At War with the Mystics

At War with the Mystics is the eleventh studio album by American rock band the Flaming Lips, released on April 3, 2006, by Warner Bros. Records. The album is more guitar-driven and features more politically themed lyrics than the band's previous two albums The Soft Bulletin (1999) and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002). It is the groups' first album featuring contributions from drummer Kliph Scurlock.

At War with the Mystics
A colorful painting of a man encountering a large explosion
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 3, 2006 (2006-04-03)
RecordedJune 2004 – January 2006
StudioTarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York
Genre
Length54:53
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
The Flaming Lips chronology
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
(2002)
At War with the Mystics
(2006)
Atlas Eets Christmas
(2007)
Singles from At War with the Mystics
  1. "The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat)"
    Released: January 10, 2006
  2. "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)"
    Released: April 17, 2006
  3. "It Overtakes Me"
    Released: November 13, 2006
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB[3]
The Guardian[4]
The Independent[5]
Los Angeles Times[6]
NME8/10[7]
Pitchfork6.7/10[8]
Q[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
SpinB+[11]

At War with the Mystics won a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and was also nominated for Best Alternative Album. By 2009, the album had sold over 220,000 copies in United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[12]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by The Flaming Lips

No.TitleLength
1."The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)"4:51
2."Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber)"3:39
3."The Sound of Failure / It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark??"7:18
4."My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (The Inner Life as Blazing Shield of Defiance and Optimism as Celestial Spear of Action)"4:48
5."Vein of Stars"4:15
6."The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight and Puts on His Werewolf Moccasins"3:41
7."It Overtakes Me / The Stars Are So Big... I Am So Small... Do I Stand a Chance?"6:50
8."Mr. Ambulance Driver"4:21
9."Haven't Got a Clue"3:23
10."The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat)"3:44
11."Pompeii am Götterdämmerung"4:22
12."Goin' On"3:39
Total length:54:53
iTunes exclusive bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Bohemian Rhapsody" (This track originally appeared on Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen)6:36
14."The Gold in the Mountain of Our Madness" (Also appears as the final track on the Japanese import version)4:47
15."The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" (Long version)5:22
16."Time Travel...YES!!" (Non-album track, featuring Steven Michael Burns)3:21

5.1 audio mix

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Like The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi, At War with the Mystics was released as a special edition 5.1 CD+DVD-Audio mix on October 24, 2006, accompanied by studio outtakes, videos, and exclusive radio sessions.

No.TitleLength
1."The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)"5:22
2."Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber)"3:40
3."The Sound of Failure / It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark??"7:18
4."My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (The Inner Life as Blazing Shield of Defiance and Optimism as Celestial Spear of Action)"5:01
5."Vein of Stars"4:15
6."The Wizard Turns On... The Giant Silver Flashlight And Puts On His Werewolf Moccasins"3:45
7."It Overtakes Me / The Stars Are So Big... I Am So Small... Do I Stand a Chance?"6:55
8."Mr. Ambulance Driver"4:22
9."Haven't Got a Clue"3:23
10."The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat)"3:43
11."Pompeii am Götterdämmerung"4:22
12."Goin' On"3:37

Outtakes

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No.TitleLength
1."Why Does It End?"4:38
2."You Gotta Hold On"4:52
3."Your Face Can Tell the Future"5:21
4."The Gold in the Mountain of Our Madness"4:48
5."Time Travel?? Yes!!"3:23
6."Bohemian Rhapsody"6:36

Radio sessions

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No.TitleLength
1."My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion"4:40
2."Goin' On"3:44
3."Unmade Bed / No Quarter"6:56
4."The Sound of Failure"4:03
5."Vein of Stars"4:50
6."Vein of Stars" (Operatic Spook)4:15
7."The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" (Chicken Fried Hoedown Protest Rally)4:44
8."The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" (In Anatropous Reflex)4:22

Videos

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No.TitleLength
1."Mr. Ambulance Driver"5:00
2."The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"4:06
3."The W.A.N.D."3:48
4."2006 OKC Classen High Commencement Speech"12:18

Personnel

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The Flaming Lips

Additional personnel

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ "Reviews for At War With The Mystics by The Flaming Lips". Metacritic. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  2. ^ Phares, Heather. "At War with the Mystics – The Flaming Lips". AllMusic. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  3. ^ Collis, Clark (April 7, 2006). "The Flaming Lips: At War with the Mystics". Entertainment Weekly. p. 59.
  4. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (March 31, 2006). "The Flaming Lips, At War With the Mystics". The Guardian. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  5. ^ Gill, Andy (March 31, 2006). "Album: The Flaming Lips". The Independent. Archived from the original on April 6, 2006. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  6. ^ Appleford, Steve (March 26, 2006). "Lips flame with pure euphoria". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  7. ^ Long, Pat (March 31, 2006). "The Flaming Lips: At War With The Mystics". NME. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  8. ^ Richardson, Mark (April 2, 2006). "The Flaming Lips: At War With the Mystics". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  9. ^ "The Flaming Lips: At War with the Mystics". Q (238): 118. May 2006.
  10. ^ Hoard, Christian (April 6, 2006). "At War With The Mystics". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  11. ^ Hermes, Will (April 2006). "The Flaming Lips: At War With the Mystics". Spin. 22 (4): 89. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  12. ^ "Flaming Lips dial down the whimsy on "Embryonic"". Reuters. 26 September 2009.
  13. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  15. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  16. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  17. ^ "The Flaming Lips: At War with the Mystics" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  18. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  19. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography The Flaming Lips". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  20. ^ "Italiancharts.com – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  21. ^ "Charts.nz – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  22. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  23. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  24. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  26. ^ "The Flaming Lips Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  27. ^ "The Flaming Lips Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  28. ^ "2006 UK Albums Chart" (PDF). ChartsPlus. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
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