Flaming Lips have a Best Of on the way

The Flaming Lips announce their first official “hits” collection on Warner Bros. Records to be released on June 1.

Greatest Hits Vol. 1 will compile eleven WBR-era singles and album tracks on a single black vinyl pressing. This is the first time The Lips have presented singles from Transmissions From The Satellite Heart (1993), Clouds Taste Metallic (1995), The Soft Bulletin (1999), Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002), At War With The Mystics (2006), Embryonic (2009) and their current album Oczy Mlody (2017) on a single disc.

The Deluxe digital and Deluxe 3-CD Edition of Greatest Hits Vol.1 significantly expands the concept of their “hits” and gathers some of their best-loved album tracks from the aforementioned albums plus deep cuts from their WBR album debut, Hit To Death In The Future Head (1992), along with music from, Zaireeka (1997), The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends (2012) and The Terror (2013). The Deluxe Edition will also compile a generous hatful of International single B-sides, studio outtakes and several previously unreleased tracks to present an essential view into the extraordinary body of work from one of the most influential and enduring rock bands of all-time.

Each of the tracks in this collection has been remastered from the original tape sources by The Flaming Lips and long-time producer Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Road Studios. The resultant sound quality of these recordings is now far superior to all previously released versions.

To make things even more exciting for fans, Rhino Records and Warner Bros. Records celebrate Oklahoma’s most famous freaks with an ambitious reissue program, including two releases that spotlight the joyous weirdness the band recorded for Restless Records before signing with Warner Bros. in 1991. Scratching the Door and Seeing the Unseeable, a 6-CD box released June 29, gather up early Lips album and rare cuts also remastered by The Lips and Fridmann.

Lips fans will have the opportunity to purchase direct to consumer bundles and brand new Lips Greatest Hits-themed merchandise. The Greatest Hits Deluxe bundle will include the 52-song 3-CD set with 24″x24″ screen printed poster and all three digital download tracks in advance of the release date with the full album digital download upon release. The Greatest Hits Vinyl bundle will include the 11 track black vinyl album, along with 24″ x 24″ screen printed post and include the full album digital download upon release. A new line of Greatest Hits merchandise will also be sold separately and include a limited edition custom embroidered crewneck sweatshirt, and all new short sleeve and long sleeve T-shirt designs utilizing the artwork from the album.

Some of the aural treasures found on disc 3 are among the rarest recorded curios in The Lips musical medicine chest including the previously unreleased demo track “Zero To A Million” which features The Lips short-lived line-up that included Jonathan Donahue on guitar (Mercury Rev) and Nathan Roberts on drums. This track was on the original cassette tape which led to The Lips Warner Bros. Records signing. Another early obscurity “Jets (Cupid’s Kiss Vs. the Psyche of Death)” is one of the three tracks from The Lips first-ever WBR CD EP, Yeah, I Know It’s A Drag…Wastin’ Pigs Is Still Radical.

Various odds & sods included here that have never been available on CD until now include the epic, fan favorite “The Captain” which was left off The Soft Bulletin and a welcome addition to this set. “We Can’t Predict The Future” is taken from a June 2000 John Peel BBC Session. “Your Face Can Tell The Future”, and “You Gotta Hold On” are outtakes from At War With The Mystics sessions. Another rare gem, “Noodling Theme”, is from the 2001 Lips soundtrack to director Bradley Beesley’s indie-film Okie Noodling about bare-handed fishing in Oklahoma. Those lucky enough to attend early screenings were handed a copy of this now ultra-rare 3-song CD upon entry. “Spiderman Vs Muhammed Ali”, originally recorded for 2007’s Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man 3 soundtrack has never released in any form. Prior to this collection, “Enthusiasm For Life Defeats Existential Fear Pt. 2” existed on a USB drive — along with two other tracks — buried within the edible Gummy Fetus sold on tour in 2011. Closing out the collection is “Silent Lord” which is comprised of The Lips mash-up of “Silent Night” with Spacemen 3’s “Lord, Can You Hear Me” from a Christmas 2008 limited edition 7″ picture disc. The most comprehensive of any Lips compilation to date, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 Deluxe Edition becomes an essential piece of the puzzle into the wonderful and strange world view of The Flaming Lips.

Track List:

Single Vinyl LP
Side One
Do You Realize??
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1
Race For The Prize
Waitin’ For A Superman
When You Smile
She Don’t Use Jelly
Side Two
Bad Days (Aurally Excited Version)
The W.A.N.D.
Silver Trembling Hands
The Castle
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
3-CD Set & Digital

Disc 1
Talkin’ ‘Bout The Smiling Deathporn Immortality Blues (Everyone Wants to Live Forever)
Hit Me Like You Did The First Time
Frogs
Felt Good To Burn
Turn It On
She Don’t Use Jelly
Chewin The Apple Of Your Eye
Slow Nerve Action
Psychiatric Explorations of The Fetus With Needles
Brainville
Lightning Strikes The Postman
When You Smile
Bad Days (Aurally Excited Version)
Riding To Work In The Year 2025
Race For The Prize (Sacrifice Of The New Scientists)
Waitin’ For A Superman (Is It Getting Heavy?)
The Spark That Bled
What Is the Light?

Disc 2
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1
In The Morning Of The Magicians
All We Have Is Now
Do You Realize??
The W.A.N.D.
Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung
Vein Of Stars
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Convinced Of The Hex
See The Leaves
Silver Trembling Hands
Is David Bowie Dying?
Try To Explain
Always There In Our Hearts
How??
There Should Be Unicorns
The Castle

Disc 3
Zero to A Million (Demo)
Jets (Cupid’s Kiss Vs The Psyche Of Death) (2-Track Demo)
Thirty-Five Thousand Feet Of Despair
The Captain
1000 Ft. Hands
Noodling Theme (Epic Sunset Mix #5)
Up Above The Daily Hum
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (In Anatropous Reflex)
We Can’t Predict The Future
Your Face Can Tell The Future
You Gotta Hold On
What Does It Mean?
Spider-man Vs Muhammad Ali
I Was Zapped By The Lucky Super Rainbow
Enthusiasm For Life Defeats Existential Fear Pt. 2
If I Only Had A Brain
Silent Night / Lord, Can You Hear Me