THE FLAMING LIPS AND STARDEATH AND WHITE DWARFS WITH HENRY ROLLINS AND PEACHES DOING THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby. As much as I love the Lips and appreciate their love of classic progressive rock music from KC to Yes, this take on PF's DSOTM just comes up short. First of all, they share the bill with Lips front man Wayne Coyne's nephew's band Stardeath and White Dwarfs, and neither have the vocal abilities to carry this material, showing us just how good the vocal abilities are of the Floyd themselves.

Another problem with the material is that it's not going through the usual filter of Flaming Lips distinctive quirky sound as the FL's weave acid rock motifs around the opener Breath, it's reprise and Any Color You Like. Money starts off as a more chunky version of the well known song that immediately sinks as Wayne Coyne's vocal is robotized by vocoder effects. The less said about the butchering of the Great Gig In the Sky by a guest vocalist named Peaches, the better.

This album only drives one to seek out the original upon completion of listening instead of driving you on to other Flaming Lips albums. Bypass this turkey and grab the dark existential Popol Vuh like 2012 album The Terror, or stick with the older feel good psych pop of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots and get back into what the Flaming Lips do best. For completists only, 2 stars.