The Flaming Lips stunningly cover Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon

The Flaming Lips released their cover album of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon via itunes.   I have to admit, when the cover album was first announced, it didn’t bring too much excitement for me as I did not know what to expect.  The Flaming Lips last two records, Embryonic and Christmas on Mars, are outstanding.  It was the albums in between those two and Soft Bulletin that gave me pause.  Luckily, the Lips delivered a tremendous album that I can’t stop listening to.  Much like Tom Jones, the Flaming Lips reinvented these classic songs and made them, dare I say, better.

The idea of a cover album is a curious one.  Phish covered albums live every Halloween, at least this is what I have been told.  Beck has his Record Club that records cover albums, most notably the Velvet Underground & Nico.  Outside of those examples, I don’t think the cover album has been attempted very often by popular artists.   And certainly with not much success.  This is why I am even more impressed with the final product of Dark Side of the Moon.

I have read several reviews of this album from popular media outlets and have found that rock critics do not care for this at all.  I don’t understand why.  It may just be loyalty to the original album, which, of course, is a timeless classic of epic importance.  Or maybe most critics are dinosaurs that will pay homage to the new Ringo Starr album before even listening to anything remotely adventurous. Or different.

My take is this: The Flaming Lips reinvent the Pink Floyd classic with a more sprawling, raw, psychedelic, and funk driven landscape.  I like all those things.  The original album simply became a road map.  It’s a great reinvention.  And different than the original.

The Flaming Lips received help from Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Henry Rollins, and Peaches.  Henry Rollins plays the part of the Roger Waters over-dubbed voice that permeates through Dark Side of the Moon.  Peaches plays the part of Doris Troy, emulating her soaring wails during “The Great Gig in the Sky”.

The Flaming Lips played the Dark Side of the Moon in it’s entirety on New Year’s eve in Oklahoma City.  I am hoping they take that show on the road.  An evening with the Flaming Lips at Red Rocks performing Dark Side of the Moon would be an epic event.  They could even play the Wizard of Oz on the rocks during the show.  I think the Flips need to silent their critics by making this happen. Until then, download the album and enjoy. Don’t listen to the dinosaurs.