The Flaming Lips (thing)

The not-quite-complete but a jolly-good-stab-at-it discography of The Flaming Lips (with some commentary)

Now updated!

Albums:

• Hear It Is (1986) (rereleased 2002; see below)
  Tracklisting:
  1. With You
  2. Unplugged
  3. Trains, Brains and Rain
  4. Jesus Shootin' Heroin
  5. Just Like Before
  6. She Is Death
  7. Charles Manson Blues
  8. Man from Pakistan
  9. Godzilla Flick
  10. Staring at Sound / With You (reprise)


• Oh My Gawd!!! (with scary front cover, 1987) (rereleased 2002; see below)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Can't Exist
  2. Can't Stop the Spring
  3. Ceiling Is Bending
  4. Everything's Explodin'
  5. Love Yer Brain
  6. Maximum Dream for Evil Knievel
  7. Ode to CC
  8. One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning
  9. Prescription: Overkill
  10. Thanks to You


• Telepathic Surgery (1989) (rereleased 2002; see below)
  Driving riffs and guitar noise fight to compete with poppy melodies, lyrical weirdness and unexpected stylistic diversions.
  Tracklisting:
  1. Drug Machine in Heaven
  2. Right Now
  3. Michael, Time to Wake Up
  4. Chrome Plated Suicide
  5. Hari-Krishna Stomp Wagon (Fuck Led Zeppelin)
  6. Miracle on 42nd Street
  7. Fryin' Up (CD only)
  8. Hell's Angel's Cracker Factory (CD only)
  9. U.F.O. Story
  10. Redneck School of Technology
  11. Shaved Gorilla
  12. The Spontaneous Combustion of John
  13. The Last Drop of Morning Dew
  14. Begs and Achin'


• In a Priest-Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine Stares) (1991) (rereleased 2002; see below)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Shine On Sweet Jesus - Jesus Song No.5
  2. Unconsciously Screamin'
  3. Rainin' Babies
  4. Take Me ta Mars
  5. Five Stop Mother Superior Rain
  6. Stand in Line
  7. God Walks among Us Now - Jesus Song No.6
  8. There You Are - Jesus Song No.7
  9. Mountain Song
  10. What a Wonderful World


• Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992)
  Aural craziness tempered with some great tunes and heartfelt lyrics - contains at least two of their best songs.
  Tracklisting:
  1. Talkin' 'bout the Smilin' Deathporn Immortality Blues (Everyone Wants to Live Forever)
  2. Hit Me Like You Did the First Time
  3. The Sun
  4. Felt Good to Burn
  5. Gingerale Afternoon (The Astrology of a Saturday)
  6. Halloween on the Barbary Coast
  7. The Magician vs. The Headache
  8. You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil's Brain)
  9. Frogs
  10. Hold Your Head


• Transmissions from the Satellite Heart (1993)
  The Lips move into more mainstream territory, but are still weird. Contains the classic pop song "She Don't Use Jelly".
  Tracklisting:
  1. Turn It On
  2. Pilot Can at the Queer of God
  3. Oh My Pregnant Head (Labia in the Sunlight)
  4. She Don't Use Jelly
  5. Chewin' the Apple of Your Eye
  6. Superhumans
  7. Be My Head
  8. Moth in the Incubator
  9. *******
  10. When Yer Twenty-Two
  11. Slow. Nerve. Action.


• Clouds Taste Metallic (1995)
  Crazy but coherent, this is probably the best example of the Lips' talent for combining wicked tunes with way-out weirdosity.
  Tracklisting:
  1. The Abandoned Hospital Ship
  2. Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus with Needles
  3. Placebo Headwound
  4. This Here Giraffe
  5. Brainville
  6. Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World
  7. When You Smile
  8. Kim's Watermelon Gun
  9. They Punctured My Yolk
  10. Lightning Strikes the Postman
  11. Christmas at the Zoo
  12. Evil Will Prevail
  13. Bad Days (aurally excited version)


• Zaireeka (1997)
  One album, four CDs: all are played simultaneously. This record has been alleged to cause psychedelic disturbances.
  Tracklisting:
  1. Okay I'll Admit That I Really Don't Understand
  2. Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)
  3. Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair
  4. Machine in India
  5. The Train Runs Over the Camel But Is Derailed by the Gnat
  6. How Will We Know? (Futuristic Crashendos)
  7. March of the Rotten Vegetables
  8. The Big Ol' Bug is the New Baby Now


