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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Universal acclaim
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 77 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warner Bros.
Release Date: 16 July 2002
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock
Summary
The Oklahoma band finally returns with a follow-up to perhaps their strongest effort to date, 1999's 'The Soft Bulletin.' Here, the Lips venture even more into electronic territory, working once again with producer Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev). Yoshimi of Japanese band The Boredoms guests on vocals on one track and lends her name to part of the album's title (the "Yoshimi" part, not the "Pink Robots" part).
Also By This Artist: At War With The Mystics The Soft Bulletin
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Fearless Freaks
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
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...
Dot Music
Incredibly, 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' is a record that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with 'The Soft Bulletin', refining that album's themes and defiantly charging into unchartered musical territories. Another masterpiece.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Even by their standards, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots is astonishing.... Plainly, this is music abnormally alive with possibilities. [Album of the Month, Aug 2002, p.96]
Splendid
A perfect synthesis of modern studio manipulation and old-time pop craftsmanship, shattering all notions of what pop music can, or for that matter, should be.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Funny, beautiful, and moving, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots finds the Flaming Lips continuing to grow and challenge themselves in not-so-obvious ways after delivering their obvious masterpiece.
Read Full Review >CDNow
After fifteen years of continually blossoming brilliance, the Flaming Lips can count themselves among the most essential American bands in rock history.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Smartly packaged pop that's as slick as Stereolab, but human enough--thanks to Coyne's earnestness and sincerity--to malfunction in all the right places. [Sep 2002, p.77]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Endlessly listenable and almost invariably mesmerizing, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots piles on layers of production prowess without drowning out the beat of its human, humane heart.
Read Full Review >Ink Blot Magazine
The measured use of electronics recalls nothing so much as OK Computer, and in some ways Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots sounds like that album might have if Thom Yorke believed in God.
Read Full Review >Mojo
If Yoshimi.... lacks the sheer shock value of Bulletin's panoramic delirium, its peak moments are enough to make it one of 2002's most rewarding releases. [Album of the Month, Aug 2002, p.92]
Pitchfork
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots is a bold and inventive work, brimming with ideas and sublime moments of brilliance. But it's also unfocused and top-heavy.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Songs like "Fight Test" and "Do You Realize" have various tics--but they're so sweet-souled that such sins are easily forgiven. [19 July 2002, p.74]
Rolling Stone
Yoshimi isn't the end-to-end triumph that was 1999's The Soft Bulletin.... But the production is equally ambitious, with burbling electrobeats underpinning sci-fi orchestrations that sound like the brainchild of Esquivel and the Orb.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
It almost seems like the Flaming Lips has regressed a little, structurally and rhythmically speaking.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
Anyone else tries this, it'll be like being force-fed Sunny Delight by a battalion of pastel-pashmina'd Pokemon on My Little Ponies. In the hands of The Flaming Lips, with their stellar inventiveness and inquisitive sweetness, it's just utterly noble.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
This is one of those exquisitely rare records on which maturity and vitality are equally matched. [Aug 2002, p.127]
Dusted Magazine
The whole affair feels a little slighter, a little less important.
Read Full Review >Blender
A gently involving and moving album, Yoshimi could be the negative image of Radiohead's Kid A: the sound of a rock band using electronica to make music that's inclusive and warm instead of icy and aloof. [#8, p.114]
E! Online
Simply the Flaming Lips doing what they do best, which is being beautifully weird and loving every minute of it.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
While the group has done a great job of incorporating even more digital tricks and unique sounds into the mix, they've somehow managed to create a slightly more sterile environment.
Read Full Review >CultureDose.net
Where The Soft Bulletin was an intricate assessment of rock's potential, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is merely a rough sketch of a new musical direction.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Granted, the Lips can still be innovative, but for perhaps the first time in their storied career, their creativity feels familiar and predictable.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
While appreciating Yoshimi for its merits poses little problem, actually enjoying it is more difficult.
Read Full Review >Magnet
Listening to Coyne retreat behind the faux-Power Rangers horror-movie shtick he's created here is puzzling and ultimately disappointing. [#55, p.73]
Austin Chronicle
Yoshimi has its moments, but it sounds like leftover brilliance from its older, better brother, padded out with filler to make a new album.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 77 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Shaun C gave it a10:
One of the most amazing and creative albums made within the last 30 years. I have been a Flaming Lips fan for about 6 years now and checked out all of their work. Their two best albums by far are Yoshimi and the Soft Bullitin. This album will warm and friendly guide on any "trip" you may wish to take.
richard gave it a7:
Really fun album, but in retrospective not amazing.
Number 45 gave it a10:
The most perfect album I've ever heard.
Carl G. gave it a10:
This album is one of few I have ever listened to that I would call a masterpiece (in the classical sense). The other is The Soft Bulletin. The album is a journey and you should listen to it from start to finish without interruption.
Mike S gave it a10:
A breathe of fresh air after listening to loads of crap by Nickelback, Gwen Stefani, Middle Finger Eleven, and you name it. If you enjoy Radiohead in their Kid A/OK Computer iteration, then you will love this!!!
James M gave it a7:
An ok album. A bit directionless.
Bob R gave it a10:
I actually like this much better than the Soft Bulletin.
