The Flaming Lips

The distance between where The Flaming Lips began and where they ended up, both musically and commercially, is wider than that of just about any of their '80s/'90s alt-rock peers. Oklahoman brothers Wayne and Mark Coyne founded the band in 1983, with Mark as lead singer, along with bassist/keyboardist Michael Ivins. Mark dropped out after the group's self-titled 1984 debut EP, leaving Wayne to take on frontman duties. He and Ivins would pilot the Lips ship together for the rest of the band's long career, with other members coming and going over the years. Their first full-length release, 1986's Hear It Is, was a chaotic combination of psychedelia, proto-grunge alt rock, and unabashed weirdness, packing plenty of offbeat inspiration and zero commercial potential. After a few more records that refined the Lips' attack a bit without abandoning their essential weirdness, the band somehow got itself signed to Warner Bros, releasing Hit to Death in the Future Head for the label in 1992. The album marked the first appearance of drummer Steven Drozd, who would remain with the band thereafter, and offered up no obvious concessions to commerciality. Nevertheless, Warner Bros managed to wring a novelty hit out of the next album, 1993's Transmissions From the Satellite Heart, with the loopy ditty "She Don't Use Jelly," thus raising the band's profile considerably. The Lips, however, kept on following their freaky muse-their fourth album for Warner Bros, 1997's Zaireeka, was their furthest out yet, contained four discs designed to played simultaneously on four different stereos. Having seemingly gotten their most experimental urges out of their system, the band made a major change on their next album, The Soft Bulletin. Without dialing down their inherent trippiness, the Lips-aided considerably by longtime producer and Mercury Rev founder Dave Fridmann-came up with the most conventionally melodic, accessible sounding record they'd ever made. The album earned the band a whole new audience, and as they crafted increasingly elaborate variations on the approach on their next couple of records, the sci-fi concept album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War With the Mystics, their fanbase increased exponentially, making them one of the most beloved alternative acts in the U.S. Later releases found the Lips taking a rather more indulgent turn, offering deconstructions of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band alongside co-conspirators like Peaches, Henry Rollins, Moby, and even Miley Cyrus.