• The Soft Bulletin (1999)
  Scientific and symphonic, this innovative record is the band's masterpiece and is acclaimed as one of the best albums of the 1990s.
  Tracklisting:
  1. Race for the Prize
  2. A Spoonful Weighs a Ton
  3. The Spark That Bled
  4. Slow Motion
  5. What Is the Light?
  6. The Observer
  7. Waitin' for a Superman
  8. Suddenly Everything Has Changed
  9. The Gash
  10. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
  11. Sleeping on the Roof
  12. Race for the Prize
  13. Waitin' for a Superman
  14. Buggin'
• Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
  If The Soft Bulletin was science, this is technology: electronic sounds pervade the band's exploration of yet more humanistic themes.
  Tracklisting:
  1. Fight Test
  2. One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21
  3. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1
  4. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 2
  5. In the Morning of the Magicians
  6. Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell
  7. Are You a Hypnotist??
  8. It's Summertime (Throbbing Orange Pallbearers)
  9. Do You Realize??
  10. All We Have Is Now
  11. Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)

Singles and EPs:

• The Flaming Lips EP (1985) (rereleased 2002; see below)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Bag Full of Thoughts
  2. Out for a Walk
  3. Garden of Eyes / Forever Is a Long Time
  4. Scratching the Door
  5. My Own Planet


• Drug Machine (1989)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Drug Machine
  2. Strychnine / (What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding


• Unconsciously Screamin' EP (1991)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Unconsciously Screamin'
  2. Lucifer Rising
  3. Ma, I Didn't Notice
  4. Let Me Be It


• Yeah, I Know It's a Drag... But Wastin' Pigs Is Still Radical EP (1992)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Talkin' 'bout the Smilin' Deathporn Immortality Blues
  2. All That Jazz / Happy Death Men
  3. Jets (Cupid's Kiss vs. The Psyche of Death)


• She Don't Use Jelly (1994)
  Tracklisting:
  1. She Don't Use Jelly
  2. Translucent Egg
  3. Turn It On (bluegrass version)
  4. ******* (porch version) (US only)
  5. The Process (live) (UK CD2 only)
  6. Moth in the Incubator (live) (UK CD2 only)


• Turn It On (1994)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Turn It On
  2. Put the Waterbug in the Policeman's Ear
  3. She Don't Use Jelly (demo version)


• Providing Needles for Your Balloons EP (1995)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Bad Days
  2. Jets Part 2 (My Two Days as an Ambulance Driver)
  3. Ice Drummer
  4. Put the Waterbug in the Policeman's Ear
  5. Chewin' the Apple of Yer Eye
  6. Chosen One
  7. Little Drummer Boy
  8. Slow. Nerve. Action.


• Bad Days (1995)
  Tracklisting: CD1
  1. Bad Days (edit)
  2. She Don't Use Jelly (demo version)
  3. Girl with Hair Like an Explosion
  4. Giraffe (demo version)
  Tracklisting: CD2
  1. Bad Days (edit)
  2. Ice Drummer
  3. When You Smiled (I Lost My Only Idea)
  4. Put the Waterbug in the Policeman's Ear


• This Here Giraffe (1996)
  Tracklisting: CD1
  1. This Here Giraffe
  2. Jets Part 2 (My Two Days as an Ambulance Driver) (live Peel version)
  3. Life on Mars? (live Peel version)
  Tracklisting: CD2
  1. This Here Giraffe
  2. The Sun (live Peel version)
  3. Hit Me Like You Did the First Time (live Peel version)


• Brainville (1996)
  Tracklisting: CD1
  1. Brainville
  2. Evil Will Prevail (live)
  3. Waterbug (live)
  Tracklisting: CD2
  1. Brainville
  2. Brainville (live)
  3. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (live)


• Race for the Prize (1999)
  Tracklisting: CD1
  1. Race for the Prize
  2. Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) (Zaireeka CD1)
  3. Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair (Zaireeka CD1)
  Tracklisting: CD2
  1. Race for the Prize
  2. Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) (Zaireeka CD2)
  3. Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair (Zaireeka CD2)


• Waitin' for a Superman (1999)
  Tracklisting: US CD
  1. Waitin' for a Superman (radio edit)
  2. Waitin' for a Superman (album version)
  3. Waitin' for a Superman (Mokran remix)
  4. Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) (stereo remix)
  5. Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair (stereo remix)
  Tracklisting: UK CD1
  1. Waitin' for a Superman (radio edit)
  2. Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) (Zaireeka CD3)
  3. Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair (Zaireeka CD3)
  Tracklisting: UK CD2
  1. Waitin' for a Superman (radio edit)
  2. Riding to Work in the Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) (Zaireeka CD4)
  3. Thirty-Five Thousand Feet of Despair (Zaireeka CD4)

