Good news: the 11th album from the Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, is just as magnificent as its predecessor. 1999's The Soft Bulletin found this band of Oklahoma acidheads refining their eccentric indie-rock into glittering psychedelic fables. But Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots sees the band evolve even further into new, uncharted realms. Relying on crisp digital textures over muddy feedback rockouts, these 11 tracks are fully realised modern symphonies, twinkling with vivid orchestral sounds. The album's concept is peculiar in the extreme--a Manga-fied tale of a young Japanese girl warring against mechanical foes. Throughout, though, Wayne Coyne's vocals are warm, honest and heartfelt--no matter how absurd the words he's singing: "She's gotta be strong to fight 'em / So she's eaten lots of vitamins", he warbles sweetly on the title track, as vocoders chirrup in the background. Elsewhere, we find some of the Flaming Lips' most touching songs to date. "Do you realise? / That happiness makes you cry? / That everyone you know someday will die?" goes "Do You Realize" before a sparkling key change hikes the song up into a blub-inducing hymn to positivity. And "In the Morning of the Magicians" is a gentle, balladic rumination on love and empathy. Move over, Burt Bacharach: the spirit of classic songwriting appears to have found a new vessel. --Louis Pattison

I was instantly captivated by the soaring vocals, lush harmonies and orchestrations, and sterling production of this their 11th album. On this album there are pop singles (the catchy yet wistful "Fight Test," the tongue-in-cheek title track), instrumentals (the aggressive "Part II" of the title track and the smooth & mellow, Grammy-winning "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon") and even a prog rock number ("In the Morning of the Magicians") reminiscent of mid-1970's Yes.

The range of music on this record is astonishing. The pristine production values help the songs flow together and enhance the overall listening experience. Superficially a concept album about a Japanese girl who battles evil robots, "Yoshimi" is really a meditation about life and death, and the need for mortal humans to seize the moment. In many ways, it's a bookend to Radiohead's "OK Computer." Where Radiohead's brilliant work lamented the dehumanization of mankind and the rise of computers, "Yoshimi" glorifies the humanity in technology ("One more robot starts to feel...") and our ability to overcome machines of our making. The Flaming Lips have given us a profoundly beautiful and optimistic work of art, without forgetting to entertain us.

I enjoy listening to this album, although I find some of the longer instrumental sections lack interest. The sung parts are very melodic and enjoyable and occasionally reminiscent of pop hits of the past, like the opening song, which has the same melody as Cat Stevens's "Father & Son".
the overall impression is good to the extent that I also bought the folloow up "At War With the Mystics" on the strength of having heard this.

