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10.0
1322
10.0 |
The List
You have to be in it for the long haul with Embryonic, it takes persistence and patience to uncover the full magic held within.
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9.0
1317
9.0 |
Pitchfork
Exhibits a renewed sense of fearless freakery
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9.0
1318
9.0 |
NME
Ten years after their last masterpiece, The Flaming Lips have finally produced another one
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9.0
6498
9.0 |
Blurt
The 70-minute Embryonic, then, is probably the most forward-feeling album the group's done since their space-age symphony from 1999, The Soft Bulletin
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8.0
6532
8.0 |
The Fly
‘I Can Be A Frog’ features Karen O doing animal impressions and MGMT grab some shakers and form the backing choir for ‘Worm Mountain’
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8.0
7494
8.0 |
Click Music
With Embryonic, the Flaming Lips have crossed the final frontier – its music Jim, but not as we know it
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8.0
1324
8.0 |
Daily Telegraph
Those who have come to love the Flaming Lips... may find it all too outré, even by this extraordinary band’s standards. It’s definitely worth pursuing, however, and preferably at high volume
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8.0
1325
8.0 |
No Ripcord
Embryonic is a true 21st century freak-out and it’s only appropriate to end this decade with such an ambitious, intrepid undertaking
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8.0
1327
8.0 |
Mojo
Print edition only
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8.0
6465
8.0 |
Sydney Morning Herald
Embryonic is faith-rewarding and massively essential
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8.0
1315
8.0 |
Scotland on Sunday
It is all confidently courageous, offering a rewarding if bumpy ride.
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8.0
1305
8.0 |
Clash
Always the outsiders, even as they headlined festivals and topped charts, The Flaming Lips have returned with a truly great piece of work, flawed though it may be.
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8.0
1306
8.0 |
The Times
...over the course of 17 songs, it’s hard to remember the last time you heard such a sustained affront to conventional production values
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8.0
1308
8.0 |
Uncut
Print edition only
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8.0
1311
8.0 |
The Times
Not for the uninitiated and it may well scare off a few casual fans.
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8.0
1313
8.0 |
The Scotsman
A titanic effort by most musicians' standards, but The Flaming Lips make it sound like their natural habitat.
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7.0
1312
7.0 |
PopMatters
Sporadically brilliant, occasionally tedious, and always challenging, it’s proof that the Fearless Freaks are back.
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7.0
1316
7.0 |
Drowned In Sound
A hugely bracing set, but it may yet prove that Embryonic’s biggest achievement is restoring the Flaming Lips’ unpredictability.
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7.0
1320
7.0 |
Spin
Embryonic finds these wild-eyed Okies sounding even more adventurous and less eager to please than at any time since 1997's four-CD experimental sonic goof, Zaireeka.
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7.0
6510
7.0 |
Under The Radar
To say that Embryonic demands repeated listens is an understatement-there are a lot of ideas here. But, as always, The Flaming Lips distill their crazy musical vision with an expert's mastery. And it is unforgettable
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6.0
1319
6.0 |
Rolling Stone
These psych-rock mystics haven't sounded so off-the-wall since they were Oklahoma acidheads in the Eighties.
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6.0
1314
6.0 |
Independent on Sunday
Diverting, inventive, but ultimately unsatisfactory
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6.0
1309
6.0 |
The Guardian
For all its flaws and failings, for all that you may never feel like listening to it again, it's hard not to be perversely glad Embryonic exists.
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6.0
1310
6.0 |
The Independent
Rolling juggernaut riffs are tempered with subtle details and moody, semi-ambient textures which help balance the more formless improvised sections of boisterous twang'n'thump, helping make Embryonic easier to listen to, if not to follow
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6.0
1307
6.0 |
Observer Music Monthly
Silver Trembling Hands is a sparkling jewel, and where else would you find a giggling Karen O pretending to be a bear, bat, cat, wolf, helicopter, locust and frog on a song called – oh yes – I Can Be a Frog?
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4.0
1321
4.0 |
Evening Standard
Infrequent moments of beauty such as the shimmer of Evil are worth plucking from the moody morass but the party seems to be over.
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4.0
1323
4.0 |
The Sunday Times
Perhaps the band needed to jam this stuff out to re-energise themselves, but for fans of The Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi..., this is far from an essential purchase
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4.0
1326
4.0 |
Q
Print edition only
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