Covers albums are a tricky business. On one hand, they want to honor the power and greatness of the original songs, but they also work to put the newer artist's flavor and sound onto the music. Most of the time, the result is that neither happens. Enter the Flaming Lips.
Now, I've been a pretty big fan of the Flaming Lips oeuvre for a while, and I've found a fair share of their covers interesting. Their Dark Side of the Moon cover album was a little weird,but I think it paid homage to the original, and I found the Flaming Side of the Moon, though a joke, to be thoroughly enjoyable. I also really liked their cover of In the Court of the Crimson King (I never thought they'd be able to pull off '21st Century Schizoid Man' as well as they did). But now here we are with their track by track cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles' magnum opus, and arguably one of the greatest artistic statements of popular music.
Like many, I am a massive fan of the Beatles, and Rubber Soul is my favorite album of all time, so the Flaming Lips would have to do this right to win any points from me. After listening to the album through and through quite a number of times, I still honestly have no idea what to think about it, so don't expect any ratings here. But maybe that's what they were after. It needs to be experienced for yourself.
The Flaming Lips are hardly the only contributors to this album. They enlist Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Ben Goldwasser of MGMT, Grace Potter, and walking tabloid article Miley Cyrus, among others, to contribute to this massive Beatles tribute(or riff, depending on who you ask). Surprisingly enough, Miley Cyrus isn't too bad on these songs, though they definitely could have cut her little talking asides (her voice irritates me to no end).
All in all, I find the best songs on the album to be the ones that are closer to the structure of the originals. Sometimes the songs are just shells of their former selves that have been stuffed with too much distortion, synth fuzz, and processed vocals (though the auto-tune fail on the 'sang out of tune' line in 'With a Little Help From My Friends' was hilarious). I realize the album couldn't be exactly like the original, but not even using the melodic shapes in spots seemed like a little too much artistic license.
Obviously this won't be replacing Sgt. Pepper's for anyone, but if you're a fan of the Flaming Lips and the Beatles, I'd say it's worth a listen or too. If you're only a fan of the Beatles, I might avoid it. Looking forward to something original from the Flaming Lips now after their post- The Terror victory lap of side projects, cover albums and drummer firings.
Currently listening to the new Pink Floyd album The Endless River, as well as the New Basement Tapes project. I'll share my opinion on those soon. Feel free to share your opinions on this release, as well as anything you might be listening to.
Now, I've been a pretty big fan of the Flaming Lips oeuvre for a while, and I've found a fair share of their covers interesting. Their Dark Side of the Moon cover album was a little weird,but I think it paid homage to the original, and I found the Flaming Side of the Moon, though a joke, to be thoroughly enjoyable. I also really liked their cover of In the Court of the Crimson King (I never thought they'd be able to pull off '21st Century Schizoid Man' as well as they did). But now here we are with their track by track cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles' magnum opus, and arguably one of the greatest artistic statements of popular music.
Like many, I am a massive fan of the Beatles, and Rubber Soul is my favorite album of all time, so the Flaming Lips would have to do this right to win any points from me. After listening to the album through and through quite a number of times, I still honestly have no idea what to think about it, so don't expect any ratings here. But maybe that's what they were after. It needs to be experienced for yourself.
The Flaming Lips are hardly the only contributors to this album. They enlist Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Ben Goldwasser of MGMT, Grace Potter, and walking tabloid article Miley Cyrus, among others, to contribute to this massive Beatles tribute(or riff, depending on who you ask). Surprisingly enough, Miley Cyrus isn't too bad on these songs, though they definitely could have cut her little talking asides (her voice irritates me to no end).All in all, I find the best songs on the album to be the ones that are closer to the structure of the originals. Sometimes the songs are just shells of their former selves that have been stuffed with too much distortion, synth fuzz, and processed vocals (though the auto-tune fail on the 'sang out of tune' line in 'With a Little Help From My Friends' was hilarious). I realize the album couldn't be exactly like the original, but not even using the melodic shapes in spots seemed like a little too much artistic license.
Obviously this won't be replacing Sgt. Pepper's for anyone, but if you're a fan of the Flaming Lips and the Beatles, I'd say it's worth a listen or too. If you're only a fan of the Beatles, I might avoid it. Looking forward to something original from the Flaming Lips now after their post- The Terror victory lap of side projects, cover albums and drummer firings.
Currently listening to the new Pink Floyd album The Endless River, as well as the New Basement Tapes project. I'll share my opinion on those soon. Feel free to share your opinions on this release, as well as anything you might be listening to.
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
No comments:
Post a Comment