Flaming Lips, "The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down ... What a Sound"

Like most fans who grew up adoring the Stone Roses' debut album, I was prepared to hate this track-by-track 2013 remake by Flaming Lips and a motley crew of guest collaborators.  But instead I found it a charming, even mildly ambitious take on the original album.   All hints of the swagger and arrogance of the Roses have disappeared, buried under layers of bleepy electronica and blissed out dream pop.  That could be viewed as a positive depending on your views of the Roses.  Arrogance can be easily construed as a negative, even in the context of rock and roll.  I prefer to frame it as belief.  Bands that emerge fully formed on their debut albums exude a tangible belief in the concept and vision for the band, despite their reluctance (or even failure) to conform to the norms of their time.  The Velvet Underground had it on their debut album, Joy Division had it, Guns N Roses had it.  Anyway, all of that is missing on the Flaming Lips versions.  But the melodies, if anything, shine through even stronger, and the sound palate is far wider. 

It's the Flaming Lips, so of course there are silly, unnecessary excesses.  "Waterfall" doesn't need to switch moods and vocalists midway through, shifting from pretty bedroom pop into screechy noise.  "She Bangs The Drums" is progressing just fine before devolving into an embarrassing space movie electronic squelch-fest.  On the other hand, "Bye Bye Badman" was the throwaway track on the Roses album, but FL transform it into an echo-laden, shimmering, sun-drenched anthem.  "Sugar Spun Sister" unexpectedly turns into a minor epic thanks to a gorgeous ambient shoegaze intro leading into a wonderfully hazy mess that's straight out of "Lovelee Sweet Darlene"-era MBV.  "Shoot You Down", one of the weaker tracks on the original album, turns into a storming 80's synth pop.  Beneath the huge gated drums sound and the twinkly looping synths, you can almost believe it was meant to be a love song.