The Flaming Lips are marking two decades of At War With The Mystics with a huge Deluxe 20th Anniversary Edition. It arrives Friday, November 13 via Rhino / Warner Records on 6CD, 6LP, and digital, and pre-orders are open now.
Released in 2006 as the follow-up to Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, the GRAMMY-winning At War With The Mysticscaught the band at one of their most restless and expansive moments. It mixes psychedelic experiments, electronic textures, and orchestral color with huge pop hooks on songs like "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," "Free Radicals," "It Overtakes Me," and "The W.A.N.D." Twenty years on, it still sounds like a band that refused to stand still.
The new edition opens up the whole world around the record:
The original album, remastered, plus the non-LP B-sides from the era
19 previously unreleased demos that show how the songs took shape
14 previously unreleased studio recordings, including "Death In Picher," "Don't Be Shy," a "Spider-Man Theme," and a cover of Devo's "Gates Of Steel"
42 non-album tracks: soundtrack cuts from Spider-Man 3, The Heartbreak Kid, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and Stubbs The Zombie, plus radio sessions, iTunes Originals, remixes, and covers of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Black Sabbath's "War Pigs"
Two legendary 2006 concerts on CD for the first time: U.F.O.s At The Zoo, recorded in Oklahoma City, and the previously unreleased Live At The Hollywood Bowl
As with the Yoshimi anniversary box, the CD and vinyl editions are configured differently to keep both as accessible as possible. The rest of the CD material will come out across future vinyl releases.
To kick things off, "The Sound Of Failure (2 Demos)" is streaming everywhere now.
Pre-order the 6CD · Pre-order the 6LP · Pre-save · Listen to "The Sound Of Failure (2 Demos)"
