Embryonic
A photo of a woman's face being held by a hand; the photo is overlaid on top of a photo of human hair
Studio album by
the Flaming Lips
ReleasedOctober 13, 2009 (2009-10-13)
RecordedFebruary–July 2009
Studio
Genre
Length70:52
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
  • The Flaming Lips
  • Dave Fridmann
  • Scott Booker
The Flaming Lips chronology
Once Beyond Hopelessness
(2008)		 Embryonic
(2009)		 The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon
(2009)

Embryonic is the twelfth studio album by experimental rock band the Flaming Lips released on October 13, 2009, on Warner Bros.[3] The band's first double album, it was released to generally positive reviews and became their most successful album in the US, peaking at number 8 on the Billboard 200.

Production

News of the album first surfaced in an interview with Wayne Coyne, who stated that "Somewhere along the way it occurred to me that we should do a double album... Just this idea that you can weave a couple of themes into there and you can sprawl a little bit.[4]

Several other artists made contributions to various tracks on the album. German mathematician Dr. Thorsten Wörmann contributed to the track "Gemini Syringes", psychedelic rock band MGMT contributed to the song "Worm Mountain", and Karen O (lead singer of the alternative rock trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs) contributed to the songs "I Can Be a Frog" and "Watching the Planets".[5] Karen O's contributions were recorded by Wayne Coyne over the phone.

Background and promotion

On August 13, 2009, the song "See the Leaves" was reviewed and streamed on Pitchfork.com[6] On September 3, 2009, the album was previewed in its entirety on The Fly website, using Wayne Coyne's own track-by-track guide.[7]

On September 17, 2009, the band appeared on The Colbert Report and announced that the album would stream in its entirety on Colbertnation.com until September 21, 2009.[8]

Embryonic was streamed in full on the UK music site Clash Music on October 5, just over a week ahead of its release. It was selected as fourth best album of 2009 by Pitchfork Media.[9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.2/10[10]
Metacritic81/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
The A.V. ClubA−[13]
The Daily Telegraph[14]
Entertainment WeeklyB[15]
The Guardian[16]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)A−[17]
NME9/10[18]
Pitchfork9.0/10[1]
Rolling Stone[19]
Spin7/10[20]

Embryonic generally received praise from critics upon release, garnering an 81/100 score (indicating "universal acclaim") on Metacritic based on 33 critics.[11] NME wrote that "ten years after their last masterpiece, The Flaming Lips have finally produced another one,"[21] while Paste described the record as "a wonderfully weird parade of sonic delights: an arresting consummation of the Lips' two-and-a-half decade career."[22] Other critics praised the album but were also quick to note its dramatically different sound in comparison to previous releases. Mojo remarked that "(Embryonic's) themes may be familiar, but its fine, dazzlingly outlandish music is fresh and utterly fearless."[23] As of 2011, the album has sold 103,000 copies in the United States.[24]

Sound and influence

The style of the tracks on Embryonic differs from the styles of previous albums, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War with the Mystics, and has been reported to be similar to the style of Joy Division, Miles Davis, and John Lennon.[4]

Wayne Coyne says the new record solves their perpetual "dilemma" of what to include on each album, by dumping all their ideas on the follow-up to 2006's At War with the Mystics. Coyne had this to say about the double-LP decision to Billboard: "Some of my favorite records – thinking Beatles' White Album, Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti and even some of the longer things that The Clash have done – part of the reason I like them is that they're not focused. They're kind of like a free-for-all and go everywhere. It's not necessarily because we're prolific, I think we always stay in a sort of perpetual panic of like we never have more songs than we need and we always wonder if any of them are any good to begin with." Coyne notes that Embryonic is less polished than Mystics or 2002's Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and has a "freak-out vibe". The frontman also notes the influence of Miles Davis's group and slow-burn songs like John Lennon's "Instant Karma!".[4]

Deluxe edition

A deluxe version of the album was released on October 13, 2009.

The deluxe edition includes the original 18 tracks (on two discs) as well as a bonus DVD-Audio which features the album in full dynamic range at 24bit/96 kHz audio. A further variant sold exclusively through the band's website is packaged in a "fur pack" with an extended booklet which features additional art, lyrics, and band photos. This web-only deluxe edition also comes with a 14 inch by 28 inch lithograph featuring the full album cover. A limited number of pre-orders received an additional lithograph autographed by the band, shipped 2–3 weeks after the release date.[25]

Track listing

On one retail edition of the release, all tracks are included on one disc, though both the "deluxe" and "fur-pack" variations of the album spread the songs over two discs, containing nine songs each.

