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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Soft Bulletin
Universal acclaim
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 41 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 22 June 1999
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
The Dave Fridmann-produced 'Soft Bulletin' is considered by many fans and critics to be the band's finest album, and found its way onto quite a few Best of 1999 lists.
Also By This Artist: At War With The Mystics Embryonic Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Fearless Freaks
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Onion (A.V. Club)
An impossibly multi-tracked masterwork of excess, abrasion, and indefinable beauty.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
A vertiginous rainbow swirl that crams so many ideas into so many tight spaces that each track is like a perfectly rendered Joseph Cornell box.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
This is one of those albums people are going to obsess over for many years to come.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
The Soft Bulletin provides an exquisite soundtrack to have blasting in the car at night.
Read Full Review >E! Online
Combines Beach Boys harmonies, Pink Floyd-influenced orchestral rock and the lonely-heart vocal style of such '70s icons as Big Star and Neil Young.
Read Full Review >Amazon.com
The Flaming Lips' particular and peculiar genius comes to full fruition on the stupendous The Soft Bulletin.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Not just the best album of 1999, The Soft Bulletin might be the best record of the entire decade.
Read Full Review >Hot Press
The Flaming Lips could've been forgiven for feeling usurped when their sister ship Mercury Rev steamed away with the garlands for Deserter's Songs last December, but in truth, both collectives are in competition with no-one but themselves and the gods.
Read Full Review >Nude As The News
One of the Flaming Lips' most listenable records and another step up the ladder toward pop perfection.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
The Lips may have been inspired by the easy-listening craze, but the seeker's quality within their music tugs against that style's instinctive cheapening of sentiment.
Read Full Review >BBC collective
Upon starting Soft Bulletin--you’re instantly whisked off into the universe the Flaming Lips have created. The musical journey that ensues is nothing short of imaginary genius--simple as.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
As if the Lips' perfect mix of pop and psychedelia wasn't enough, they write songs that are not only excellent but distinct as well.
Read Full Review >Launch.com
The Soft Bulletin is sparse and enchanted, like the band has awoken from a long dream spent spinning in outer space.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
The Soft Bulletin posts several clunkers, a few throwbacks, yet manages to it finds its way into some genuinely new territory, and in its wake the Flaming Lips might just be poised to make a masterpiece.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
The Soft Bulletin echoes the oft-mimiced Smiley Smile by The Beach Boys, with its psychedelic wobbliness, songs-within-songs and airy termperament.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 41 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Sam S gave it a5:
Much loved by people whose judgment I respect. But it doesn't quite do it for me. I came to it after Yoshimi -- which I love in the extreme -- and this sounds flabby and maudlin by comparison.
I Shonaman gave it a9:
This is one of the best - most returned to albums I own. To only stand there and here the sound of Wayne's voice and dismiss it - is not embracing the Everyman appeal of Wayne's delivery. You don't need to be technically proficient to express. I find the lyrics to be imaginative, yet anchored in a realism based on reactions to loss and uncertainty. The delivery (vocal & instrumentation) only adds to the lyrical themes. Everything here is by design.
Tom B. gave it a10:
This album is the reason I believe in love.
sidewinder572 gave it a10:
Depending on how you look at it this is either the last masterpiece of the 20th century or the first masterpiece of the 21st century. However you look at it this is The Flaming Lips finest hour and at this moment one of the 5 greatest albums I've ever heard.
Paul D gave it a10:
The best record since the White Album, Pet Sounds, Exile, Buddy Holly's Greatest and you get the message. Freakin' beautiful melodies and arrangements, and Wayne's lyrics are the most insanely honest ever written. I liked the Lips beforehand, but this is by far their masterpiece. If this were the 60s, they would be the most popular thing out. too bad the superstars now come from a television show.
Gonzalo D gave it a10:
Subliminal.. Best album of the flaming, best album of 1999, and one of the 5 best albums of the entire decade!
Joseph B gave it a9:
The Soft Bulletine is the yin to the Clouds Taste Metallic yang. It pushes pop to its outer limits as well as anything that comes before it.
