Lips Get Chapped on Dark Side Revamp

Check any music blog or web page, and this much becomes clear - in many eyes, the Flaming Lips have become rock heretics through their fuzzed-out, silly take on Dark Side of the Moon.

I don't get the outrage, nor can I praise the result as anything but a surface-level, sloppy homage that strips away the original's instrumental sublimity.

But it wasn't intended to replace the original. It can't. As for heresy, obviously the Dark Side detractors are new to the alt-rock pranksters. The Flaming Lips have never been known for reverential treatment of classics; their White Christmas has the same noisy minimalism, with Wayne Coyne's vocal treatment akin to Bing Crosby sucking helium while on Quaaludes.

As bizarre as the Lips got, that classic is in no way tarnished by the cover. The only Lips covers to hold up were of Can't Get You Out of my Head by Kylie Minogue and a note-for-note take on Beck's Golden Age.


The Lips played the entire Dark Side of the Moon at their Oklahoma City New Year's Even show; this iTunes-only quickie obviously came from a rehearsal. If they were proud, their Dark Side might have gotten a brick-and-mortar release.

However, it's much more interesting than the Walkmen's note-for-note cover of Harry Nillson's The Pussy Cats.

Notice I didn't say better.

I can't call this good by any stretch. Maybe amusing, definitely interesting, but not a success. That owes much to Star Death & White Dwarves, the band of Lips' support staff headed by Coyne's nephew Dennis. They join the Lips for the full song cycle, and feel extraneous.

If anything, it isn't quirky enough. I expected the Lips might dress up the legendary concept record for the Twenty Teens, but it suffers more from noise-rock blandness. Strangely, the instrumentals might work best - On the Run has a much different funk than the original, while Peaches bellows the essential scream from Great Gig in the Sky, with a surprisingly lively mix of percussion and squawking guitar.

The coughing intro to Time works well; Coyne's delivery turns the song into a lyrical first cousin of Do You Realize? He nearly goes a capella at times, and it fits the song because

Elsewhere, it's pretty sad at times. They hack and slash through Money, thanks to overreliance of lame keyboard effects and Coyne's metallic delivery. The often in-your-face tone of David Gilmour's vocals always stuck out to me, and Coyne's fragile voice, mostly buried beneath effects, doesn't come close. His wailing fit Time and Money to a tee.

Get some coffee brewed before Us and Them; minus the emotionally soothing sax, the song turns soporific.

I must praise Henry Rollins' wonderful diction; for the first time, the spoken word passages jump off the recording.

People can rage all they want. The Flaming Lips have stamped out a wildly uneven Dark Side of the Moon, indicating they work better as creators than interpreters.