I had been aware of The Flaming Lips for at least a year, but I only decided to buy one of their albums about three weeks ago. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was the one that I chose. My initial reaction to the album was very positive, but it has continued to grow on me for the last three weeks.
The Flaming Lips are a weird but wonderful pop/rock band from America, who have constantly challenged themselves throughout their career, releasing many great albums, so I'm told. To describe this album's sound, I would say that it has a fairly poppy sound mixed with large amounts of psychadelia and space rock. I consider this album to be too experimental and complex to be called pure pop. The production is flawless and the band creates a wide sonic palette using synthesisers, electric and acoustic guitars, basslines, strings and drum machines. The effect is that the album sounds symphonic in an electronic way, the various electronic sounds lifting these heartfelt, endearing songs into space.
As soon as the opener Fight Test kicked in with its wonderful vocal melodies and acoustic guitar backed up by squelchy analog synths to create originality and a more psychadelic sound, I was blown away. The production made all of these beautifully crafted and layered sound very clear. However, the album then changed direction in the more subtle and almost ambient One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21, which uses ominous digital noise and relaxed piano chords to build a large amount of atmosphere, but also makes use of tempo changes for the song's optimistic chorus. This particular track has lyrics that ask the question, can robots learn to feel emotions? The album is packed with lyrical meanings, sung in an always heartfelt and whimsical way by singer Wayne Coyne. On a similar theme, there is the fairly daft but metaphorical tale of fighting evil machines in part 1 of the title track. This is an extremely catchy pop song with a chopped up acoustic guitar riff and bouncy drum machine. Part 2 of the Yoshimi suite is a noisy instrumental, meant to symnolise Yoshimi defeating the pink robots, as crazy sythesizer licks are placed alongside crashing drums and piercing shrieks.
After this, the album seems to shift gears lyrically, encouraging listeners to live life for the present and enjoy it while they can. This is most obvious in Do You Realize?? This is the album's biggest hit, which has a very grand symphonic sound and moving lyrics. However, I actually prefer the preceding song It's Summertime, the album's most beautiful and perhaps moving song, where Coyne sings, "Look outside, I know that you'll recognize it's summertime". This is perhaps telling us when we are depressed to realise that we are in fact living in our golden years (and yes, I do like Iron Maiden). In the Morning of the Magicians is a semi-epic with many beautiful sounds and a more complex song structure thrown in to make give the song a wistful, shifting feel, similar to its vocals and lyrics. There's also Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, which has a great bassline, wonderful expansive synths, insectide rhythm and beautiful vocals. This then segues into the moody expansiveness of Are You a Hypnotist? This song has a very spacey feel and is another of my faves. All We Have Is Now is the album's weakest song, but it is by no means bad, and adds to the album's message of living life for the present. The closing instrumental, which won a grammy award, is incredible. The layering of sounds which both contrast and compliment each other make the perfect dreamy atmoshpere to end the album. In this track,and throughout the album, the bands ability to be so strange and creative but also accessible is astounding.
All in all, I am very glad I bought the album. The symphonic layering of electronic sounds, wonderful melodies, heartfelt vocals and lyrics and excellent songcraft make Yoshimi a truly brilliant and inventive album that no one should miss out on. Compare it to just about any pop on mtv today and you'll understand.
By the way, the album covers, both front and back are very cool.

My first introduction to The Flaming Lips was via a random store purchase of The Soft Bulletin. That was an instant hit with me and my ears and I played it to death, much to my wife's annoyance. So of course I thought I'd give "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" a go as well, as I'd heard the track of the same name being played over the airwaves a lot, and I liked it (wondered what the hell it was first of all).

I am very glad I bought this magical album. It really is a treat. Concept albums are rare nowadays, and when they do appear they aren't that memorable, so it's great to get something of this calibre at last.

If you're over 40 (like me) and winding up rather than winding down you'll more than likely appreciate the Lips' refreshing sound.

Wiki have a good article on the band's history. Makes interesting reading.

It looks like the other reviewers have done a good job of giving this album the respect it deserves. I doubt I will be as succinct and lucid as some of them, but I felt I just had to add my tribute.

I have a long history with this record. It started back in 2002 when I went to Amsterdam with some friends and took this record with me. The whole group of us just fell in love with it instantly, and would happily sing along in our mashed up states. These songs are so beautiful that some of them make me physically ache when I listen to them - "In the Morning of the Magicians" particularly.

"Do You Realise" was partially responsible for me getting together with my girlfriend. It's now "our song". I dount many couples have a "song" as cool as ours.

Not long after my girlfriend and I got together, we ate some magic mushrooms and had a bad trip. I had a particularly bad one as I'd taken 6 and a half times more than the recommended dose. While flailing around in the depths of despair and insanity I was listening mostly to the Screaming Trees' "Dust", which I used to like; but perhaps not surprisingly I haven't listened to since. Anyway, as the effects of the mushrooms lessened, and I started to realise that I wasn't dead or insane, I put this album on. Not only did everything get better, with the room starting to glow reassuringly, but Wayne Coyne's lyrics seemed to explain to me everything that I'd been going through, and everything I was then experiencing. It was a beautiful moment, and it helped to make the whole experience both the most terrifying experience of my entire life, and the most enlightening and worthwhile.

Perhaps that sounds sad to you, but I assure you that I feel enriched because of it, and wouldn't change a thing.

I am listening to this record now. I'm at work. On Fridays I always bring a selection of CDs with me, and today I brought Yoshimi, and it is tapping into my emotions and psyche as potently as it did when it was new. I just never tire of this record.