothing normal about this album. Oh My Gawd... is a trippy and druggy album, I wouldn't call this a psychadelic album but the influences here are obvious. There are more punk-rock songs feautred here, the rock songs are rough-edged and raw, these songs are all sloppy. Groovy hooks are featured occasionally, but this album isn't exactly catchy at first, you will have to give this time to grow on you. I would say that Oh My Gawd... is an excellent neo-psychadelic, raw, experimental rock album that is a big step up from the bands debut. If you have never heard the Lips material from the early ninites or earlier than I would check out a few tracks from here being purchasing. While this is an experimental rock album, it succeeds most of the time and is one of the oddest, trippy, raw, and carefree albums of the 80's.
Overall Rating : 4/5
Pros: Fuzzy and rawn
- Unique
- Experimental
- Psychadelic influences
Cons: Too weird at times
- Some tracks are hit and miss
Recommended Tracks:
Everthings Explodin'
- Maximum Dream For Evil Knievel
- Love Yer Brain
