Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

1	Fight Test 4:14
2	One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21 4:59
3	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1 4:45
4	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2 2:57
5	In the Morning of the Magicians 6:18
6	Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell 4:34
7	Are You a Hypnotist?? 4:44
8	It's Summertime 4:20
9	Do You Realize?? 3:32
10	All We Have Is Now 3:53
11	Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia) 3:09

Barnes & Noble

Brian Wilson once said he was trying to create "teenage symphonies to God" with the Beach Boys -- a baton that the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne seems to have picked up (and carried into adult territory) a few years back. Following in the footsteps of 1999's The Soft Bulletin, this strikingly nuanced disc -- which takes its name from contributor Yoshimi P-we of the Boredoms and OOIOO -- takes the band deeper into outer space and, simultaneously, further into the inner spaces of Coyne's psyche. While Yoshimi has its share of oscillating pop beauty -- the fragile opener, "Fight Test," is one of the more gorgeous bits of gossamer to drift off terra firma in quite a spell -- the disc balances the sweetness with a goodly amount of darkness. That end of the spectrum is occupied by slowly unfolding space-rock epics like "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell." There are even fewer guitar freak-outs here than on Bulletin, which may cause furrowed brows among longtime Lips lovers, but that doesn't mean there's abundant empty space: Coyne fills the nooks and crannies with skittering electronics (on the two-part title track) and bizarre-world rhythms ("One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21"). Despite all the references to machinery and technology, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots remains, at its core, the most human of albums -- one concerned almost exclusively with love, loss, and -- on the mournful "Do You Realize?," which raises the notion that "one day everyone you know will die" -- the places where those things intersect. David Sprague

All Music Guide

After the symphonic majesty of The Soft Bulletin, the Flaming Lips return with Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, a sublime fusion of Bulletin's newfound emotional directness, the old-school playfulness of Transmissions From the Satellite Heart, and, more importantly, exciting new expressions of the group's sentimental, experimental sound. While the album isn't as immediately impressive as the equally brilliant and unfocused Soft Bulletin, it's more consistent, using a palette of rounded, surprisingly emotive basslines; squelchy analog synths; and manicured acoustic guitars to craft songs like "One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21," a sleekly melancholy tale of robots developing emotions, and "In the Morning of the Magicians," an aptly named electronic art rock epic that sounds like a collaboration between the Moody Blues and Wendy Carlos. Paradoxically, the Lips use simpler arrangements to create more diverse sounds on Yoshimi, spanning the lush, psychedelic reveries of "It's Summertime"; the instrumental "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon"; the dubby "Are You a Hypnotist?"; and the barely organized chaos of "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 2," which defeats the evil metal ones with ferocious drums, buzzing synths, and the razor sharp howl of the Boredoms' Yoshimi. Few bands can craft life-affirming songs about potentially depressing subjects (the passage of time, fighting for what you care about, good vs. evil) as the Flaming Lips, and on Yoshimi, they're at the top of their game. "Do You Realize??" is the standout, so immediately gorgeous that it's obvious that it's the single. It's also the most obviously influenced by The Soft Bulletin, but it's even catchier and sadder, sweetening such unavoidable truths like "Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?" with chimes, clouds of strings, and angelic backing vocals. Yoshimi features some of the sharpest emotional peaks and valleys of any Lips album -- the superficially playful "Fight Test" is surprisingly bittersweet, while sad songs like "All We Have Is Now" and "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell" are leavened by witty lyrics and production tricks. 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. Heather Phares

Rolling Stone

The Lips sound absolutely ecstatic to be living in the moment. Greg Kot

Blender

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.