The same extraordinary madness that infected the best work of
Brian Wilson rears its head on the shimmering and melodic
Clouds Taste Metallic, a masterful collection which completes
the Flaming Lips' odyssey into the pop stratosphere. The Pet Sounds comparisons are obvious -- two of the highlights are titled "This Here Giraffe" and "Christmas at the Zoo" -- yet not unfair; like
Brian Wilson,
Wayne Coyne has refined his unique vision into something both highly personal and powerfully universal. Similarly, while
Coyne's lyrics remain as acid-damaged and inscrutable as ever, his densely constructed songs convey emotional complexities far beyond the scope of their head-case titles ("Psychiatric Explorations of the Fetus With Needles," "Guy Who Got a Headache and Accidentally Saves the World"); galvanized by equal parts newfound maturity and childlike wonderment,
Clouds Taste Metallic is both
the Flaming Lips' most intricate and most irresistible work. ~ Jason Ankeny