The Flaming Lips- The Fearless Freaks Dvd 5/17 (1 Viewer)

[Zen Butler]

The Fearless Freaks

I can hardly contain my excitement for this 2disc set coming up here in 8 days. From the Amazon synopsis and reviews from other sources I've read, it appears this is going to be a pretty thorough account of this psychedelic/punk band's lengthy career. Any other "Flip" fans getting this?

This band is truly a hidden treasure and now, is getting some much deserved recognition.

 

[Jeremy Little]

You're damn right I am. I got to see it in the theater here in OKC, where Wayne attended all 4 nights and gave a Q&A afterwords. Bradley Beesley truly is a gifted Documentarian, and he's got some great footage in that film. There's stuff that will make you laugh, stuff that you probably didn't know before (perhaps stuff that you never knew you wanted to know about), and stuff that will bum you out because it carries so much weight.

 

[BridgetJZ]

Looks pretty rad. I love the lips.

 

[Zen Butler]

Jeremy, you've just added to the intrigue and my overall excitement.

Acid Punk, I think, was a good description of the early years. Any of their albums though, any period, just sound good on acid.

 

[JonZ]

I saw this was coming up while looking over Hollywood Bitch Slap, and it seems pretty great. Years in the making with lots of old footage, which s what I prefer by far.

"This band is truly a hidden treasure and now, is getting some much deserved recognition."

I despised SB and dont like Robots either. I really miss their old music. These guys were prob my favorite band throughout the 90s(along with Death).

"and embarking on the creation of their first masterpiece, The Soft Bulletin"

Oh MY Gawd, shows glimpses of their talent and Telepathic Surgery really picks up at the end, but IMHO their first masterpiece is In A Police Driven Ambulance.They had a incredbible run there. Hit To Death..thru Clouds is just brilliant. Why they changed their sytle is beyond me.

Hit To Death.. changed the way I thought about music.

Man, Transmissions is already 10 years old:frowning:

Anyway,Im going online for this one as I dont want to have to go searching for it in stores next week.

 

[Jeremy Little]

If you like the early stuff, there will be lots to enjoy. Most of the music during the first half is early lips. If you like the newer stuff, there are definitely things to enjoy as well. If you want to see what drives and motivates the creative elements within the band, then you'll really dig this. I don't want to give too much away so I'm really being generic, but you get a real good indication of how Wayne Coyne thinks. Trust me, all of the stuff they do onstage or in studio really starts to make sense. I can't wait to see the extras on the DVD.

 

[Zen Butler]

For sure, WOW(Tower) will have it. To call any their albums "classics" over any other is hard for me. I kind of grew with them but would say Clouds Taste Metallic is my sentimental favorite. They couldn't stay in the same place, and every album is solid and original in their own right. I love the slower more psilocybin pulse of the newer albums and still relish(and miss) the older razor sound of the old and middle periods.

Clouds Taste Metallic, in my opinion, is their best. As one reviewer put, and I just read today "Clouds Taste Metallic" is a fantastic, playful psychedelic theme album, a sort of colorful space-rock. Highly recommended. It's an acid trip burned into a CD. "

And it is! Psychedelic


Nice to meet some HTF "Flip" fans, for sure.

 

[EricSchulz]

Not really familar with them (just the one hit off the last CD), but they are doing a song on the upcoming Queen tribute CD coming out this summer: "Bohemian Rhapsody"! Now THAT should be interesting!

 

[Zen Butler]

Be sure to check out Mike Frezon's Coupons/Bargain's Weekly Round-Up for 5/17/05(coming soon). I forwarded him just about every online and B&M source and their prices for this release. Hopefully, I got him that information in time.

If not:

I'll repost it here soon or just PM me

 

[Zen Butler]

5/17/2005
Title: The Flaming Lips-The Fearless Freaks




Amazon- $17.49

Best Buy-$22.49

Target-$19.99

CostCo-N/A

You can also purchase this at:
WOW/Tower for $21.99 (Stocking almost definite)
Deep Discount Dvd for $14.95!!

 

[JonZ]

Watched this yesterday and it was pretty good.

I love Gawd thru Clouds and the older footage was great to see. Too bad they didnt put their videos on disc2 :frowning:

 

[Zen Butler]

I loved it but didn't have time to watch the last 15 min. In regards to the videos, I wonder if WB will throw something together, videos and such. The live performances were merely a tease. I too, love the early-mid but have come to love the new sound and the heightened visuals live that have seemed to get better and better the last few tours.

BTW, Tower/WOW has it for $14.99



Jon, did you mean In a Priest Driven Ambulance ?

 

[JonZ]

d'oh.

yea I did. Dont know what the hell made me write "police"

"Their sound("style"} changed when Ron Jones left after Clouds Taste Metallic"

Yea but they were already going that way musically before Ron joined.

I didnt know he left because of Steve's drug problem. I had read somewhere he left to pursue a religious path.

I also dont agree with their views on themselves not being musically gifted. Wayne is,IMHO, a great guitarist and has a AMAZING sense of melody. In fact I always thought Waynes guitar work was the highlight of the band (along with uncanny ability to create great melodies).

I think thats gotten kind of lost with the past 2 records.I REALLY miss his guitarwork. I like Pink Robots alot better than Soft Bulletin,which I really hated. Maybe it took a record to get the new sound right, to perfect it.

Hopefully Ill like the new one better.

 

[Steve Kuester]

I watched this last night. I've been a big Lips fan for as long as I can remember, so I knew I would like it going in. But I had no idea it was going to be as good as it was. I loved every minute of it. I can't imagine a more realistic portrait of a band. I loved the shots of Wayne carrying around various bits of space junk for their movie. I wonder if they'll have it wrapped up for this Christmas?

I didn't get a chance to check out the 2nd disc, hopefully this weekend.

I remember reading (somewhere) that the new album will be more guitar oriented than the last few have been. Last I heard, the title will be "At War with the Mystics" and the release date will be spring of 2006.

Glad to see a few Lips fans on the ol' HTF!

 

[Rich Malloy]

Is it true that this was shot 1.85:1, but the transfer isn't anamorphically enhanced?

 

[Steve Kuester]

Correct. But don't let that stop you, the content more than makes up for it.

 

[Zen Butler]

Jon, totally agree here.

On Clouds though, you can really hear the sound start to open up, and the orchestrations become a bit more complex. (See: When You Smile, Bad Days, Christmas at the Zoo, They Punctured My Yolk)

In regards to the 1:85 format. I felt it appeared a bit chopped. I think it would have worked fine in 1:33 in some spots. I find it hard to believe all that older footage was shot 1:85....appears matted in spots.

It is one of the best documentaries I've seen since Dogtown and Z Boys. And thats not just because I'm a huge Flip.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Oh, I can't wait to see it, but I don't understand why a widescreen film would be released without 16x9 enhancement at this point. I also suspect that most of this film was shot 1.33:1, and then matted to 1.85:1 for theatrical showings.

This never seemed a big deal to me until I got a widescreen set. I just wish that this was understood by the DVD producers. If you're going to matte film a film to a widescreen format, then please enhance it for widescreen sets. Or simply leave it at 1.33:1. Either option is far superior to an unenhanced matted widescreen.

I can't wait to see the film, but the presentation on the DVD is very disappointing.