The Flaming Lips

成立于1983年的The Flaming Lips，早年是一隊深受Buffhole Surfers影響的噪音搖滾（Noise Rock）樂團。由八十年代過度至九十年代，適逢九十年代初葉Alternative Rock狂流沖擊著主流樂壇，The Flaming Lips亦跟眾多美國另類搖滾樂隊一樣，與主流唱片公司（Warner Bros）簽下一紙合約。當年他們的殺手锏，是在臺上表演“放火”以作嘩眾取寵。
The Flaming Lips過去幾年間之輝煌成就，足已叫大家忘掉他們曾是一隊多年來只能半紅不黑的美國另類搖滾樂隊?？粗`魂人物Wayne Coyne由早年的長發(fā)搖滾型男，而變成看似黑幫大佬的中年男人，他的音樂才華與創(chuàng)意卻似乎也一并隨著年齡增長。The Flaming Lips以其對搖滾樂的獨特見解，風格迥異的作品，在贏得了無數歌迷擁戴的同時，也贏得了圈內同行的尊重。
Flaming Lips自出道以來，一直以其多變的曲風，瀟灑自如的演繹，對作品獨特的處理方式為其金字招牌，無論是充滿暴力激情的朋克，場面宏大的華麗搖滾，還是充滿懷舊情調的哀婉小曲，他們的演繹總是那樣不瘟不火、游刃有余。而最難能可貴的是，這些風格迥異的作品竟然如此和諧地出現在同一張專輯中，形成了一個完美的整體。一般常識認為，任何一張專輯總會有一兩個亮點，而要達到曲曲動聽、入耳皆溶的效果，無論對于異常挑剔的歌迷還是作風嚴謹的音樂人，都是可遇而不可求的。更何況多變的風格、大相徑庭的方式呢？而這卻正是Flaming Lips一直堅持的風格，這就越發(fā)使人對Flaming Lips肅然起敬了。
這張專輯Zaireeka其實是由'Zaire'和'Eueeka'復合起來的詞，指由領導人Wayne塑造出來象征無政府和天賦的融合。這張專輯并不是普通的OneDisc，而是四張同樣的CD。妙的是他們并非讓人一張一張輪流聽，而是希望你自己做DJ同時同步放入四臺Player，自己調解自己想要的Balance，能聽到從四套音響系統(tǒng)同時播放的聲音（一套系統(tǒng)接八個音箱達不到同樣的效果）?？上н@張專輯只售出二萬五千張。
Even within the eclectic world of alternative rock, few bands were so brave, so frequently brilliant, and so deliciously weird as the Flaming Lips. From their beginnings as Oklahoma weirdos to their pop culture breakthrough in the mid-90s to their status as one of the most respected groups of the 2000s, the Lips have ridden one of the more surreal and haphazard career trajectories in pop music. An acid-bubblegum band with as much affinity for sweet melodies as blistering noise assaults, their off-kilter sound, uncommon emotional depth, and bizarre history (packed with tales of self-immolating fans and the like) firmly established them as true originals.
The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983, when founder and guitarist Wayne Coyne allegedly stole a collection of musical instruments from an area church hall and enlisted his vocalist brother Mark and bassist Michael Ivins to start a band. Giving themselves the nonsensical name the Flaming Lips (its origin variously attributed to a porn film, an obscure drug reference, or a dream in which a fiery Virgin Mary plants a kiss on Wayne in the backseat of his car), the band made its live debut at a local transvestite club. After progressing through an endless string of drummers, they recruited percussionist Richard English prior to recording their self-titled debut, issued on green vinyl on their own Lovely Sorts of Death label in 1985.
When Mark Coyne soon departed to get married, Wayne assumed full control of the group; in addition to remaining its lead guitarist, he also became the primary singer and songwriter. Continuing on as a trio, the Lips released 1986s Hear It Is, followed a year later by Oh My Gawd!!!...The Flaming Lips. While touring in support of the Butthole Surfers, they played Buffalo, NY, where they were befriended by concert promoter Jonathan Donahue; after a jam session with Donahues nascent band Mercury Rev, he and Coyne became close friends, and Donahue eventually signed on as the groups sound technician.
