I think writing bad literary criticism of albums is something for Pitchfork wankers and the NME.

My friend raves about this album, says it's incredible.

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Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I think writing bad literary criticism of albums is something for Pitchfork wankers and the NME. My friend raves about this album, says it's incredible.

I wasn't really going for a whole huge analysis of the album; I don't have the time right now to review lyrics, liner notes, or music while I prepare a case for my argument/perception. I was just hoping to hear from others who enjoy this record and see what their thoughts were. Apologies if I came off a bit pretentious there, but how is bad album critique any different than bad trance critique?

But I suppose I'll go give PF a look anyways...maybe I'll find something interesting there

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quote:

Originally posted by Ygrene This is deserving of a Lifetime CORe Whore Achievment award.

Last edited by treeboo on Aug-31-2009 at 14:26

i think its an amazing album and you have an interesting take on it.

the flaming lips are definitely meticulous enough to have a whole outlined message hidden in their album, so i agree this is one of those albums that you wont be wasting your time digging into for a meaning.

That being said has anyone seen FEARLESS FREAKS the flaming lips documentary? AMAZING.

quote:

Originally posted by treeboo Apologies if I came off a bit pretentious there, but how is bad album critique any different than bad trance critique?

Bad trance critiques don't treat the music as a piece of literature and apply their high school English class analysis skills to it. Even Pitchfork, which has the lamentable habit of treating dance music as rock music and tries to find "meaning" and "depth" in it, generally just dismisses trance as mindless dance music, unworthy of praise or attention because it doesn't have anything they can think about.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Bad trance critiques don't treat the music as a piece of literature and apply their high school English class analysis skills to it. Even Pitchfork, which has the lamentable habit of treating dance music as rock music and tries to find "meaning" and "depth" in it, generally just dismisses trance as mindless dance music, unworthy of praise or attention because it doesn't have anything they can think about.

I think I see your point, but I can't necessarily agree. IMO, If you're going to submit an album as a rock opera, you're making the claim that you are going to be telling a story throughout, making the piece literature. To me, this opens up the album to interpretation as to what the artist is trying to convey. The importance of the level of that interpretation is marginal, at best. Bad critique is bad critique, regardless of the subject matter, but it is fun.

The explanation I offered may have been pretty elementary in nature and delivery, but I wasn't trying to invoke a full-on analysis. I'm not specifically soliciting reviews of the technical nature of the recording, nor of it's place in musical history; I simply want to open a thread of discussion about this album. Sure, this might be as vapid as my "analysis", but no more so than dismissing rock (or any genre of) music as devoid of meaning and depth.

How else would you propose analyzing this album, or would you simply recommend enjoying the music and letting it be?

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quote:

Originally posted by Ygrene This is deserving of a Lifetime CORe Whore Achievment award.

To be fair, I wasn't referring to your analysis in particular. I just dislike the whole act of treating music as literature, and the associated ideology of how music is recieived and listened to. For me, music almost always makes for very bad literature.

Also: narrative =/= literature. Telling a story doesn't make something literature, and a lot of music treated as literature doesn't tell any story. A concept album, whether it's a "rock opera" or whatever else, doesn't inherently have subtext or themes, either.

Finally, I just think it's very easy to take a vague "concept" and come up with a faux-intellectual analysis of rote themes. Without having heard any of the lyrics, I can say that the battle against the robots represents the battle between rock music's live soul and the future of electronic musical techniques, reflected in the album's composition. The failure you mention is the acknowledgement that electronic music is the future, and so the Flaming Lips promptly did a collaboration with The Chemical Brothers called "The Golden Path".

And everything I just said is probably a complete crock of shit. Music isn't meant for this kind of analysis, and it's only the last 30 years of rock journalism that has tried to prove otherwise.

___________________
Mixes:
> Maximum Elevation [Progressive House]
> DI.FM 26th Anniversary Guest Mix [Progressive House]
> Live @ Dance:Love:Hub London, 11.10.2025
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24

Like these sets? Come see me play live at Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

I love the album, but it's been a few months since I last listened to it, so my analysis would be a little lacking right now.

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