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"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" mixes a psychedelic sound with thoughtful lyrics (and some very fun melodies). It's a dazzling album, and it's filled with great songs.

The album opens with a catchy tune called "Fight Test," with laid back vocalist Wayne Coyne asking what's the right time to make a stand. But it grows into a complicated blend of overlapping vocals, cello, violins, before dropping into the second track, "One More Robot/Sympathy 3000-21." Suddenly the sound slips into a dreamy ocean of trance-style drums and echoing electric keyboards. ("One more robot learns to be something more than a machine..." Coyne sings.) But the title track remains one of my all-time favorite songs, with its playful lyrics celebrating a female karate black belt who will battle an army of evil-natured robots. ("Oh Yoshimi, they don't believe me, but you won't let those robots eat me...")

The song's acoustic guitars add an extra sincerity to the drums and echoing keyboards, which is what really makes this album special. In the middle of its psychedelic themes about robots and fighting, Coyne's gentle, very human vocals rise into the mix. The lyrics are "non-linear," almost challenging the listener to find their meaning. But they can be enjoyed as open-ended poetry, and Coyne's emotional performance suggests they're meant to be felt rather than analyzed.

Ultimately the album offers over 47 minutes of music of remarkable music. There's almost a musical theme running consistently through the songs, with a pattern of descending chords that compliments the hallucinatory images. The album's last track even won a grammy in 2002 - "Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon (Utopia Planitia)." And for fans of the album, there's a two-disk DVD special edition which includes longer versions of the songs, alternate takes, and bonus audio and video tracks. It even includes some animated "episodes" of Yoshimi in action.

"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" is an amazing album, creating a fresh and original sound while delivering a parade of good songs. It rewards multiple listens, since each track boasts some incredibly complex production work. Yet somehow it all fits together - and that's what makes it so compelling.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
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