Why aren't The Flaming Lips on prog archives?

I'm not a fan of the band by any stretch, but having listened to a lot of RIO, I fail to see why not to include them. There's a lot of RIO releases which IMHO are only considered prog because of the level of experimentation. TFL certainly are experimental, they're firmly rooted in Rock with a lot of electronic elements, psychedelic and space leanings as well. 

scouser14 wrote: Oh gosh, NO! They are anything but just a 'pop band'! They are very experimental, and for me, one of the best bands of the last 25+ years (and I am a die-hard prog fan from Genesis, Crimson, Gong, Canterbury, to Twelfth Night, Pendragon, IQ, Riverside, Lifesigns etc etc). Seeing as you've never listened to anything from them, may I suggest, 'When We Die, When We're High', 'Mother Please Don't Be Sad' (Floydish vibe) and 'Brother Eye' from their latest 'American Head' album. Also, 'All We Have Is Now' and 'Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia) from the 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' album..... for starters... but then both albums are absolutely brilliant throughout :)  (and like any great music, give 'em a few listens)  If you do give them a shot, 'd be interested in your thoughts after listening to them. cheers.

If the Flaming Lips meet this criteria then they they should be included or at least considered. People just saying they are prog means nothing.....proof is in the chocolate pudding.

Edited by Catcher10 - August 28 2023 at 10:55

I supported The Flaming Lips for PA after Embryonic came out as I thought that album was appropriate for this site partially due to its Krautrock qualities and I had felt that albums like Zaireeka, The Soft Bulletin, and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots would not be out of place. I don't know the later material. I would have thought the Psych category, but it has been along time since I listened to the band. I seriously would consider it for Prog Related as long as sufficient Prog connections (not just how it sounds) are spelled out, and that I feel like a reasonable case has been presented that ticks off the Prog related boxes re the subgenre description and CLICK A lot of people have disagreed with the Flaming Lips being in PA over the years and the lack of consensus is a big part of why it is not in. I am more wary when it comes to controversial additions and it is all the more reason for really compelling arguments with lots of details justifying the addition (would want such things in the bio). Compelling arguments do matter for Prog Related and Proto Prog as well as divisive as prog bands generally.

they are prog

^ i would vote them down. Krautrock itself is often prog related. A lot of it isn't prog at all really. Prog related was never meant to be an all encompassing category. Artists have to have some relationship to the prog world as well as showing some prog characteristics. I've heard numerous albums by the Flamers and although i love a bunch of them, i wouldn't call them prog related really, just super psychedelic at times. All psychedelic rock isn't progressive. As for the comparisons that so many make about other bands on this site, i wouldn't mind seeing some of them deleted honestly. I think the bar for P.R. has been raised since many of those acts were included. Just my opinion. If they do get on the site it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Well......to me they certainly are as 'proggy' as many of the bands that are in Prog Related but as someone said above we already have some questionble entries... so maybe we should be dumping some instead of adding more?

You can suggest them for inclusion via the Suggest New Bands section of the forum.

^ true but the argument is that bands like Mercury Rev and similar acts SHOULDN'T BE HERE in the first place. With so many truly progressive rock bands in the world of yore and present, i tend to agree that these types of bands aren't prog related enough by modern standards.