Review Session is a new segment I am bringing to this critically acclaimed blog in which I will be reviewing albums and films that I deem worthy. I will also be scoring the review on a scale from 1 to 10.
Embryonic by The Flaming Lips
Wayne Coyne recently said on The Colbert Report, "I would accept weird as a compliment." Being a hug fan of him and his band I can truly believe that he does accept weird as a compliment. I bring this up because, well, Embryonic is straight up weird. Just look at the album cover pictured above. I mean weird to be a massive compliment in this situation. Their last two albums At War With the Mystics and Yoshmi Battles the Pink Robots, have been weird in there own little way, but not the usually Flaming Lips definition of "weird". Embryonic is dark, intense, and most definitely Flaming Lips "weird"! This album creates epic waves of sound that wash over the listener's brain leaving it highly stimulated and immensely satisfied. The album embarks on a journey based on the ebb and flow of intense psych-rock influenced songs and soft-natured whimsical tracks. The purpose of the album is direct. The Flaming Lips intend to once again re-direct their music into a different direction, which is back to their roots. Embryonic reminds me a little of their 1990 album In a Priest Driven Ambulance, which brings the same persona of damp freakiness. In Embryonic Wayne Coyne's voice has never been more soft, yet his words have never been more potent. In the opening track "Convinced of the Hex" Coyne sings in a monotone voice, "she said I like your theory, but it won't past no tests". In this line Coyne states the albums theme in that the world is full of ideas and theories, but do they make sense? Do they fit in our world? Coyne has never been one short of words, but in Embryonic he makes his lyrics count. The Flaming Lips have once again hit the nail on the head, but with Embryonic they have achieved a level of musical genius they haven't had in a decade.
Rating = 9.4
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