The Soft Bulletin (studio album) by The Flaming Lips

The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
Year: 1999
Overall rank: 119th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,516 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1999 (2nd)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1990s (24th)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (119th)

The Flaming Lips bestography

The Soft Bulletin is ranked as the best album by The Flaming Lips.

The Flaming Lips album bestography « Higher ranked (-) This album (119th) Lower ranked (121st) »
No album foundThe Soft BulletinYoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

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01
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19:00
The Flaming Lips & Modest Mouse
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02
Sat
18:30
The Flaming Lips & Modest Mouse
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Aug
03
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18:00
The Flaming Lips w/ Modest Mouse
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The Soft Bulletin track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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The Soft Bulletin rankings

The Soft Bulletin collection

The Soft Bulletin ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,516 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,516 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
 Report rating
28 hours ago Invader666  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,86867/100
 
90/100
 Report rating
05/18/2025 07:33 Banner  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 4,82380/100
 
75/100
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05/12/2025 10:16 CharonBri  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,00175/100
 
90/100
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04/09/2025 14:32 Pienk  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 57180/100
 
85/100
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03/18/2025 21:14 pjsamm  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 14891/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 83.0/100, a mean average of 81.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.8.

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The Soft Bulletin comments

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From 03/06/2025 04:20
There is no way in the world that this album is rated higher than Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. A lot of songs here are so repetitive, boring or with cheap production.
In their other successful album his voice actually sounds well and heartwarming as well
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/17/2023 13:43
There is a lot of good stuff on here but I don't think it goes much further than that with a lot of songs on here being pretty mediocre. The worst offender of this is The Observer which is a completely skippable track and doesn't provide anything to the record. There isn't anything outstanding on here either and the music can sound quite repetitive and similar to other groups around the time. Despite this, they do have one major unique quality which is the vocal as this is a highlight throughout. Overall, this record gets hugely over rated on this site in my opinion as it doesn't have the quality or consistency to compete with the greatest of all time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 08/31/2022 03:42
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 06/08/2022 10:16
Album Rating: 78.83
(946/12)

1. For The Prize (Remix). (N/a)
2.A Spoonful Weighs A Ton. 86
3.The Spark That Bled. 78
4.The Spiderbite Song. 71
5.Buggin' (Remix). 73
6.What Is The Light? 82
7.The Observer. 71
8.Waitin' For A Superman. 83
9.Suddenly Everything Has Changed. 83.
10.The Gash. 83
11.Feeling Yourself Disintegrate. 78
12.Sleeping On The Roof. 70
13.Race For The Prize. 88
14.Waitin' For A Superman (Remix). (N/a)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/09/2022 17:32
I wonder about the high position of this album in the Bea All-Time list. Too high, I do not get this music. Do not actively hate it, but a relisten of this thing is not going to happen,
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (3 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/04/2022 18:15
Great stuff!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/31/2022 21:37
Interesting music matched with appropriately weird vocals. Wayne is that guy you hang with on the off chance that one of the thousand bizarre things he’s going to say will be truly profound.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 10/16/2021 11:07
No me dice gran cosa. Bastante plano
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 06/05/2021 14:45
Tem algo de grandioso, mas sem perder a leveza.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 04/30/2021 09:49
Sugery psychedelic pop fused with electronics is such an ear candy for me, also Wayne really fits his "ugly" vocals in his music. It suits with the sci-fi like production. Can't really understand the lyrics, but for me it's all the melody and the production. Overall, a masterpiece. 9/10
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1999
1. Ágætis Byrjun by Sigur Rós
2. The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
3. Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. 98.12.28 男達の別れ [98.12.28 Otokotachi No Wakare] by フィッシュマンズ [Fishmans]
5. 13 by Blur
6. Keep It Like A Secret by Built To Spill
7. When The Pawn... by Fiona Apple
8. Summerteeth by Wilco
9. Emergency & I by The Dismemberment Plan
10. 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields
11. American Football by American Football
12. Play by Moby
13. The Fragile by Nine Inch Nails
14. Enema Of The State by Blink-182
15. Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory by Dream Theater
16. Showbiz by Muse
17. Slow Riot For New Zerø Kanada by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
18. The Battle Of Los Angeles by Rage Against The Machine
19. The Slim Shady LP by Eminem
20. Mule Variations by Tom Waits
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