After recording 1988s difficult Telepathic Surgery, English exited, reducing the Lips to the core duo of Coyne and Ivins; after adding drummer Nathan Roberts, Donahue adopted the name Dingus and became a full-time member in time to cut 1990s stellar In a Priest Driven Ambulance while simultaneously recording the brilliant Mercury Rev debut, Yerself Is Steam. Following a series of hopeful phone calls to Warner Bros., the company signed the band in 1991, and in 1992 their oft-delayed major-label debut, Hit to Death in the Future Head, appeared to little commercial notice; Donahue soon exited to focus his full energies on Mercury Rev, followed by the departure of Roberts.
With new guitarist Ronald Jones and drummer Steven Drozd, they cut 1993s sublime Transmissions from the Satellite Heart, which they supported by playing the second stage at Lollapalooza and touring the nation in a Ryder truck. Initially, the album stiffed; however, nearly a year after its initial release, the single She Dont Use Jelly became a grassroots hit, and against all odds the Flaming Lips found themselves on the Top 40 charts. They took full advantage of their requisite 15 minutes of fame, appearing everywhere from MTVs annual Spring Break broadcast to an arena tour in support of Candlebox to a memorably surreal lip-synched performance on the teen soap opera Beverly Hills 90210, where supporting character Steve Sanders (portrayed by actor Ian Ziering) uttered the immortal words, You know, Ive never been a big fan of alternative music, but these guys rocked the house!
After the 1994 release of a limited-edition sampler of odds-and-ends titled Providing Needles for Your Balloons, the Lips returned in 1995 with Clouds Taste Metallic, a strikingly mature and diverse collection highlighted by the singles Bad Days (also heard in the film Batman Forever), This Here Giraffe, and Brainville. Despite the inclusion of the remarkably melodic Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles, Christmas at the Zoo (rumored to be under consideration for inclusion on an upcoming John Tesh holiday record), and the epic Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World, the album nonetheless failed to live up to the commercial success of Transmissions, and the band was once again relegated to cult status.
In 1996, the Lips world went haywire; first, Jones disappeared to undertake a spiritual odyssey from which he did not return, then Drozds hand was almost needlessly amputated after he was bitten by a spider. At about the same time, Ivins was the victim of a bizarre hit-and-run accident after a wheel came off of another vehicle and slammed into his car, trapping him inside. Ironically, Coyne was having car problems of his own when rumors of his latest sonic foray — conducting an orchestra of 40 automobiles, all with their tape decks playing specially composed music at the same time — prompted fan discussion of his possible psychological collapse. I would try to tell people what I was doing and found that I couldnt explain it very well, Coyne later remarked about the project, dubbed the Parking Lot Experiment. Plus, I had a sore on the side of my tongue for a week and it made me talk kind of weird. Im sure they thought I was retarded.
By the following year, the Flaming Lips (who continued as a trio, opting not to attempt to replace Jones) were back in the studio, recording an album that, according to Coyne, would be so different and exciting it will either make us millionaires or break us — in short, 1997s Zaireeka, a breathtaking and wildly experimental set of four discs designed to be played simultaneously. A previously unreleased track, Hot Day, also appeared earlier that year on the soundtrack to Richard Linklaters film SubUrbia. A Collection of Songs Representing an Enthusiasm for Recording...by Amateurs, a retrospective of their Restless label material, followed in 1998, and a year later the Lips returned with a breathtaking new studio effort, The Soft Bulletin. After a three-year absence from the shelves, 2002 brought several new releases, including the new record Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and a two-volume retrospective of the Restless years. Yoshimi won the group even more popular and critical acclaim than The Soft Bulletin, which the group maximized by spending half of 2002 appearing with Beck on his Sea Change tour as both his opening act and backing band. The Lips kept busy over the next two years by touring in support of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and working on their movie Christmas on Mars. They returned to the studio in 2004 and spent much of 2005 recording; that year, the Flaming Lips documentary The Fearless Freaks and VOID video collection were both released, whetting fans appetites for the bands 2006 album, At War with the Mystics.