  1. "Convinced of the Hex" – 3:56
  2. "The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine" – 4:14
  3. "Evil" – 5:38
  4. "Aquarius Sabotage" – 2:11
  5. "See the Leaves" – 4:24
  6. "If" – 2:05
  7. "Gemini Syringes" – 3:41
  8. "Your Bats" – 2:35
  9. "Powerless" – 6:57
  10. "The Ego's Last Stand" – 5:40
  11. "I Can Be a Frog" – 2:14
  12. "Sagittarius Silver Announcement" – 2:59
  13. "Worm Mountain" – 5:21
  14. "Scorpio Sword" – 2:02
  15. "The Impulse" – 3:30
  16. "Silver Trembling Hands" – 3:58
  17. "Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast" – 3:45
  18. "Watching the Planets" – 5:16

iTunes exclusive bonus tracks

  1. "UFOs Over Baghdad" – 5:18
  2. "What Does It Mean?" – 5:10
  3. "Just Above Love" – 4:49
  4. "Anything You Say Now, I Believe You" – 6:40

Personnel

The Flaming Lips

Additional personnel

  • Scott Booker – production
  • Dave Fridmann – production, mixing, programming, engineering, mastering
  • MGMT – additional singing and playing (track 13)
  • Karen O – additional singing, screaming, animal sounds and noises (tracks: 7, 11, 18)
  • Thorsten Wörmann – spoken announcements (tracks: 7, 17)

Charts

Chart performance for Embryonic
Chart (2009) Peak
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 43
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[27] 50
Irish Albums (IRMA)[28] 47
Scottish Albums (OCC)[29] 46
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 43
US Billboard 200[31] 8

Embryonic moved 32,000 copies in its first week on US charts.[32]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Berman, Stuart (October 12, 2009). "The Flaming Lips: Embryonic". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  2. ↑ Leslie, Jimmy (January 1, 2010). "Michael Ivins : On the Joy of Effects". Bass Player. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Flaming Lips Unleash "See the Leaves," "Embryonic" Album Cover". Rolling Stone. 2009-08-13. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  4. 1 2 3 "Flaming Lips Stretching Out For 'Mystics' Follow-Up". Billboard.com. 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
  5. ↑ "MGMT, Karen O Guest on Flaming Lips LP". Pitchfork.com. 29 June 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  6. ↑ "Hear the New Flaming Lips Song "See the Leaves"". Pitchfork. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  7. ↑ "'Embryonic' First Listen on". The-fly.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  8. ↑ "The Colbert Report | Comedy Central". Colbert Nation. 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  9. ↑ "Staff Lists: The Top 50 Albums of 2009". Pitchfork. 2009-12-17. Archived from the original on 2009-12-21. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  10. ↑ "Embryonic by The Flaming Lips reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  11. 1 2 "Reviews for Embryonic by The Flaming Lips". Metacritic. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  12. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Embryonic – The Flaming Lips". AllMusic. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  13. ↑ Murray, Noel (October 13, 2009). "The Flaming Lips: Embryonic". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  14. ↑ Perry, Andrew (October 13, 2009). "The Flaming Lips: Embryonic, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  15. ↑ Greenwald, Andy (October 7, 2009). "Embryonic". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  16. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (October 8, 2009). "The Flaming Lips: Embryonic". The Guardian. London. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  17. ↑ Christgau, Robert (March 2010). "Consumer Guide". MSN Music. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  18. ↑ Doran, John (October 3, 2009). "The Flaming Lips: Embryonic". NME.
  19. ↑ Dolan, Jon (October 15, 2009). "Embryonic". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  20. ↑ Marchese, David (October 14, 2009). "The Flaming Lips, 'Embryonic' (Warner Bros.)". Spin. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  21. ↑ Doran, John (October 12, 2009). "Album review: The Flaming Lips – 'Embryonic'". NME. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  22. ↑ "The Flaming Lips: Embryonic :: Music :: Reviews :: Paste". Pastemagazine.com. 2009-10-13. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  23. ↑ "The Flaming Lips: Embryonic". Mojo (192): 88. November 2009.
  24. ↑ "The Flaming Lips 'See The Leaves' On David Letterman – Viral Videos". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  25. ↑ "Embryonic Deluxe Limited Edition 2CD/DVD". The Flaming Lips. 2009-09-23. Archived from the original on 2009-10-11. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
  26. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – The Flaming Lips – Embryonic". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Flaming Lips – Embryonic" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Flaming Lips". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Buble Stays On Top, 'New Moon' Grabs No. 2 On Billboard 200". Billboard. 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  32. ↑ "On the Charts: Buble Eclipses "New Moon," Dylan Defeats Archuleta in "Christmas" Battle". Rollingstone.com. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
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