With a Little Help from My Fwends

AlbumOct 24 / 201413 songs, 51m 24s97%
Neo-Psychedelia Psychedelic Pop
Popular

It feels redundant to say The Flaming Lips make complete weirdness out of The Beatles’ iconic *Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band* album. This complete reworking—er, deconstruction—of songs known the world over for their bright, shimmering sounds and Technicolor melodies will annoy purists, naturally, but it\'s actually a fun, wild ride for everyone else. Miley Cyrus sweetly croons “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” while the endless list of “Fwends” (well, 27 strong, including Grace Potter, Tegan & Sara, and Foxygen) ensures tracks are flush with madness. Unexpected highlight: The Electric Wurms, led by the Lips’ Steven Drozd, re-channel “Fixing a Hole” into an astral ballad. 

8

5.5 / 10

On With a Little Help From My Fwends, the Flaming Lips tackle the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with help from Miley Cyrus, Tegan and Sara, J. Mascis, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, My Morning Jacket, Foxygen, Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale, and others. These aren’t so much revisions as disembowelments.

6 / 10

Wayne Coyne and co. continue their quest to record and release every single idea they’ve ever had with a track by track cover of The Beatles’ most beloved album that, obviously, features Miley Cyrus.

The latest album releases reviewed by the Evening Standard's music critics

Check out our album review of Artist's With a Little Help From My Fwends on Rolling Stone.com.

Looking to revisit this landmark album, Oklahoma's fearless freaks the Flaming Lips reinvent the classic album with a slew of guests on With a Little Help from My Fwends.

Here's one you genuinely couldn’t make up: The Flaming Lips bash out their own bonkers take on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with a little help from a starry, decidedly eclectic supporting cast that includes Moby, J Mascis, Tegan and Sara, Maynard James Keenan and Miley Cyrus.

7.0 / 10

Anyone lamenting The Flaming Lips' later work as too experimental and inaccessible might find With a Little Help From My Fwends a refreshing detour.

The covers on With a Little Help from My Fwends tend more toward pointless sabotage than creative rearrangement.

7 / 10

The Flaming Lips and pals remake the Beatles Sgt Pepper’s – and it’s Miley Cyrus who provides the only real fun, writes <strong>Jon Dennis</strong>

50 %

Horrible Miley Cyrus-assisted redux of Sgt Pepper’s with one redeeming factor – it benefits charity. CD review by Kieron Tyler

6 / 10