Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eureka Zaireeka, December 17, 2003
When a band is already one of the most unique, and among the most innovative in the music biz, what can they do to get even more innovative? The Flaming Lips answer that question in a unique and surreal way in "Zaireeka," which may be the most unique album ever recorded. Whether it's genius depends on how you view music.Four discs make up "Zaireeka." When played simultaneously, they create a maelstrom of sound. Setting it up with four CD players sounds a bit arduous, but the experience is worth it when songs like the brilliant "Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (You're Invisible Now)" burst out of the multiple speakers. It gives an expansive feeling to the music, as if it's billowing out like smoke and surrounding the listener in a big cushy wall of sound. The songs have an experimental feeling to them. Some, like "Okay I'll Admit I Really Don't Understand" and "Machine in India" are lacking in complexity when compared to the remaining songs. But in every song, the shimmering multiple layers of sound interweave together, befuddling and dazzling me. A mere disc couldn't hold this much sound. Dogs barking, surreal guitars, gothic organs and pounding drums are much louder here than anywhere else. It's hard to tell how clear the sound is because of its intensity; it sounds like there are dozens of melodies being played together at times. And fans of the Lips' masterpiece "Soft Bulletin" should check this out. The sound of Zaireeka, once I got used to it, made me think of reminiscent of a bigger, more complicated twin of "Soft Bulletin." "Zaireeka" is an unparalleled experience that few bands could even dream of, let alone actually make. If you're in the mood for 4-D surreal soundscapes, then this is your thing. A marvelous album.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best way to spend a Saturday night....serisously, June 5, 2005
I bought this album the other day in at a local record store with all intentions of purchasing "Blonde on Blonde" by Bob Dylan but ended up in the "f" section and picked up this album. Upon reading the warning label on the cover I was sold. Any album that may send me into another musical dimension of disorientation and confusion was something I needed to own.
Would it live up to the hype? I read the enclosed booklet in the CD case and apparently Wayne of "The Flaming Lips" got the idea by having some 60 cars in a parking garage playing music all at the same time creating some psychedelic symphony. I thought this would be the best way to experience the album, and probably the least troublesome since I don't own 4 CD players and didn't want to trouble my friends into setting up theirs. Anyway, I convinced some of my friends that this was an experiment that needed to take place and that I need 4 other cars with CD players. They were skeptical at first but I assured them we would be taken away on a magic carpet ride of sound. We met at an abandoned parking lot and parked the cars in a circle.
At first it was difficult to get the CDs to sync up, but after trial and error we finally got it to work. Wow. We stood in the center of the cars and were literally surrounded and inside the sound. To experiment we'd move from car to car listening to each individual CD which by itself was only nonsensical sound but when they worked together created something beautiful and profound. It was also interesting to walk away from the cars and listen to the songs from far away as they came together. It truly was an experience.
Even if you don't know or like "The Flaming Lips", try this. It's absolutely worth the time, money, and effort. You can't put a price on a musical journey. I suggest going with playing the CDs through 4 cars because you get to be outside and can experiment more with the sound by moving around. Do it!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This will change how you listen to music, January 7, 2003
I have been a Lips fan for a while and had wanted to listen to Zaireeka for quite some time, but never had the chance. I decided to download a set of "mixed-down" mp3s from Kazaa and put them on a cd and gave it a listen, and thought it sounded neat, but it was obvious that it was just too much sound for one cd and so it sounded quite muddy. I noticed, however, that the actual box set was only 25 bucks at the local record store and so i decided to give it a whirl. IT IS AMAZING. I can't stress this enough. In NO WAY does a single-cd version of these songs come anywhere near to expressing the true experience. The goliath sound of this album makes famous producers like Phil Spector or Nigel Godrich seem like giddy amateurs. Synching the 4 cds is actually not as tedious or difficult as some would have you believe, as I have found that the album sounds the best when it is very close, but not perfectly in synch. Don't let that stop you, it is not a problem. Anyone who can't decide whether to buy this or not, i implore you, PLEASE DO! After this, everything will sound half-assed. Also, because of the nature of dealing with 4 different cds and cd players, the options are endless for changing the sound. Good luck!
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by The Flaming Lips 
