Product Description

HIT TO DEATH IN THE FUTURE HEAD is the fifth Flaming Lips album, was the first to be released by a major record label (Warner Brothers), and bears the subtitle "10 Solipsistic Soundtracks by the Flaming Lips"--a fantastically accurate description of the Lips' music in general. Solipsism is a theme that Wayne Coyne has consistently explored in his lyrics andthat he and his revolving team of bandmates have addressed in their music. These songs are all about "reality" as filtered through the very odd prism of Coyne's mind.
Though frequently layered in distortion and other effects, most Flaming Lips songs follow fairly traditional pop structures. "Gingerale Afternoon" is a rare example of one that holds the effects to a minimum, burying them in the background for the most part and letting Coyne's voice and a bright, understatedguitar carry the song. The song that follows it, "Halloweenon the Barbary Coast", takes the another tack with some heavy-duty drumming anchoring a swirling landslide of shimmering guitars (some tracked backwards). This is arguably the best Flaming Lips album and certainly the best one to start with.

Track Listing

1. Talkin' 'bout The Smiling Deathporn Immortality Blues
2. Hit Me Like You Did The First Time
3. Sun
4. Felt Good To Burn
5. Gingerdale Afternoon (The Astrology Of A Saturday)
6. Halloween On The Barbary Coast
7. Magician Vs The Headache
8. You Have To Be Joking (Autopsy Of The Devil's Brain)
9. Frogs
10. Hold Your Head

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61649 in Music
• Released on: 1995-01-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Customer Reviews

Flaming Hits
A band who love to experiement with all sorts of sounds, and being on a major allowed them to advance further than any of the "Finally The Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid" recordings. This album makes my eyes roll back in my head and slaps a big smile on my face. The lyrics are all brilliant, and everytime you listen to it you hear new sound you never noticed before. It is messier than their later recordings, but that chaotic aspect is something i love. Great stuff.

Flaming Joss Stick!
This is a tremendoues album indeed. It may have a toilet on the front cover but the music is anything but crap. Being A Soft Bulletin era fan and having got into the band through seeing them support Mercury Rev twice in 99, the thought of a lips/rev collaboration was mouth watering. There are obvious traces of Rev here through Jonathan Donohue's screaming pyschedelic guitars. A must for any fan of early Rev. :/ Oh, the flaming lips are pretty good too! :/ The first couple of tracks kick off in a pretty rockin way, tracks 3 and 4 are not the best but from Gingerale Afternoon onwards this album really kicks off. The drumming patterns and the way these songs are driven are great to listen to if you like pyschedelic fuzz guitar rock. By the time The magician vs the headache launches into overdrive, you will have turned this CD up pretty loud (or you should do). Autopsy of the devils brain is a sad and lovely song, just get this album and play it loud. Then get Yerself Is Steam by Mercury Rev. Quite simply the lips are a unique, intruiging and fascinating band. See them live if you can, they put on a great show. This band is genius, they make all other bands eat figs. I have spoken.

Indie band get big bucks and go gloriously mad
The Lips signed to a major, got access to the kind of budget and facilities they'd never expected, and produced a fantastically over-ambitious psychedelic masterpiece. The opening track (Talkin' bout the..)sets the tone: it's weird and witty and beautiful. We've all heard albums with great opening tracks which thereafter went downhill fast, but "Hit..." just gets better. Other highlights, like "Halloween on the Barbary Coast" and "Frogs" push divergent envelopes in dazzling directions. If you came to the Lips via "The Soft Bulletin", please, please check out their back catalogue; they have been brilliant for at least a decade and a half, and "Hit..." is a great place to start.