The Flaming Lips have raided their vaults for a 20th anniversary boxed set edition of their beloved 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which will be released in six-CD form and on streaming services Nov. 25, and in a five-LP package on April 14, 2023. All editions can be pre-ordered here.
On CD, Yoshimi will include more than 50 previously unreleased songs, while the vinyl set had more than 30 of the same, comprising “B-sides, demos, remixes, radio sessions, two concerts and other assorted rarities from the era,” according to Warner Records. The two concerts are a 2002 performance for radio contest winners in Boston and a show the following year at the Forum in London.
Highlights of the editions include covers of Radiohead’s “Knives Out,” Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” and Pink Floyd’s “Lucifer Sam,” an instrumental version of Yoshimi centerpiece “Do You Realize??” and a wealth of demos from the recording sessions.
To add to the anniversary celebration, The Flaming Lips will perform Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots in full on April 28 at London’s Eventim Apollo and May 25 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.
The follow-up to the band’s 1999 comeback album The Soft Bulletin, the futuristic, robot-themed Yoshimi brought The Flaming Lips to even greater commercial heights and mainstream awareness. It was also adapted into a musical, which premiered in La Jolla, Calif., in 2012.
