Thursday 19 May 2011

The Flaming Lips - Dark Side of The Moon (2009)



I bet this had Floyd fans frothing at the mouth.

For over 35 years, this album has ingrained itself
into everyday life and I'm sure as some sort of
benchmark for how a "proper album" should sound.

Hey, don't get me wrong, the original is a fucking
classic and anyone who thinks otherwise is a dick
but here, The Flaming Lips have torn it apart and
given it a reconstructed kicking!

This was part of the Record Day event held in the
States in 2009.

Teaming up with Stardeath and the White Dwarf,
they also got Henry Rollins to provide vocals for
all the speaking parts.

"Breathe " starts off with a heavy distorted bass line
and a sparse wailing guitar - straight away you are
made aware that this is not a slavish copy but their
own take on the masterpiece.

Where you would expect alarm bells for the beginning
of "Time", you get electronic klaxons and warning sounds
before the reflective, quiet vocals start.

"The Great Gig in The Sky" with the famous Clare Terry
vocals, has Peaches reining in her trademark banshee wailings
and giving a restrained - and very good - performance.

"Money" is brought down to its bare bones and the vocals
are heavily processed - very much like Gilmours on "Sheep"
from the "Animals" album.

Reaching the end, "Us and Them" is sung with a wistful vocal and
backed with keyboards that would not sound out of place in a
small church, having a sunday service!

This can stand alongside your copy of the "Easy Star All Stars" version
and should be of interest to most people who read this blog.



1 comment:

  1. I remember when I got this when it came out. It was either going to be a mega let down or amazing. It was amazing. Haven't played it in a while though, thanks for reminding me about it!

    ReplyDelete