Hit to Death in the Future Head

The Flaming Lips | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 11, 1992)
• Original Release Date: August 11, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002LSO
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,386 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #36 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Dream Pop
  • #79 in Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative > General

Editorial Reviews

After lauded indie albums, The Flaming Lips debuted on Warner Bros. with 1991's Hit To Death In The Future Head. Transmissions From The Satellite Heart and Clouds Taste Metallic followed. 1999's The Soft Bulletin topped numerous year-end best-of lists and helped rank the band among the most influential in the world. 2002's Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots ranked #4 in Spin and #11 in NME on their end-of-yearlists, and won a Grammy®. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oft-Overlooked Classic, February 1, 2006

By 

Dennis Priess - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hit to Death in the Future Head (Audio CD)

The Flaming Lips' fifth album, Hit to Death in the Future Head, is, to start, a surprisingly coherent and brilliant album from a
time in the Lips' musical career when they were still transitioning from something like alternative grunge to electronic pop. It gives a tantalizing taste of the care-free subjects of their next album, Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, while mixing some of the left-over grunge from In a Priest Driven Ambulance with an overall mellower sound similar to that of more recent albums. However, by no means should this be mistaken for one of their latest works. It bears little or no resemblance to the oft-loved and emotional Soft Bulletin, nor to the experimental Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. It is unique in its own right, as a little-known hybrid of changing styles in the middle of the Flaming Lips career.

This fact becomes readily apparent in songs like "Gingerale Afternoon," an amazingly laid-back tune (despite its apparent speed) that sparks memories of nostalgic summers, and the most impressive work on the album "Halloween on the Barbary Coast," a deceptively smooth song that hides brash and noisy chords reminiscent of Lips' previous albums. Though many of the songs here have apparent differences in subject matter, they seem to have an overlying blanket of similar song character, and they compliment each other well. For instance, the unhurried and majestic "The Sun" makes for a very good lead into the almost overly-calm and slow f***-it-all "Felt Good to Burn." One song just gets you in the mood for another.

Interestingly, throughout much of Hit to Death in the Future Head, Coyne's trademark slightly off-key and quirky singing style from earlier albums is gone, replaced by a much calmer and dignified voice. In all truth, his vocals sound oddly similar to Bob Dylan's. Whether or not this is a good thing, however, depends upon your taste in music. By taking such a large departure vocally from the last album, you may find yourself dismayed by this change, or, possibly, pleasantly surprised. That's not to say that his voice is always like this ("The Magician vs. the Headache" is a notable exception), but it certainly feels this way in some of the slower songs in the album, like the previously-stated "The Sun" and "Felt Good to Burn," which in a strange way end up feeling like songs by Bob Dylan being covered by the Flaming Lips.

As a side note, this was one of the final albums in which the Flaming Lips was a four member band. Their fourth member, guitarist Jonathan Donahue, whose very noisy and bizarre guitar work made Hit to Death in the Future Head and the more critically successful In a Priest Driven Ambulance arguably some of the Lips' most memorable work, left almost immediately after the release of this album to pursue his own musical career. He was replaced by Ronald Jones for the next two albums, who then himself left the band, reportedly having suffered from paranoia and severe agoraphobia.

However, the album is not without its problems. The vocals are almost all un-listenably distant; whether this is purposeful or just a product of a poor recording studio at the time is uncertain. Also, anyone who started at either spectrum of the Flaming Lips career, either with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and Soft Bulletin, or Hear it Is might be put off by just how different is from either of them. The Flaming Lips have been an amazingly adaptable band throughout their lifetime; their beginning works and more recent are near polar opposites. If you have started at one extreme end of their career, it would probably be advisable to just work you way in one direction, one album at time so as to make the transition between musical styles less abrupt.

With this album the Flaming Lips have once again displayed their seemingly endless ability to completely revamp themselves from release to release. This over-looked classic is must-own for any Lips fan, and may just be the right place to start for those looking to discover all that their music has to offer.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The good ole Lips, April 18, 2000

By 

Doomsday (Vancouver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hit to Death in the Future Head (Audio CD)

This album has the best Lips sound. The classic sound. Squelchy guitars, backwords strings, and just general all around weirdness that forms a melody. In my opinion, their best album, by far. This album and Mercury Rev's "Yerself is Steem" are 2 early 90s must haves. Very similiar sounding.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative Best, January 4, 2003

By 

"terry808" (Thomaston, GA 30286) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hit to Death in the Future Head (Audio CD)

This album is to me the most creative and expansive album the band has released to date. The album summoned up a sence of creativity that opened the door for a new and original view. From the Dream Pop to the psychedelic majority of the album, it creates a panorama effect. The album is like a kalleidescope as layers upon layers of sound make for a new listen each time. New parts throughout the mix seem to appear from the already discovered sounds. The wonderful songs, creativity and feel make this an outstanding piece.

P.S.-they should drop the PA sticker... it's almost senseless to be there.

Ben.
the 15 year old.