HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Soft Bulletin'' is the ninth
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by American rock band
the Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...
, released by
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
on May 17, 1999, in the United Kingdom, and on June 22, 1999, in the United States. The album was released to widespread acclaim, and was hailed by critics as a departure from their previous
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
-heavy
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
sound into a more layered, intricately arranged work.


Music and lyrics

The album was considered to mark a change in the course for the band, with more traditional catchy melodies, accessible-sounding music (their previous album '' Zaireeka'' was a quadruple album of experimental sounds meant to be played on four separate stereo systems simultaneously), and more serious and thoughtful lyrics. The album was also noted for its fusion of ordinary rock instruments, electronic beats, and synthesizers. Its large, layered, symphonic sound has also earned it a reputation as the ''
Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by the American Rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was produced, arranged, and primarily composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. R ...
'' of the 1990s from a few critics. This sound was achieved in part by detuning and layering multiple MIDI keyboards as opposed to recording a live orchestra.


Artwork

The cover artwork of the album is a modified version of a photograph taken by Lawrence Schiller titled ''The Acid Test: Neal Cassady'', which according to Schiller, depicts Neal Cassady dancing with his own shadow during an Acid Test conducted by the Merry Pranksters. The original photograph was featured in a 1966 ''
Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' magazine article on
LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...
.


Reception

''The Soft Bulletin'' was lauded by critics and fans alike and topped numerous "Best of 1999" lists. The album is now considered by many to be the Flaming Lips's masterpiece. ''The Soft Bulletin'' is considered by some to be partially responsible for establishing the latter-day identity of the Flaming Lips, and as its following expanded over the years after its release, paving the way to their being among the most well-respected groups of the 2000s. In 2006, Robert Dimery chose ''The Soft Bulletin'' and its follow-up ''
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots ''Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots'' is the tenth studio album by American rock band the Flaming Lips, released on July 16, 2002, by Warner Bros. Records. The album saw the band pursue a more electronic direction than previous efforts, incorporati ...
'' as part of his book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...
'' ranked the album 3rd on the Top 100 albums of the 1990s list, and awarded it a rare score of 10.0.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
's Jason Ankeny gave it a highly enthusiastic review, concluding that "there's no telling where The Lips will go from here, but it's almost beside the point – not just the best album of 1999, ''The Soft Bulletin'' might be the best record of the entire decade". Since late 2010, the album has been sporadically performed live in its entirety over the years, and on May 26, 2016, an orchestra was used to embellish sounds of the album while the band played their main instruments for the album at the concert. As of 2002 it had sold 100,000 units in the United States according to
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...
.


Track listing

Upon its release, ''The Soft Bulletin'' was subject to record company demands for commercial-sounding music, hence the inclusion of
remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
es of several songs. In addition, the US ("The Spiderbite Song") and UK ("Slow Motion") CDs each contain one track that the other does not.


US CD release

The worldwide digital edition uses the US track listing but switches the versions of "Race for the Prize" (track 1 and 13).


UK and Australian CD release


Vinyl release


''The Soft Bulletin 5.1''

On January 31, 2006, Warner Bros. re-released ''The Soft Bulletin'' in the US as a two-disc package titled ''The Soft Bulletin 5.1''. It includes a remastered CD and a
DVD-Audio DVD-Audio (commonly abbreviated as DVD-A) is a digital format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. DVD-Audio uses most of the storage on the disc for high-quality audio and is not intended to be a video delivery format. The ...
disc that contains a 5.1-channel
surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener ( surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to ...
mix of the album.


Package content


CD and DVD

# "Race for the Prize" – 4:18 # "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton" – 3:32 # "The Spark That Bled" – 5:55 # "Slow Motion" – 3:49 # "What Is the Light?" – 4:05 # "The Observer" – 4:11 # "Waitin' for a Superman" – 4:17 # "Suddenly Everything Has Changed" – 3:54 # "The Gash" – 4:02 # "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" – 5:23 # "Sleeping on the Roof" – 3:04 # "The Spiderbite Song" – 4:02 # "Buggin – 3:22


DVD videos

# "Race for the Prize" – 4:26 # "Waitin' for a Superman" – 4:39


DVD outtakes

# "1000 Ft. Hands" – 5:50 # "The Captain Is a Cold Hearted and Egotistical Fool" – 5:14 # "Satellite of You" – 4:32


DVD radio sessions

# "Up Above the Daily Hum" – 4:38 # "The Switch That Turns Off the Universe" – 7:54 # "We Can't Predict the Future" – 3:04 # "It Remained Unrealizable" – 8:34 *The 5.1 package has the UK track list with the remixes at the end removed. They were replaced with "The Spiderbite Song" and the original mix of "Buggin which had previously only seen release on a US promotional CD. *This package marks the first time that US consumers have been able to get "Slow Motion" on CD, as this had previously only been available on the UK CD and the US vinyl releases.


Packaging error

The first pressings of ''The Soft Bulletin 5.1'' were erroneously shipped with an original US CD instead of the new remastered CD with the revised track list. The band offered to replace the incorrect CD with the new version for anyone who received the wrong CD in their package. In addition, many people who sent their incorrect CDs in for replacement also received a handwritten letter of apology from the band's bassist, Michael Ivins. Warner Bros. has since fixed this problem.


Personnel

The Flaming Lips *
Wayne Coyne Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the founder, lead vocalist, main songwriter, and only constant member of the psychedelic rock band the Flaming Lips. Early life Coyne was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ...
 –
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
,
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, keyboards,
theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...
*
Michael Ivins Michael Lee Ivins (born March 17, 1963) is the former bassist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and founding member of The Flaming Lips. Along with Mark Coyne and Wayne Coyne, he formed The Flaming Lips in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Accordi ...
 –
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
, keyboards, backing vocals, engineering *
Steven Drozd Steven Gregory Drozd (born June 11, 1969) is an American musician. He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the Flaming Lips, Electric Würms, and other projects. Early life Drozd was born in Houston, Texas, and grew up in Ri ...
 –
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
,
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, keyboards, bass, backing vocals Production *The Flaming Lips – production, mix, recording *
Dave Fridmann David Lawrence Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. Career From 1990 onwards he co-produced most releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. Other bands he has worked with include Weezer, Saxon Shore (band), Saxon Shore, Neon ...
 – production, mix, recording *Michael Ivins – additional engineering * Scott Booker – production *Steve Hall – mastering (at Future Disc Systems) Remixes *
Peter Mokran Peter Mokran is an American mixer, producer, engineer, and musician. Early life Mokran was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up, he studied classical guitar, while also learning engineering and programming as a teen.Paul Tingen“ ...
 – additional production & mix *Scott Bennett – additional bass on "Waitin' for a Superman (Remix)" Packaging *Lawrence Schiller – cover photograph *George Salisbury – layout & design


Charts


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soft Bulletin, The 1999 albums The Flaming Lips albums Warner Records albums Albums produced by Dave Fridmann Albums recorded at Tarbox Road Studios Art rock albums by American artists