The Flaming Lips1984-1990

　　This compilation from Restless was issued preceeding the release of The Soft Bulletin, with Restless deciding to stop pressing some of the 1980's Flaming Lips albums on their catalogue. The compilation is intended as a chronological restrospective of the pre-Warner Bros era, and was put together with the co-operation and input of the the band, despite Restless having total control over the material in question. Wayne put together some new artwork and, for the most part, the track listing. So what you get, besides a fourteen track sonic chart of the evolution of a band, is some great sleeve notes detailing Wayne's view of how the band stumbled through the 80s making records that he thinks were never that great (until 'In A Priest Driven Ambulance' anyway) but always somehow managed to come out smelling of roses. It's extremely interesting and lays to rest one or two myths about the band's past, even if it does maybe create a few more along the way.
　　Of course, the thing about compilations is that everyone will always disagree about what should have been on there. To be fair, here you'd be pushed to choose better - these songs truly do map things out. The first eight tracks are chronological selections starting at the self released debut EP and working through the four Restless Lps that followed. After that we get some hard to find and fairly cool tracks from elsewhere during this era - with the band having contributed to the odd tribute record and other projects, as well as putting out promo singles and so on. The highlights from these oddments include a typically twisted round cover of Neil Young's 'After The Goldrush' and the little-known original 'I Want To Kill My Brother; The Cymbal Head' - a track composed entirely from different guitar parts.
　　It's pretty interesting to hear the work of several line-ups back to back in the first section of the disc. From the laid back grungey drawl of 'Bag Full Of Thoughts', past the 'One Millionth Billionth Of A Millisecond On A Sunday Morning', to the noise fried vision of 'God Walks Among Us Now', the underlying sense of a unified musical approach is always there. Wayne would have you believe that it was all a bit of an accident, but it is perhaps fairer to say that they always went into a studio with the intention of creating something that was their own. Sure, they might have lifted some cues from someone else and gone in with some ideas of what they were supposed to be doing, but they mostly just wanted to make their own music and that's usually what ended up happening. It may seem to pale a bit in the light of what they've achieved since, but this story is important. And it's somewhat funny, sometimes beautiful, and also slightly heartwarming.

　　A Collection of Songs Representing An Enthusiasm For Recording... By Amateurs
　　Restless Records, 1998
　　1877-729632
　　01. Bag Full Of Thoughts
　　02. Jesus Shootin' Heroin
　　03. One Million, Billionth Of A Millisecond On A Sunday Morning
　　04. Chrome Plated Suicide
　　05. Michael, Time To Wake Up
　　06. Hells' Angels Cracker Factory
　　07. Unconsciously Screamin'
　　08. God Walks Among Us Now
　　09. Strychnine/Peace Love And Understanding (B-side to the 1989 Sub Pop single)
　　10. Death Valley '69 (Live in '87, released on the Bob 7in flexi)
　　11. Thank You (Live in '87, released on the Bob 7in flexi)
　　12. Ma, I Didn't Notice (B-side to the 1991 Atavistic EP)
　　13. After The Goldrush (From the Neil Young tribute LP 'The Bridge')
　　14. I Want To Kill My Brother The Cymbal Head (From the compilation 'Guitarrorists')
　　Video Track: Unconsciously Screamin' - A Quicktime movie file of the 1990 video.
　　Produced by The Flaming Lips and various people, remastered by Dave Fridmann.

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