With its walloping red-level drums, its small empire of synthesizers and its sci-fi lyricism, “Race” would not only be a standard-bearer for the album itself, but for the band’s entire sound going forward. It’s clear from as early as the opening number, “Race for the Prize,” which has gone on to become one of the band’s signature songs and a live staple.
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He knows the band’s inner mechanics intimately, and thus knew exactly how to bring out the best in them in the creative process of The Soft Bulletin. Consider Fridmann to the Flips what George Martin was to The Beatles: Of the 16 studio albums by the band, Fridmann has produced 10. By endeavouring to expand and venture out into the great unknown the way that they did on The Soft Bulletin, they were staying even more true to their nature than if they’d have stuck to their self-imposed status quo.Ī lot of this encouragement came from producer Dave Fridmann, who first came in originally to work on the band’s 1990 album In a Priest Driven Ambulance. It’s one of the most melodic, poppy and ethereal-sounding records that The Flaming Lips ever put out – but to deem it as selling out in the face of what they’d been doing on their previous albums in the 90s is to miss the point entirely. It’s for this, among many more reasons, that The Soft Bulletin was such a remarkably surprising album. The band, now a trio, had carved in a niche of experimental and abrasive psychedelic rock that bore little fruit beyond cult status. Their one hit single, 1993’s “She Don’t Use Jelly,” was well and truly in the rearview mirror. Their previous album, 1997’s Zaireeka, was one of the biggest commercial and critical disasters in the history of indie-rock (all you need to know is they attempted to put out a four-CD album where all the discs had to be played at once). The Oklahoma natives have forged an entire career out of daring to be different, earning themselves a reputation as being fundamentally fearless – and, for many fans, it all began with The Soft Bulletin back in 1999.Īt the time it arrived, The Flaming Lips had reached desperate times and desperate measures. If there’s one thing The Flaming Lips have proven in their 35-plus years as a band, however, it’s that there’s no singular road to success. It’s quite rare to discuss a seminal record beyond the first five-album stretch – let alone getting all the way up to album number nine. When discussing the touchstone moments in a band’s discography, you’re more often than not dealing with a seminal debut, a killer follow-up or a make-or-break third album.
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