This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Oklahoma acid-punk rockers The Flaming Lips don’t do anything normally. Including retrospectives.
Instead of your typical compilation or boxed set, the lysergic visionaries are reissuing more or less their entire early catalogue in not one, but two separate packages. The first — Finally the Punk Rockers Are Taking Acid — collects the group’s 1985 debut EP, their first three albums and more than a dozen demos, outtakes, covers and live cuts recorded between 1983 – ’89. The second — The Day They Shot A Hole In The Jesus Egg — is a two-disc effort containing the Lips’ final indie album and first truly great record, 1990’s In A Priest Driven Ambulance, in addition to their much-bootlegged Mushroom sessions and another batch of rarities. Naturally, Acid is more primal (think Butthole Surfers and Sonic Youth) while Jesus Egg is more sophisticated (think Pink Floyd and The Velvet Underground). I suggest you buy them both, crank the headphones and enjoy the whole long, strange trip.
