The Flaming Lips’ favourite prog-rock songs
The Flaming Lips are one of the most creative alternative rock bands to have emerged in the past few decades, defying categorisation through their sonic mutability. It’s perhaps easiest to categorise the band as psychedelic rockers, although their sound echoes traces of pop, noise rock and electronica, making them effortlessly captivating.
While Wayne Coyne is known as the band’s bold and theatrical frontman, he was initially just the guitarist, with his brother, Mark, leading the band. However, he assumed the role in 1985, debuting his vocals on the band’s first album, Here It Is, the following year. Since then, The Flaming Lips have released 15 studio albums and performed across the world, garnering a dedicated fanbase.
The band have never shied away from pushing their creativity to the limits. For example, in 1997, they released Zaireeka, a quadruple album intended to be played on four different stereo systems. The Flaming Lips are also an example of perseverance – it wasn’t until 1999’s The Soft Bulletin that they received mainstream success, despite forming in 1983.
Yet, despite the creative space the band allowed themselves, in 2014, Coyne and fellow bandmate Steven Drozd found themselves wanting to make music away from the Flaming Lips name. Thus, they formed Electric Wurms, recruiting members of Linear Downfall to help them out. Drozd explained to Billboard, “I think Wayne and I were talking about some idea of some fantastical prog-rock kind of a jam band, Miles Davis, electric, crazy music ensemble thing.”
Therefore, Electric Wurms’ first single was a cover of ‘Heart of the Sunrise’ from prog heavyweights Yes. Clearly, Coyne and Drozd are big progressive rock fans, which is unsurprising due to the genre’s roots in psychedelia. In 2014, they picked out some of their favourite prog songs during an interview with Dangerous Minds, with three of the ten songs belonging to Yes.
Their choices include the live version of ‘South Side of the Sky’, which clocks in at just over ten minutes. The song initially appeared on 1971’s Fragile, which remains one of their popular records. A live version of ‘Siberian Khatru’, taken from 1972’s Close to the Edge, also features on the playlist, as does The Yes Album‘s ‘Yours Is No Disgrace’.
Of course, an early Genesis number, ‘Watcher of the Skies’, also appears on the prog playlist. The song featured on their fourth album, Foxtrot, the band’s first record to chart in the United Kingdom.
Discover the full list below.
The Flaming Lips’ favourite prog-rock songs
- ‘South Side of the Sky’ – Yes
- ‘Siberian Khatru’ – Yes
- ‘Knife Edge’ – ELP
- ‘Watcher of the Skies’ – Genesis
- ‘Archangel Thunderbird’ – Amon Düül II
- ‘Darkness’ – Van der Graaf Generator
- ‘Yours Is No Disgrace’ – Yes
- ‘Cygnus X-1 book 1’- Rush
- ‘The Inner Mounting Flame’ – Mahavishnu Orchestra
- ‘Thick As A Brick’- Jethro Tull
