Oh My Gawd... It's The Flaming Lips:
ALBUM REVIEW
So since my last post was before the new year, happy belated new year's everyone I hope you all are having a great first week of 2015.
Alright when we left off I'd just reviewed Hear It Is as the first album to be reviewed in my entire The Flaming Lips Discography Extravaganza and now we come to their sophomore record Oh My Gawd... It's The Flaming Lips, and besides it being one of my favorite titles of all time is probably my favorite Lips record from the Garage Rock/Punk/Noise Rock era that lasts until In A Priest Driven Ambulance. The record has a driving force behind it that some of Hear It Is was lacking almost completely. Sure it had rockers on in and had no shortage of energy, the listening experience left much to be desired, as I feel they really stepped up the production on this one as well. Another thing noted is that while this did come out in the 80's like Hear It Is, I noticed it also feels much less of an 80's album, no reverb and completely chorus soaked instruments and weak attempts at studio manipulation. Oh My Gawd hits much harder, ****s around less, and the slower songs are better laid out.
One of the first things that I noticed going into this record were how strong the songs were overall. Almost every song does what it needs to and none feel like failed experiments, even when samples are brought in on tracks like Ode To C.C Parts 1 and 2, Can't Stop The Spring, and Everything's Explodin'. The opener the aforementioned Everything's Explodin' kicks off like a rocket and trumps nearly everything on Hear It Is, it's one of the many punkier tracks on the album, but unlike earlier tracks nine of them feel meandering and not as many of the lyrics sound corny either like they did before.
Everything's Exploding
Ode To C.C Part 2
There's also a number of slower tracks on the album that really pull it together and feel more cohesive than previous efforts, the nine-minute long epic One Millionth Billionth Of A Millisecond On A Sunday Morning has a great build up that sucks you in and doesn't let hold of you, not to mention it's great crescendo at the climax of the track. And it happens again at the very end of the album with Love Yer Brain which is a piano led ballad that feels very Beatles-esque in my opinion (at the end they literally smash the piano to pieces (and there's a John Lennon sample at the very end)).
One Millionth Billionth Of A Millisecond On A Sunday Morning
Love Yer Brain
Other tracks come off as successful experiments like both of the Ode To C.C tracks, and the little instrumental that spans the first half of Operation: Love. There's also a number of low-key acoustic tracks that yet again really add a lot of depth to the album that it wouldn't have had if it were just straightforward punk rock songs like on Hear It Is.
All in all, Oh My Gawd... It The Flaming Lips comes across as a far superior version of Hear It Is, all the songwriting was improved and even when it doesn't quite work as well as it would later on, it truly feels like a rewarding listen all the way through, never muddled or dragging like earlier releases even with the inclusion of more long or drawn out songs and song structures. The album proves that even without Drozd in the mix yet, Coyne and co. were able to write songs that hit hard and we're as memorable as many albums that would come later. What I will say is lacking is the album still sounds quite amateur at times, the production while it is a step up from Hear It Is doesn't come close to the absolute studio mastery of albums like Yoshimi, The Soft Bulletin, or At War With The Mystics and this due to two things one being that the Lips themselves were not well versed in the studio yet, and two mastermind Dave Freidman hadn't joined them at the helm yet, and no got the Lips sound better on recording than him. Also like I said Drozd hadn't joined yet and his multi-instrumentation brought something to the table without it The Flaming Lips can feel very empty at times even though piano is on Oh My Gawd, the subtle layering Drozd would bring added something absolutely amazing to the band with his knowledge of music theory and layering.
FAVORITE TRACKS: Love Yer Brain, One Millionth Billionth Of A Millisecond On A Sunday Morning, Ode To C.C Part 1, Everything's Explodin', Can't Exist, Prescription: Love
LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS: Thanks To You
OVERALL RATING: 8/10