Compilations/reissues:

• A Collection of Songs Representing an Enthusiasm for Recording...By Amateurs (1984-1990) (1998)
  Tracklisting:
  1. Bag Full of Thoughts
  2. Jesus Shootin' Heroin
  3. One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning
  4. Chrome-Plated Suicide
  5. Michael, Time to Wake Up
  6. Hell's Angels Cracker Factory
  7. Unconsciously Screamin'
  8. God Walks among Us Now
  9. Strychnine / (What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding
  10. Death Valley '69
  11. Thank You
  12. Ma, I Didn't Notice
  13. After the Gold Rush
  14. I Want to Kill My Brother: The Cymbal
  
  
• Finally, the Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid (1983-1988) (2002)
  Reissue of the debut EP and the first three albums plus a whole record's worth of bonus material.
  Tracklisting (disc 1):
  1. Bag Full of Thoughts
  2. Out for a Walk
  3. Garden of Eyes / Forever Is a Long Time
  4. Scratchin' the Door
  5. My Own Planet
  6. With You
  7. Unplugged
  8. Trains, Brains and Rain
  9. Jesus Shootin' Heroin
  10. Just Like Before
  11. She Is Death
  12. Charlie Manson Blues
  13. Man from Pakistan
  14. Godzilla Flick
  15. Staring at Sound / With You
  16. Killer One the Radio
  17. Batman Theme
  18. Anywhere, Anyhow, Anyway
  19. Handsome Johnny
  
  Disc 2:
  1. Everything's Explodin'
  2. Maximum Dream for Evil Knievel
  3. Can't Exist
  4. Ode to CC (Part I)
  5. The Ceiling Is Bendin'
  6. Prescription: Love
  7. Thanks to You
  8. Can't Stop the Spring
  9. Ode to CC (Part II)
  10. Love Yer Brain
  11. Groove Room
  12. Jesus Shootin' Heroin
  13. Trains, Brains and Rain
  14. Communication Breakdown
  15. One Million Billionth of a Millisecond on a Sunday Morning
  
  Disc 3:
  1. Drug Machine in Heaven
  2. Right Now
  3. Michael, Time to Wake Up
  4. Chrome-Plated Suicide
  5. Hari-Krishna Stomp Wagon
  6. Miracle on 42nd Street
  7. Fryin' Up
  8. Hell's Angel Cracker Factory
  9. U.F.O. Story
  10. Redneck School of Technology
  11. Shaved Gorilla
  12. The Spontaneous Combustion of John
  13. Last Drop of Morning Dew
  14. Begs and Achin'
  15. Death Valley '69
  16. Thank You
  17. Can't Stop the Spring
  18. Jesus Shootin' Heroin
  19. My Own Planet
  20. After the Gold Rush
  21. Death Trip at Sunrise


• The Day They Shot a Hole in the Jesus Egg (2002)
  Reissue of In a Priest-Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine Stares) plus demos, outtakes and b-sides.
  Tracklisting (disc 1):
  1. Shine On Sweet Jesus
  2. Unconsciously Screamin'
  3. Rainin' Babies
  4. Take Meta Mars
  5. Five Stop Mother Superior Rain
  6. Stand in Line
  7. God Walks Among Us Now
  8. There You Are
  9. Mountain Side
  10. What a Wonderful World
  11. Lucifer Rising
  12. Ma, I Didn't Notice
  13. Let Me Be It
  14. Drug Machine in Heaven
  15. Strychnine / (What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding
  
  Disc 2:
  1. Take Meta Mars
  2. Mountain Side
  3. There You Are
  4. Five Stop Mother Superior Rain
  5. Rainin' Babies
  6. Unconsciously Screamin'
  7. Stand in Line
  8. God's a Wheeler Dealer
  9. Agonizing
  10. One Shot
  11. Cold Day
  12. Jam
  13. She's Gone Mad
  14. Golden Hearse
  15. Unconsciously Screamin'
  16. Stand in Line
  17. I Want to Kill My Brother
  18. Five Stop Mother Superior Rain

---

I don't know the details of any singles/EPs that have been released from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and I would appreciate updates on that issue.

Completed with the help of the occasionally conflicting sources, http://www.flaminglips.com (which has been remade since I wrote this), http://www.amazon.com and Martin C. Strong's Great Rock Discography (fifth edition) (2000).