THE FLAMING LIPS / The Terror [2013]

It's pretty common for psychedelic rock acts as they age to get less and less "psychedelic" to the point of creating nice soft rock music over soothing sonic backdrops.  After being together for 30 years, The Flaming Lips will have none of that and prove it with the noisy, dark and bizarre 2013 album, The Terror.
Being a colorful, cold and vivid musical expression of loneliness, broken hearts and despair, I can't help but wonder what brought up such feelings from a normally upbeat act like The Lips.  It's like a suffocating krautrock version of Damon Albarn doing Atom Heart Mother that pulls you into it's headspace and paralyzes you with mesmerizing otherworldly soundscapes and emotions.

4 suns going up & down out of your control out of 5

Songs Of Note: Try To Explain; Always There...In Our Hearts

THE FLAMING LIPS / The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon [2009]

For their lucky 13th album, psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips decided to take on Pink Floyd's classic Dark Side Of The Moon album in it's entirety.  

With a little help from Stardeath & The White Dwarfs, The Lips make the album all their own while still sounding strangely familiar but never bloated as other artists might do.  I laugh with excitement every time I hear Henry Rollins' voice reenact the dialogue samples from the original album, however as impressive as Peaches' vocal abilities are I just need to turn down her contribution.  As a Lips fan it's a unique addition to their catalogue but as a Floyd fan it's borderline offensive.  

3 extreme hit & misses out of 5

Songs Of Note: Speak To Me/Breathe; Time/Breathe (reprise)