The Terror is the thirteenth studio album by American rock band the Flaming Lips, released on April 1, 2013 worldwide and April 16 in the U.S., on Warner Bros in the United States and Bella Union in the United Kingdom. It is the first album for band member Derek Brown who joined the band in 2009 for touring in support of Embryonic and last with drummer Kliph Scurlock.
Experimental composer Dan Deacon remixed the album in its entirety.
Lead vocalist Wayne Coyne described the album's general idea in a press release, "We want, or wanted, to believe that without love we would disappear, that love, somehow, would save us that, yeah, if we have love, give love and know love, we are truly alive and if there is no love, there would be no life. The Terror is, we know now, that even without love, life goes on... we just go on⦠there is no mercy killing."
Much of the album was shaped by multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd's relapse, with Coyne saying of his relapse: "During the Heady Fwends collaborations, we knew he was struggling. I just knew it. But this time, he went and just said, 'IâÂÂm going to make this music and hope I get through it.' It was not to make a record. IâÂÂm doing so much stuff in Studio A [at Dave FridmannâÂÂs Tarbox Studios]. And Steven would hole up in Studio B: 'Well, IâÂÂm going to do music over here because IâÂÂm going insane.'" Later in that same interview, he says "The lesson that we learned â and we learned this and then forgot it at least 20 fucking times since 1983 when we started making records â anytime that you veer away from the thing that you love, the thing thatâÂÂs like masturbating, the thing thatâÂÂs like sitting in the corner drooling on yourself, anytime you drift away from that, it really becomes a different kind of art. It becomes about fixing things, arranging things, trying to manipulate things for effect. We like to do that and I think oftentimes weâÂÂre good at that, but itâÂÂs not nearly as satisfying as the other type of art."
When asked about the optimism of the album and the band's work in general, Coyne says "I donâÂÂt really believe anyone who walks home and says, âÂÂEverythingâÂÂs okay.â The reason weâÂÂre optimistic is that a lot of things arenâÂÂt great and we have to find a way to get through it⦠I donâÂÂt want someone to listen and only hear that IâÂÂm just some scared old man. Well⦠I am, but I donâÂÂt always sing about that. It is focusing on a particular dimension in our minds that this music on The Terror goes towards, which is darker. But at the end, it makes that optimism even more believable. We were in Australia in January and I swam in the ocean for only the second time in my life. You know youâÂÂre going to get in there and itâÂÂs going to be kind of cold and these waves are big. ThereâÂÂs a time where youâÂÂve got to go from being very dry and very warm to being very wet and very cold. But if you get through that, itâÂÂs a fucking blast and you really feel this braveness. YouâÂÂre in the waves and fighting against the waves. So I think now weâÂÂre kind of like that: âÂÂFuck you, bring it on, motherfuckers.â ItâÂÂs huge and immense, but weâÂÂre not so vulnerable. ItâÂÂs better to be scared and do it than to be scared and not do it.
The Terror received mostly positive reviews from critics, with a score of 77 on metacritic, citing "Generally favorable feviews"
The review from The A.V. Club, states "The Terror is the sound of The Flaming Lips going from a group experience to an internal monologue, the perfect record for any fan who has ever felt like the band could use two âÂÂFeeling Yourself DisintegrateâÂÂs for every âÂÂRace For The Prize.âÂÂ
Stuart Berman of Pitchfork Magazine states "with The Terror, the Lips take the bold step of bursting their own bubble. The bandâÂÂs unrelentlingly bleak new album relates to its predecessor much as Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots did to The Soft Bulletin, retaining its antecedentâÂÂs weighty mood but deconstructing the instrumental bombast into more skeletal, mechanical forms", but states later in the review "it still feels underdeveloped in spots. At 13 minutes, centerpiece track âÂÂYou Lustâ is the longest song to appear on a proper Lips record since the 1980s, and a companion piece to EmbryonicâÂÂs âÂÂPowerlessâÂÂ, using a coolly repetitive organ refrain as the foundation for an agitated, free-form synth freakout. But its imposing grandeur is diffused by an intrusive, creepily whispered chorus incantation and a drifting, protracted denouement that lingers for far too long. And in the wake of the absorbing, slow-roiling intensity of the penultimate âÂÂTurning ViolentâÂÂ, the closing âÂÂAlways There... In Our Heartâ (a bookend echo of âÂÂLook⦠The Sun Is RisingâÂÂ) doesnâÂÂt quite deliver the blown-out grand finale its repeated 1-2-3-4 build-ups suggest, instead simmering down before reaching full blast."
The bonus song from the album, "Sun Blows Up Today", was featured in a 2013 Hyundai Super Bowl commercial.
The Flaming Lips
Guest performers
Production
Packaging