Flaming Lips' "The Terror" doesn't resonate

The Flaming Lips are the type of band that will never be able to please all their fans.

Their three-decade-long career has been cherished for its eclectic and experimental nature, both on and off the record. Take 1997’s “Zaireeka,” the band’s four-CD set meant to be played on four different record players simultaneously. Or there’s the band’s more recent shenanigans, such as their infamous 24-hour song or their decision to hide unreleased songs inside of gummy edibles.

Truthfully, there are so many questionable Flaming Lips decisions (from Ke$ha collaborations to a Dark Side of the Moon cover album) that I don’t have enough time to highlight them all in this review.

The point is, the Flaming Lips play by their own rules, and when a band takes this many risks, chances are they’re going to rub people the wrong way from time to time.
Unfortunately, I’m chalking “The Terror” up as another failed experiment. “The Terror” is a bleak, ambient record and easily the most experimental album the band has released since the 90s.

Anyone hoping for a song as excellent as “Race for the Prize” or “Do You Realize” might as well turn back now, because this album is more concerned with atmosphere and textures than it is with melodies and song craft. In fact, many of these songs don’t feature a chorus at all, and when they do, I’d hardly consider them melodic. This is a headphones album only for the most dedicated of Flaming Lips fans. You have been warned.

The album is successfully sequenced though, as the album’s theme and mood is consistent throughout. There’s a sense of desolation and despair reeking from this record, which certainly helps its overall continuity but makes it a chore to listen to.

The album’s centerpiece, “You Lust,” sprawls out for thirteen minutes with clipped guitar notes chiming into Wayne Coyne’s atmospheric vocals. The problem with the song and many others on the record is that the ambience quickly grows tiresome and repetitive. There are plenty of odd sounds to be heard on “The Terror,” but my question is this: who would want to listen to them?

“The Terror” is essentially mood music. It’s an album that captures a sound and a feeling, but it fails to serve a purpose as accessible music. Ambient and experimental music can work, but at its basic level, it must be somewhat listenable.

“The Terror” does find a few moments that reasonably work for me, mainly “Be Free, A Way,” which is the closest the album gets to a melody. Ultimately, “The Terror” just wasn’t for me.

As a Flaming Lips fan, I’ve always preferred the Lips when they worked as songwriters, such as on “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” or “The Soft Bulletin,” rather than their experimental detours.

I only recommend “The Terror” to ambient music fans or diehard Flaming Lips fans. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though.

By Bronson DeLeon