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Let me first confess that this is the first album of Flaming Lips that I have heard, and as many listeners have said, it is kind of hard to dig in it at a first listen; I am one of those who thought at the first listening that he/she was hearing a piece of "idiotic" and "directionless" music. I only remember two other albums that caused me such a strong impression in their own field of music experimentation: Loveless, by My Bloody Valentine, and Lateralus, by Tool. Those albums had the virtue of turning me, after several attentive listenings, in a follower of each group. So has it happened with Soft Bulletin, by The Flaming Lips. The album really sounds strange, weird, and that is because it is a melting pot of different styles of music both in form as in function. The Soft Bulletin is a treasure containing original treatments of country-folk, blues, godspell, surf rock, symphonic rock, choral music, psychodelia, and possibly other types of music that I have not yet been able to identify. At the same time, the songs are highly melodic, harmonically dense, catchy and even very danceable at times, turning them into a part of a pop flavoured ouvre that can appeal to listeners not used to the complexities (and pretentions, some would argue) of some art prog rock music. And finally, the texture of the sound and the atmosphere of the music make you imagine sometimes a film of some sort, or imagine distant and strange environments. Sometimes the music suggest relaxation, sometimes induces to dance. I hope that someone in the near future will lay out the comparisons between the Soft Bulletin and Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, by the Beatles, Smile, by Brian Wilson, and Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd, among other historical albums. I cite those albums in order to give the readers the parameters within which The Soft Bulletin should be considered: art pop music, because this is what those albums are about: the fusion between artistry, musicianship, and pop sensibility. A word should be said about Coyne's lyrics and voice in this album. I think that voice and lyrics make the perfect match, because Coyne sings with a very ironic style, like someone who is saying something serious in a not so serious way, which is the trait that befuddle listeners that in the first try consider the music "idiotic". And the lyrics themselves are ironic, revealing the frailty and at the same time marvel of the human condition, as a product of the struggle between the ilusion of power given by knowledge, science or politics, and the reality of our finitude, our limitations and contingent existence. So it is that the best and competitive scientist is in the end a human, with children and wife or husband, and the unexpected bite of a spider in the band guitarrist's hand can destroy the author (Coyne) and the band, and so it is that we cannot wait for a Superman to save us if we do not decide to save ourselves together!!! Folks, some of these lyrics bring tears to my eyes. From now on I will search for the music of these guys! So, what can I add? Listen The Soft Bulleting, and if you do not get it at a first try, give it several chances, you will not repent, and on the contrary, will give thanks to God that there are still creative musicians able to uplift you, as Superman would do.
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