Oh My Gawd!!!...

The Flaming Lips All Music Review by Ned Raggett

Starting with either a sample or a cool replication of a legendary one-off line
in the Beatles' "Revolution No. 9" -- "Take this, brother, may it serve you well
!" -- the Lips dive head-on into rock dreams on Oh My Gawd!!! Coyne's sudden res
emblance vocally to Paul Westerberg is its own curiosity, but the Replacements n
ever quite got so fried -- drunk, yes, but not fried. The cover, one weird-ass c
ollage of skullmonsters, random photographs of landscapes, dogs and things, and,
on the back, somebody literally burning up serves to set the mood just as much
as the rampaging fun of "Everything's Exploding." The same combination of this a
nd that which made Hear It Is a fun listen takes precedence here -- Coyne and co
mpany can strum along softly or crank everything up to ten and back as they plea
se, and they do. Coyne's knack for utterly brilliant song titles also takes full
life here -- how else to explain such hilarities as "Maximum Dream for Evil Kni
evel" or the flatly phrased "Prescription: Love," a groovy mindbender and arty r
ave-up all at once. While the Lips here are still a rock band par excellence, ev
idence of the band's increasing ambition kicks in with the simultaneously mockin
g and celebratory Pink Floyd vibes of "One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on
a Sunday Morning." All ten minutes of it should really be on Ummagumma -- Richa
rd English's drums are pure Nick Mason from the get-go -- but darn if it doesn't
sound equally great here, as Coyne idly wonders what to do with himself in the
time allotted. Other songs throw in everything from Led Zeppelin drum stomps to
Mountain/Deep Purple raspy rock bellowing and more besides -- theoretically ever
ything mid-'80s American indie rock wasn't, making the Lips that much more of a
fun, unique trip.