History Music / FlamingLips

The Flaming Lips are an AlternativeRock band from Oklahoma City, UsefulNotes/{{Oklahoma}}. They formed in 1983 and have become one of the most well known cult bands of the past 30 years. They began as a punk band but became more and more eclectic and [[PsychedelicRock psychedelic]] with the passing years. They also moved from indie labels to Creator/WarnerBrosRecords early in TheNineties, where they've remained since.[[note]]Their contract with Warners expired in 2011, which inspired the band to put out [=EPs=] of new material almost every month of that year. They re-signed their contract with the label in America in early 2012, signing with Bella Union in Europe.[[/note]]

The Flaming Lips are an AlternativeRock band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They formed in 1983 and have become one of the most well known cult bands of the past 30 years. They began as a punk band but became more and more eclectic and [[PsychedelicRock psychedelic]] with the passing years. They also moved from indie labels to Creator/WarnerBrosRecords early in TheNineties, where they've remained since.[[note]]Their contract with Warners expired in 2011, which inspired the band to put out [=EPs=] of new material almost every month of that year. They re-signed their contract with the label in America in early 2012, signing with Bella Union in Europe.[[/note]]

%%* FilkSong: ''[[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants Spongebob And Patrick]]'' ''Confront The Wall Of Psychic Energy,'' which is about Spongebob and Patrick talking about growing up. Fitting, considering [[WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie what movie this song was made for.]]

** '''L'''ovely '''S'''orts of '''D''eath Records, a vanity label the band founded to release side projects, collaborations, and their more experimental works.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Right now they're on Neo-Romantic Psychedelic Punk Soundscapes. Check back tomorrow.

* ChristmasSpecial: ''Christmas On Mars'', Sort of.

* ConceptAlbum: ''Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots'' has a (brief) narrative arc. "Clouds Taste Metallic" has songs about animals, Christmas, and, er, animals during Christmastime.
** ''Yoshimi'' isn't really the best example of a concept album, because only the first four tracks have anything to do with one another. Their twelth album, ''Embryonic'', fits the description much more accurately, what with the recurring unnamed female protagonist, the subplot about the earth-visiting alien, the preoccupation with astrology and the cosmos (including several zodiac-named tracks), the perpetual themes of existentialism, the insignificance of humanity, and the search for meaning and morality, etc.
** ''Transmissions from the Satellite Heart'' could certainly be read as a concept album, where the songs are literally transmissions from a satellite heart, the device described in the opening track "Turn It On" which serves as a device that you can tune into if you can't relate to other stations, which ties the songs together in their themes of misfits, most notably in songs like "Pilot Can at the Queer of God" and "She Don't Use Jelly".
** Played straight with ''King's Mouth'', a RockOpera which tells the story of a giant space king who performs a HeroicSacrifice in order to save the people he rules over.

* SesameStreetCred: They've appeared on ''Series/YoGabbaGabba'', doing a version of the ''Embryonic'' song "I Can Be a Frog".
** They also contributed the song "Spongebob and Patrick Confront the Psychic Wall of Energy" to the end credits and soundtrack for ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie''.

The band personnel has [[RevolvingDoorBand changed several times over the years]], but since 1993 it's more or less been the line-up of singer/guitarist Wayne Coyne, bassist Michael Ivins - the two of whom founded the band - and long-time drummer/guitarist/keyboardist Steven Drozd.[[note]]They had an additional guitarist, Ronald Jones, between 1991-1996; Drozd became the lead guitarist after Jones's departure.[[/note]] Other members include guitarists/keyboardists Derek Brown and Jake Ingalls, who joined in 2009 and 2013 respectively (Ingalls is additionally the frontman for the band Spaceface), and drummers/percussionists/keyboardists Matt Kirksey and Nicholas Ley, who both joined in 2014 and also perform as the DJ duo the Brothers Griiin. [[note]]The previous drummer, Kliph Scurlock, performed and recorded with the band between 2002-2014.[[/note]]

** They also did Music/TheStoneRoses' [[Music/TheStoneRosesAlbum debut]] as a Black Friday exclusive.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flaming_lips_phoenix_concert_august_23_marquee_theatre_tempe_7.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:We will always love you.[[note]]From left to right: Nicholas Ley, Michael Ivins, Steven Drozd, Wayne Coyne, Jake Ingalls, Matt Kirksey, and Derek Brown.[[/note]]]]

!The Flaming Lips provide examples of:

* AndStarring: Their full length cover of ''Dark Side of the Moon'', which is jointly credited to The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs (a band founded by one of Wayne Coyne's nephews), along with Music/HenryRollins and Music/{{Peaches}}

[[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: Nicholas Ley, Michael Ivins, Steven Drozd, Wayne Coyne, Jake Ingalls, Matt Kirksey, and Derek Brown.]]

The band personnel has [[RevolvingDoorBand changed several times over the years]], but since 1993 it's more or less been the line-up of singer/guitarist Wayne Coyne, bassist Michael Ivins - the two of whom founded the band - and long-time drummer/guitarist/keyboardist Steven Drozd.[[note]]They had an additional guitarist, Ronald Jones, between 1991-1996; Drozd became the lead guitarist after Jones's departure.[[/note]] Other members include guitarists/keyboardists Derek Brown and Jake Ingalls, who joined in 2009 and 2013 respectively (Ingalls is additionally the frontman for the band Spaceface), and drummers/percussionists/keyboardists Matt Kirksey and Nicholas Ley, who both joined in 2014[[note]]and both replacing drummer Kliph Scurlock, who by then was performing and recording with the band since 2002[[/note]] and also perform as the DJ duo the Brothers Griiin.

