They were getting played on BBC Radio and stuff like that, and people were quite liking it. It wasnвЂ™t really in step with anything else that was out there, but we were very lucky that Mercury RevвЂ™s Deserter Songs had come out maybe six months beforehand. But in the studio, it just felt like we were making another weird record. (Wayne Coyne) In 1999, our whole world started again at zero. The Soft Bulletin was obviously a game-changing record in many ways but for you personally, did it feel more like an ending or a new beginning? (Brian Coney) More than most bands, I tend to view The Flaming LipsвЂ™ output in terms of eras. вЂI mean, thank God it didnвЂ™t get any bigger than it did at the time. Marrying swirling textures with orchestral melancholia, songs like вЂRace For the PrizeвЂ™ and вЂFeeling Yourself DisintegrateвЂ™ didnвЂ™t simply hit home: they were vital, lysergic-dappled odes that burrowed deep.ДЄhead of performing the album at this yearвЂ™s festival, Wayne Coyne delves deep with Brian Coney to discuss the albumвЂ™s towering legacy, how it helped him on a personal level, the power of giving up control and why he reckons this yearвЂ™s Desert Daze вЂњis one of the greatest lineups there has been for any festival вЂ“ ever.вЂќ Though it confronts sadness and harsh truths, at its core, The Soft Bulletin is a beatific exploration that places naivetГ©, curiosity and hope centre-stage. Twenty years on, the albumвЂ™s seminal status is watertight. Across thirteen tracks, each as Technicolour as the next, it found Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins outgrowing fuzzed-out alt-rock in favour of wonderfully widescreen pop. When it was released back in the summer of 1999, The Flaming LipsвЂ™ psychedelic-noise-pop masterpiece The Soft Bulletin doubled up as one of the most curveballing records of a generation.

вЂњEven though I walk in the space bubble in our shows, I really donвЂ™t want to be in a bubble in my life. The Flaming LipsвЂ™ Wayne Coyne on 20 years of The Soft Bulletin and Why This YearвЂ™s Desert Daze is Essential

Flaming lips soft bulletin person