Review Summary: The greastest pop album of the last decade. The Lips reach the height of their "classic" sound, writing weird, experimental, yet catchy pop gems. A true classic to any fan who's heard it, "Clouds Taste the Metallic" is the sound of pure happiness.
Let's get one thing straight: You don't need drugs to feel euphoric happiness. You don't need drugs to dull and numb your pain, expecting it to simply detach itself and fade away. The Flaming Lips, while they ironically consist of a bunch of hippies (and a former heroin addict), don't necessarily rely on these substances for release. "Clouds Taste Metallic" proves that it's not the drugs you take while listening to this album, it’s the album itself that evokes pure happiness.
When talking about The Flaming Lips I often look at their career as a constant evolution. “In a Priest Driven Ambulance” found the Lips adopting many of their trademarks; Wayne’s Neil Young voice, quirky melodies, and a fetish for ear melting sound and feedback. With “Hit to Death in the Future Head”, they incorporated a much more 60’s pop influenced sound, and introduced a variety of lush instrumentation. By “Transmissions from the Satellite Heart”, the Lips had shown just how good there are at writing pop music. And so we come to this album, this culmination of all things “Lips”, so to speak. A perfect blend of various instruments, Beatles-esc pop, and mind bending noise.
“You’re sorta, stuck where you are. But in your dreams you can buy expensive cars, or live on mars, and have it your way. And you hate your boss at your job. Well in your dreams you can blow his head off. In your dreams, show no mercy.”
It’s so odd how Wayne taps into these sorts of gruesome, yet true, desires we have. I’m sure we would all love to drive around in fancy cars, live somewhere else (whether it be China or Mars), and kill our boss. And of course, most of us can’t/don’t. But in our dreams we do, I’m certain. And Wayne speaks about these things in a sort of child like wonder, a simple, yet effective form of universalism. He’s the same breed as our Syd Barrett’s; writing off the wall and quirky lyrics which paint us true desires and feelings.
And it’s not just the lyrics, but the way they are sung, with Wayne’s “guy next door” honest voice. It’s the way they’re played, with bass lines that pop, guitars that play twisted yet genius hooks (Ronald Jones, wherever you are, you’re an amazing guitarist), and the drums that pound your head as well as any John Bonham groove. Lastly, the dozens of auxiliary instruments that solve the very problem “Hit to Death in the Future Head” had; overstuffing. The triangle in “Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles”, the steel guitar in “Placebo Head wound” (barely audible, but when you hear it, it’s so damn catchy it just gets stuck in your head), the jingle bells in “Christmas at the Zoo”. It’s like the Lips chose the one or two best “minor” instruments and stuck them in perfectly with these songs.
The songwriting itself though is at an all time high for the Lips. Each song on here, maybe minus “Lightning Strikes the Postman”, are all some of the catchiest songs I’ve heard this side of post-Beatles 60’s pop. Brainville is key, with its handclaps (an auxiliary instrument in and of itself) and circus inspired music it creates a joyous parade; like a convoy of hippies all travelling to this Brainville place. “This Here Giraffe” is also among the best, and most obvious should-be hit singles on the album. But don’t let me short change the other songs, because they each contain several hooks (within one song) that are just…genius, really.
My personal favorite is “They Punctured My Yolk" though. Hell, if NASA made this song their anthem maybe more people in America would care about them (in fact, it really should be their anthem, its perfect). Wayne’s floating voice painting the images of an astronaut taking off in flight, the few bass lines that pop in and out, the guitar flourishes, the loud as hell drums; it’s all perfect. The best part of the song, the absolute apex of the entire album, comes after the line “And it takes you worlds away. A million light years from me”, where the drums explode, the distortion makes the hiss of a rocket, the vocal harmonies all collide, and the song just explodes as Wayne sings “Goodbye goodbye look as the clouds burst. They’re growing taller!” and the guitars and vocals strain themselves to reach notes as high as that rocket ship. Pure bliss, and a shiver up my spine every time.
Surprisingly though, this album apparently takes a while to get into. I never understood that, it clicked instantly for me. Yes, it is awfully happy (a common “put-off” is just how this album is so sugar coated happiness, it’s like being beaten by a rainbow), but in a worn and tired way. It’s as if the guys are trying to distract themselves from the problems in their lives, and you can hear it all on the record. It’s not as bright and shining as Transmissions was, it’s much more subtle and dim. Hell, by the time you reach “Evil Will Prevail”, it’s obvious that all of their problems are coming back. And in a way, this is exactly the same feeling this album evokes. Pure, distracting bliss, and as the final song plays you prepare to go back to your everyday chores; your laundry folding, your job, your debts, and your diseases. However, for a short period of time, this album makes you forget.
Sometime last year I had broken up with a girl friend for three years and the reasons why were crushing. Chances are you’ve been there, and it’s the most depressing feeling in your life. So one day, while cleaning my basement I turn on “Christmas at the Zoo”. A ***ty mood had plagued me all day long, yet the second Wayne started singing so did I. And when he sings “It Started to snow on Christmas Eve”, and those jingle bells come in, I literally burst into a smile. So odd how that works; how hearing sounds, just sounds, release chemicals in your brain that physically change you. This music changes you, albeit, for a brief few minutes. I don't do drugs, but if I ever did, I would expect them to make me feel the way this album does.
"All the subatomic pieces come together, and unfold themselves in a second."