* LoudnessWar: Nearly everything from ''Zaireeka'' onwards is [[http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/year?artist=flaming+lips badly brickwalled]], though ''At War with the Mystics'', ''The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends'', and their cover of ''Dark Side of the Moon'' stand out as the worst full-length releases at [=DR4=]. The ''Peace Sword'' EP, at [=DR3=], is even worse. Even the "demastered" version of ''The Soft Bulletin'', which you might expect to be an aversion of this trope, is still affected ([=DR6=], and still badly clipped). Many of the vinyl editions also have clipped masters. On the plus side, the [=HDTracks=] version of ''Yoshimi'' is mostly unaffected at [=DR11=]; on the minus side, it's a mixdown of the 5.1 DVD mix to stereo and some people find it unlistenable.

Studio album discography

* ''Oh My Gawd!!!'' (1987)

* ''Christmas on Mars'' OST (2008)

* ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'' [[note]]With Stardeath and White Dwarfs, plus Music/{{Peaches}} and Music/HenryRollins. Cover of the Music/PinkFloyd album.[[/note]] (2009)
* ''The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends'' [[note]]A collaborative album featuring Music/{{Kesha}}, Music/BonIver, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Prefuse 73, Tame Impala, Jim James (from My Morning Jacket), Music/NickCave, Lightning Bolt, Music/YokoOno, Neon Indian, Erykah Badu, New Fumes, and Chris Martin (from Music/{{Coldplay}}). Released exclusively on vinyl for Record Store Day.[[/note]] (2012)

* ''[[RockOpera King's Mouth]]''[[note]]Featuring narration from Mick Jones of Music/TheClash. Also released exclusively on vinyl for Record Store Day.[[/note]] (2019)

[[quoteright:306:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fl_bio_5597.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:306:From left to right: Derek Brown, Wayne Coyne, Kliph Scurlock, Michael Ivins and Steven Drozd.]]

The band personnel has [[RevolvingDoorBand changed several times over the years]], but since 1993 it's more or less been the lineup of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Wayne Coyne, bassist/keyboardist Michael Ivins - the two of whom founded the band - and longtime drummer/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd.[[note]]They had an additional guitarist, Ronald Jones, between 1991-1996.[[/note]] Recently, Drozd moved mainly to guitar duties, with Kliph Scurlock joining as a drummer starting with ''Embryonic'' until his departure in 2014, and live guitarist/keyboardist Derek Brown was also promoted to full band member.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: Many of the band's recent releases have had this. Of note are the limited edition of their ''Christmas on Mars'' film that included a box of Flaming Lips popcorn and the limited edition version of ''Embryonic'' that came packaged in a small, furry box.
** The project that attracted the most attention was a limited-edition batch of ''Heady Fwends'' that was pressed on vinyl records [[{{Squick}} filled with blood donated by the guest artists]].
** Taken to extremes with new songs the band has been releasing as of 2011. So far, all of them have been released in small-run, extremely limited quantities batches, including a split 10" with Neon Indian pressed to hand-colored vinyl, and four songs released on a USB stick stuck inside a life-size replica of a human skull made out of gummi candy.
*** Not to mention the 24 hour song that was packaged via usb inside an '''ACTUAL HUMAN SKULL'''.

The Flaming Lips are an AlternativeRock band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They formed in 1983 and have become one of the most well known cult bands of the past 30 years. They began as a punk band but became more and more eclectic and [[PsychedelicRock psychedelic]] with the passing years. They also moved from indie labels to Creator/WarnerBrosRecords early in TheNineties, where they've remained since.[[note]]Their contract with Warners expired in 2011, which inspired the band to put out [=EPs=] of new material almost every month of that year. They re-signed their contract with the label in early 2012.[[/note]]

* BrownNote: ''Zaireeka'' has a warning label on the front stating that "on rare occasion" the various frequencies used on the album have caused listeners to become disoriented.

* AscendedExtra: Kliph Scurlock was originally hired as a touring drummer for the ''Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots'' tour, due to Steve Drozd branching out to keyboards and other assorted instruments, but was eventually brought in as the band's full-time drummer.

* CoverVersion: Apart from the ''Dark Side of the Moon'' album, these are quite rare on their albums. The reissue of ''Hear It Is'' has a cover of "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran, ''In a Priest Driven Ambulance'' has a cover of [[Music/LouisArmstrong "What a Wonderful World"]], ''Transmissions from the Satellite Heart'' has a cover of Ed Cromarty and George Rush's "Plastic Jesus"[[note]]probably best known for appearing in ''Film/CoolHandLuke''[[/note]], ''At War With the Mystics''' [=iTunes=] release has a cover of [[Music/{{Queen}} "Killer Queen"]] (originally recorded for a tribute album) among the bonus tracks, ''Heady Fwends'' has a cover of Ewan [=MacColl=]'s "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" (in collaboration with Erykah Badu)... and oh yeah, the ''A Collection of Songs Representing an Enthusiasm for Recording...By Amateurs'' compilation also brings up covers of "Strychnine" by The Sonics (mashed with Music/ElvisCostello's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding") [[note]]They were asked to cover "Strychnine" as a BSide, and used a friend's mix tape to help them learn the song - "Peace, Love And Understanding" happened to be the next song on the tape, so they decided to turn it into a medley[[/note]], [[Music/SonicYouth "Death Valley '69"]], [[Music/LedZeppelin "Thank You"]] and [[Music/NeilYoung "After the Gold Rush"]].