Every once in a while, there is a band so important, it defies classification and deserves to be in a category all its own.  The Flaming Lips is one such band.  This issue of Thriller is devoted entirely to the Lips, who just released a new double-album in October – the stunning Embryonic - and a remake ofPink Floyd’s timeless classic, Dark Side of the Moon, in December.

The Flaming Lips are Wayne Coyne, Michael Ivins and Steven Drozd, with drummer Kliph Scurlock accompanying them on the road and occasionally on records.  They began in 1983 in Oklahoma City – not exactly ground zero for artistic expansion – and their rise was anything but ordinary and anything but fast.  The band toiled through years of relative obscurity and even seemed destined to be a one-hit-wonder pop music footnote (their only true “hit” is still 1993’s “She Don’t Use Jelly”), but instead, the Flaming Lips quietly went about revolutionizing the art of live performance and releasing a trio of masterpieces (Zaireeka, The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots) that brought them to a level of fame they had never reached before.

Now, with Embryonic, the Lips have redefined themselves again and offered one of the most intriguing, baffling, fascinating and beautiful albums of this young century.  If any further proof was needed that the Flaming Lips are the most important American band since Talking Heads, Embryonic is it.

In this issue, Wayne Coyne talks to Thriller about making the album and other bits of Flaming Lips lore.  Also, there is an article written after dancing on stage at a Flaming Lips concert, which Thriller was lucky enough to do in April of 2007 and August of 2009.  Finally, there is an interview with bass player Michael Ivins, which was conducted after the release of 2006’s At War with the Mystics.  It provides an interesting look into the workings of the band at that time and a great vantage point from which to view Embryonic.  As always, check out The Playlist, which is full of Lips classics as well as weird deep cuts that you should know.

Members of Thriller’s mailing list will get a Grooveshark playlist with Embryonic on it (Send an email to Thrillermag@gmail.com to get on the list!)

* Photo credit:  Eric Atria