At War with the Mystics

At War with the Mystics
Studio album by The Flaming Lips
Released	April 3, 2006
Recorded	Tarbox Road Studios, Cassadaga, New York, June 2004 – January 2006
Genre	Dream pop, neo-psychedelia, psychedelic pop, space rock
Length	54:53
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	The Flaming Lips, Dave Fridmann, Scott Booker
The Flaming Lips chronology
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) At War with the Mystics (2006) Once Beyond Hopelessness (2008)
Singles from At War with the Mystics
"The W.A.N.D. (The Will Always Negates Defeat)" Released: January 10, 2006 "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)" Released: April 17, 2006 "It Overtakes Me EP" Released: November 13, 2006
Alternative cover
At War with the Mystics 5.1 cover.

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	76/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B[3]
The Guardian	[4]
The Independent	[5]
Los Angeles Times	[6]
NME	8/10[7]
Pitchfork Media	6.7/10[8]
Q	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]
Spin	B+[11]

At War with the Mystics is the eleventh studio album by the Flaming Lips. It was released on April 3, 2006, in international markets, and April 4, 2006, in the United States. The album is more guitar-driven and features more politically themed lyrics than The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

"At War with the Mystics" won a 2006 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. The album was nominated for the Best Alternative Album Grammy. The 5.1 mix of the album was nominated for Best Surround Sound Album in 2008.

Track listing

All tracks written by The Flaming Lips. 

No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
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

At War with the Mystics 5.1

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. It is accompanied with studio outtakes, videos and exclusive radio sessions.

Package content

No.	Title	Length
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

No.	Title	Length
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

No.	Title	Length
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

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Mr. Ambulance Driver"	05:00
2.	"The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"	04:06
3.	"The W.A.N.D."	03:48
4.	"2006 OKC Classen High Commencement Speech"	12:18

Personnel

The Flaming Lips

• Wayne Coyne – guitar, bass, vocals, mixing, production
• Steven Drozd – guitars, keyboards, drums, vocals, mixing, production
• Michael Ivins – bass, vocals, mixing, production, additional engineering

Additional personnel

• Scott Booker – production
• Dave Fridmann – additional songwriting, production, mixing, programming, engineering, mastering
• Greg Kurstin – additional songwriting, production, backing vocals and instruments on "Haven't Got a Clue"
• Kliph Scurlock – drums, percussion

References

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: 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. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
8. Richardson, Mark (April 2, 2006). "The Flaming Lips: At War With the Mystics". Pitchfork Media. 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.

External links

• At War with the Mystics at MusicBrainz (list of releases)