The Flaming Lips Album: “Zaireeka”

I bought this album the other day in at a local record store with all intentions of purchasing "Blonde on Blonde" by Bob Dylan but ended up in the "f" section and picked up this album. Upon reading the warning label on the cover I was sold. Any album that may send me into another musical dimension of disorientation and confusion was something I needed to own.

Would it live up to the hype? I read the enclosed booklet in the CD case and apparently Wayne of "The Flaming Lips" got the idea by having some 60 cars in a parking garage playing music all at the same time creating some psychedelic symphony. I thought this would be the best way to experience the album, and probably the least troublesome since I don't own 4 CD players and didn't want to trouble my friends into setting up theirs. Anyway, I convinced some of my friends that this was an experiment that needed to take place and that I need 4 other cars with CD players. They were skeptical at first but I assured them we would be taken away on a magic carpet ride of sound. We met at an abandoned parking lot and parked the cars in a circle.

At first it was difficult to get the CDs to sync up, but after trial and error we finally got it to work. Wow. We stood in the center of the cars and were literally surrounded and inside the sound. To experiment we'd move from car to car listening to each individual CD which by itself was only nonsensical sound but when they worked together created something beautiful and profound. It was also interesting to walk away from the cars and listen to the songs from far away as they came together. It truly was an experience.

Even if you don't know or like "The Flaming Lips", try this. It's absolutely worth the time, money, and effort. You can't put a price on a musical journey. I suggest going with playing the CDs through 4 cars because you get to be outside and can experiment more with the sound by moving around. Do it!

It takes effort to even get the chance to listen to this set--you need to have at least 2 (preferably 4) CD players in the same room. If you can get it together you are in for the kind of sonic experience that maybe your parents had when they dropped acid for Sgt. Pepper--but guess what? We don't even need drugs for this record; it sounds like them already! This is such a fresh, audacious auditory experience, with sounds whirling in from every corner, spilling off and apart and somehow magically linking up again. In addition, the first four songs (especially "Riding to work") may be the best Flaming Lips songs ever, which only goes to prove their greatness. Needless to say this set exceeded my expectations for the quality of the experience. One point: you really can't enjoy this record by playing one CD at a time (though two at a time is adequate). This fact just enhances the specialness of each full audition. I've heard it called overblown, pretentious, blah, blah, blah--come on, folks! This is the Flaming Lips! They should get points just for pulling this off! The Flaming Lips are many things: glorious, silly, profound, inane, precious, moving, frustrating, rocked out, etc. One thing they are not is pretentious. They've always had a great sense of humor not just in their (marginal) lyrics but in the music itself. Their fun is taken seriously and their seriousness is funny, and that is the hallmark of a great band.

Some reviewers suggested that a mixed-down version of this album be made available. That would destroy the album. This is an album that fills a room, daunts your senses, and puts you on edge. This is an album that is different every time you listen to it. A mixed down version of this album would nullify these wonders.

This is somthing that is not for everyone. This is an experiment, as you are warned on the front cover. Experiments DO fail sometimes. This one may fail for you, but it is a rousing success for me.

This highly-original concept of four cds at once is shockingly refreshing. I was personally bored with other recordings after this one, and I look forward to being able to host a "Zaireeka party".

The songs by themselves have original concepts, so even if you are scared of or are annoyed by the odd combinations of sounds and edgy out-of-phase music, you can appreciate these lyrics. A song about a man driven insane when he imagines he is the last secret agent going back to hie base, to nothing? That's creepy.

If that's also a bit much for you, you should probably just stick with a band with less imagination.

The Flaming Lips have always been experimental, but this one went over the top... Zaireeka is 8 tracks, each with 8 channels, 2 channels per CD. That's right, FOUR CDs, designed to be played simultaneously. This usually means 3 friends, with their own CD players, and a bit of practice to get them to start at the same time (several tracks have an opening section that helps you get it right). You may also want to consult the web for advice on which CD goes with the best bass system, as the bass on some tracks will challenge less capable systems.

Your results may vary. Like almost all Flaming Lips experiences, the first listen is a bit jarring, but it grows on you as time passes. The first track, "Okay I'll Admit I Really Don't Understand" is a good primer for the album, a little disjointed, but has a good Lips groove. Track 2 ("Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (You're Invisible Now)" is a real experience, as well as Track 4 ("A Machine in India"), although the lyrics on the latter may be a little embarrassing in mixed company. The instrumental track 7 ("March of the Rotten Vegetables") is also a highlight.

Overall, the set sounds experimental. It appears that they decided on 4 CDs early in the process, and designed accordingly. It is still fairly well-tuned, but they really indulged themselves in the format. You can hear echoes of The Soft Bulletin, which could be thought of as a Zaireeka effort restricted to a single CD. As in other formats, artists seem to work better when the format restricts them...

All this, and I don't have the album. .... I'll leave it to you whether you want to keep your ears virginal until you can get the 4-CD set, or to listen to the 1-CD mix a few times before you get the full experience. In any case, once you invite your friends over, it may be a good idea to have 1-CD mixes for them to take home, if they are interested. Since the supply of the 4-CD sets are so limited (out of print), it would be a service to invite other Lips fans to any Zaireeka party you may be having...

Zaireeka marks a drastic change in the evolution of the Flaming Lips. Whether the change was brought on by the departure of guitarist Ronald Jones or for more personal reasons is anyone's guess. Some critics have blasted Zaireeka for being pretentious, overly complicated, and a downright stupid idea (a example of such a review can be found at Pitchforkmedia.com). These so called critics have missed the point entirely. Zaireeka was not intended to be played in your car's CD player over and over again. Zaireeka is a social event and like most events some effort has to be put into it. What is great about this 4 CD format is that it requires audience participation(If you have ever been to one of their boom box or parking lot experiments you will know what I mean). It requires people getting together, working together and listening together to pull it off. Part of the fun is figuring out which CD sounds best in which player or how loud said CD player needs to be and where it should be positioned etc., etc... I can't think of any other record in history that lets the listeners become the producer/director/engineer (the equalizer on your home stereo doesn't count folks!). I highly recommend that you go to a Zaireeka listening party or plan on having one.

The music on Zaireeka is comparable in many ways to the Soft Bulletin. Wayne himself said that much of the Soft Bulletin is composed of leftover songs/ideas from Zaireeka that they liked a lot but didn't work well with the 4 CD format. The tracks that stand out in many people's mind's including my own are Riding to Work in the Year 2025 and Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair which are the only two tracks I've been lucky enough to see them play live. However, every song on Zaireeka could be considered a standout. Much like the Soft Bulletin and other Lips records, this is an album that doesn't contain any songs you would want to skip. If you're a Lips fan and you don't already have Zaireeka then you should buy it, BUY IT NOW!

FYI - Zaireeka has been reissued and is not out of print so don't go spending crazy money on it over at Ebay. I ordered mine from Amazon in early to mid August 2002 and it was on my doorstep 3 days later.