The two records represent the polar extremes of the LipsРІР‚в„ў canon. Then, just two years later, the Lips distilled all that free-ranging exploration into the pristine orchestral rock of The Soft Bulletin. Released in 1997, Zaireeka was the play-at-home version of those site-specific events, presenting eight unwieldy songs spread over four CDs that were designed to be played simultaneously on four different players. After their underperforming 1995 album Clouds Taste Metallic failed to yield another РІР‚СљShe DonРІР‚в„ўt Use JellyРІР‚Сњ and guitarist Ronald Jones checked out, remaining members Wayne Coyne, Michael Ivins, and Steven Drozd liberated themselves from the pressures of writing hits-and the creative limitations of being a guitar-rock band-by conducting various synchronized-tape experiments with fleets of car stereos and battalions of boomboxes. Seeking this one out as a chaser to another long sip on the Soft Bulletin vibe is the best way to experience it.Over the Flaming LipsРІР‚в„ў four-decade career, there was no more crucial turning point than the period spanning 1996 to 1999, when the Oklahoma group narrowly escaped their imminent fate as alt-rock has-beens and transformed themselves into the megaphone-wielding pied pipers of the 21st-century festival circuit. The Soft Bulletin still stands as a classic where the best of РІР‚в„ў90s experimental rock and pop collided, and its companion piece does sit fairly comfortably in its long shadow. The Soft Bulletin CompanionРІР‚в„ўs early versions of РІР‚СљSlow MotionРІР‚Сњand РІР‚СљLittle HandsРІР‚Сњ are also not too bad, and remind you of the bandРІР‚в„ўs songwriting chops during the period, with Coyne directing the band on the rough mix of the latter track. In other corners of the release, a Lips Mix of The Soft Bulletin РІР‚в„ўs РІР‚СљBugginРІР‚в„ўРІР‚Сњ and an early mix of РІР‚СљThe Spiderbite SongРІР‚Сњ both fall far short of the quality heard on the original Soft Bulletin classics. ItРІР‚в„ўs seen new life this year during Record Store Day, and longtime fans of the band will take note of hearing rarities like the fuzzed, psychedelic rocker РІР‚СљThe Captain,РІР‚Сњ which are a welcome sight on vinyl after years of being hard to find.Р”Р„lso, itРІР‚в„ўs nice to hear a couple stereo versions of tracks from the endlessly curious 1997 experimental release Zaireeka (which, infamously, was ideally played from four separate CDs blasted in unison from different car sound systems). as a promo-only CD to pair alongside The Soft Bulletin. There are odd experiments, melodic dead ends, plenty of outtakes, prototype mixes, and everything in between on this 13-song collection originally intended by the bandРІР‚в„ўs manager and Warner Bros. ItРІР‚в„ўs abundantly clear that The Soft Bulletin Companion is a compilation of curios for diehard fans of a monumental album from early in the bandРІР‚в„ўs nearly 40 years of existence. Dubbed by a few bold critics at the time as the Pet Sounds of the РІР‚в„ў90s, their ninth studio record started to unlock a whole new level of festival audience far beyond what came before for the psychedelic weirdos from the Sooner State.Р”Р‡rontman Wayne Coyne has often referred to rare Flaming Lips hits during past interviews as gifts from the РІР‚Сљgods of music.РІР‚Сњ Concert staples such as РІР‚СљDo You Realize?РІР‚Сњ or the title track off 2002РІР‚в„ўs Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots are moments when the gods bent down and tapped the band on the shoulder, said it was time, and rewarded the good work they had set up previously with the best tracks on The Soft Bulletin only three years before (РІР‚СљRace for the PrizeРІР‚Сњ and РІР‚СљWaiting for a SupermanРІР‚Сњ). Released in 1999, it was a moment when the group essentially started all over again with something wholly new as they reacted to the death of Wayne CoyneРІР‚в„ўs father, as well as other deaths of loved ones experienced by longtime guitarist and keyboardist Steven Drozd.

The Flaming Lips РІР‚в„ў Soft Bulletin was a watershed moment for the Oklahoma City rock band.

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