Birth Pangs
5
By stencil62
The negative reviews of this album crack me up. Its like reading the music reviews the first time anyone ever heard guitar feedback back in the 60s. Exact same response. This album will be pointed back at for the next thirty years as the birth of a new sound in music. Oh, and to the reviewer that said "The sound is too murky and you can't hear the vocals"; The exact same complaint was used against Exile on Main Street when it came out.
Brilliant.
5
By deadwhenifoundher
I'm so glad I don't live in the world of iTunes reviewer Twin Kam Akiko, where every album's production must prescribe to a specific set of rules or else it will be judged 'wrong' and thereby receive a one-star 'terrible' review. Based on his standards, 'bee thousand' and every early gem by Guided By Voices, along with countless other non-standard productions, apparently aren't worthy of our attention. But mastering is just one more stage, albeit the last, of the production process, TKA, and is as open to interpretation and experimentation as anything else, despite your desperate need to cling to the 'rules' of the old industry. Yes, this album is loud. Yes, this album is crunchy and digital. Did it occur to you, before posting your Let Me Show Everyone How Smart I Am Because I'm Going To Talk About Mastering screed against this disc, that perhaps the Lips actually wanted it this way? It's a slab of dense, raw sound -- just as it was intended to be. I'm sorry you missed that fact, because there's an amazing album here that you didn't allow yourself to enjoy. Meanwhile, the rest of us will revel in the chaotic glory of this monster of an album. Unlike anything else out there, emotional and noisy and somehow endlessly catchy, too. One of the Lips best, and that's saying a lot.
Absolutely Perfect
5
By rea123
THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is without a doubt the greatest album since…I dunno…London Calling?!? It takes a bit to grow on you, but when it does…it's got you. Our modern-day Dark Side of the Moon.
Love the album. Hate the mastering (LOUD)
4
By Anxiovert
…and I thought Californication sounded terrible… This one takes the cake. I cannot listen to this in my car, not even at a low volume. I love "Watching the Planets" but this one it's the worst of them all (so loud that the base distorts everything else) What a shame. If this record had been mastered better, it would have been much more enjoyable. The drums have absolutely no punch on this record. Everything is all this wall of loud sound.
I wonder if the vinyl sounds better. Anyone?
Love this album
5
By skatingpolly505
By it and you will know what I mean
Wow!
5
By Jeffrey Hoffman
LSD anyone?
Awesome
5
By jakspald
I'm surprised that a lot of people don't like this. I think that this album is one of the most amazing ever made, and if you don't like it, you probably don't understand it.
Stunt Rock
1
By Brokl
They admit in their documentary that they have little talent, and each of their albums prove it. It might work if they had some lyrics that saved their derivative over-coceptualized stunt rock albums, but they seem to try even less when they're putting words together than when they're designing their soundscapes. Their only selling point is indie-ness, and they've used it once again to sell this joke of an album.
Just below the machine
4
By SF2198
When I first got this album, I thought it was an unbearable mess. It was inconsistent, messy, noisy, and difficult to listen to. I shoved it in the back of a cabinet somewhere to let it collect dust.
Several months later I got it out and listened to it again, and I'm glad I did. When I looked through the heaps of distortion and unstable instrumentation, there was actually some good, singable Lips music on here. The drums may be frantic and Coyne may sound like he's straining to sing sometimes, but Embryonic still has that classic Lips vibe .....just more experimental. And definitely more depressing. I still dislike "If" and "I Can Be a Frog", but the rest of the album is worth the listen.
Loved it
5
By kanuch
Best Flips album since "Yoshimi". The song-to-song changes are incredibly entertaining, and the return to themes throughout the album are well thought out (see "Evil" and "If"). An earlier reviewer called this The Flaming Lips "White Album", which I took to be hyperbole, but after listening a dozen times and falling deeper and deeper into the album I have to agree.
