Performer Notes
- The Flaming Lips: Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar); Michael Ivins (guitar, bass, background vocals); Steve Drozd (guitar, drums, background vocals).
- Producers: The Flaming Lips, Dave Fridmann, Scott Booker.
- Recorded at Tarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York between June 2000 & April 2001.
- "Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
- This limited edition includes a bonus DVD version of YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK
- ROBOTS including the whole album in surround sound, videos and rare tracks.
- The Flaming Lips: Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar); Michael Ivins (guitar, bass, background vocals); Steve Drozd (guitar, drums, background vocals).
- Additional personnel includes: Yoshimi P-We.
- Producers: The Flaming Lips, Dave Fridmann, Scott Booker.
- Recorded at Tarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York between June 2000 & April 2001.
- "Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia)" won the 2003 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
- Emerging sometime in the '80s, Oklahoma boys The Flaming Lips have held steady to a peripheral, but significant location in the indie-rock world, visionaries blessed with a hyper-keen pop sensibility. In 1999, four years removed from the surprise alterna-pop hit "She Don't Use Jelly," the trio fronted by the fetching, impelling whisper of Wayne Coyne hit a remarkably high note, making scores of year-end 'best of' lists with THE SOFT BULLETIN, a mellifluous, masterful slice of Brian Wilson-level pop distorted through a few looking glasses. Following an acclaimed album is always a craggy cliff of anticipation, but if BULLETIN was the Flaming Lips' PET SOUNDS, then the ethereal YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS may be their SMILEY SMILE, a record which skillfully straddles the line between pop and experimentation.
- YOSHIMI offers lush, enveloping arrangements, forging a soundscape both comfortably predictable and satisfyingly, even dizzyingly, diverse, awash in Todd Rundgren-like grandiosity, yet startlingly simple in structure like the better work of Paul McCartney. Despite having the air of a quasi-concept album, YOSHIMI betrays little pretension, even in the face of the Lips' trademark deceptively complex lyrics. The exceptional YOSHIMI easily cements the Flaming Lips' place in the vanguard of the rock world.
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (7/25/02, p.72) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Ambitious with burbling electrobeats underpinning sci-fi orchestrations....the trio's love of sound sorcery is gently folded into gorgeous melodies..."
Rolling Stone (7/25/02, p.72) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Ambitious with burbling electrobeats underpinning sci-fi orchestrations....the trio's love of sound sorcery is gently folded into gorgeous melodies..."
Spin (1/03, p.70) - Ranked #4 on Spin's list of 2002's "Albums of the Year" - "...A concept album about heartsick rock-'em-sock-'em robots that's also a sermon about finding the courage to love in the face of death."
Spin (1/03, p.70) - Ranked #4 on Spin's list of 2002's "Albums of the Year" - "...A concept album about heartsick rock-'em-sock-'em robots that's also a sermon about finding the courage to love in the face of death."
Entertainment Weekly (7/19/02, p.74) - "...Spectacularly trippy..." - Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly (7/19/02, p.74) - "...Spectacularly trippy..." - Rating: B+
Q (12/02, p.66) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 2002"
Q (8/02, p.127) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Their second masterpiece....It's hard to remember a record so concerned with mortality and yet so heart-burstingly hopeful. It quivers with life..."
Q (12/02, p.66) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 2002"
Q (8/02, p.127) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Their second masterpiece....It's hard to remember a record so concerned with mortality and yet so heart-burstingly hopeful. It quivers with life..."
Uncut (1/03, p.94) - Ranked #1 in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year"
Uncut (8/02, p.96) - 5 out of 5 - "...Astonishing..."
Uncut (1/03, p.94) - Ranked #1 in Uncut's "100 Best Albums of the Year"
Uncut (8/02, p.96) - 5 out of 5 - "...Astonishing..."
CMJ (12/30/02, p.8) - Ranked #2 on CMJ's "Top 10 of 2002"
CMJ (7/22/02, p.4) - "...Impressionistic sonic wonder..."
CMJ (12/30/02, p.8) - Ranked #2 on CMJ's "Top 10 of 2002"
CMJ (7/22/02, p.4) - "...Impressionistic sonic wonder..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.63) - Ranked #36 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "They remain at the forefront of rock'n'roll mutation."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.72) - Ranked #2 in Mojo's "Best Albums of 2002"
Mojo (Publisher) (7/02, p.60) - "...A brilliant development of BULLETIN's tough'n'mellow blend..."
Mojo (Publisher) (1/03, p.72) - Ranked #2 in Mojo's "Best Albums of 2002"
Mojo (Publisher) (7/02, p.60) - "...A brilliant development of BULLETIN's tough'n'mellow blend..."
NME (Magazine) (7/13/02, p.36) - 8 out of 10 - "...Confident and imaginative....it sets yet another benchmark."
NME (Magazine) (7/13/02, p.36) - 8 out of 10 - "...Confident and imaginative....it sets yet another benchmark."
