Flaming Lips announce deluxe reissue for the 20th anniversary of "At War With The Mystics"

The Flaming Lips are celebrating twenty years of “At War With The Mystics” by announcing an imposing deluxe reissue, due out next November 13 via the tried-and-tested Rhino/Warner Records pairing, in 6 CD, 6 LP and digital formats. More than a mere nostalgia exercise, the box set amounts to a full-blown dive into the archives of Wayne Coyne and co.: alongside the original tracklist sits an impressive wealth of archival material, including 19 previously unreleased demos, 14 never-before-issued studio tracks, and a hefty 42 bonus tracks spanning B-sides, alternate versions and collector's gems. The CD edition also includes the audio recordings from the concert film U.F.O.s At The Zoo and the legendary live show at the Hollywood Bowl.

Released four years after the global success of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, the Oklahoma City band's eleventh studio album marked a sharp change of course from the synth-pop landscapes of their recent past. It was a decidedly more physical, jagged turn, with saturated guitars and Hammond organ taking center stage at the expense of the electronic apparatus, while sharpening a vein of open political dissent. Tracks like "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song", "Free Radicals" and "The W.A.N.D." dusted off the lessons of Seventies protest rock, disguising a direct social invective as lysergic pop and continually short-circuiting melodic hooks with elaborate sonic construction.

Awarded a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the time, "At War With The Mystics" now gets its definitive contextualization. Anticipating the release of the box set is the first official excerpt, "The Sound Of Failure (2 Demos)", which offers an initial taste of the creative process behind one of the album's most fascinating tracks.

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