It’s reassuring that the Flaming Lips have become big. It’s nice to know that there is value in perseverance, personality and melody. Wish those traits would pay off for more bands so we could see the Lips’ success as a trend rather than a blip. The moderate critical response to At War with the Mystics is earned in the sense that it isn’t as consistently tuneful as The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. It is sonically busier, so the tunes are regularly tested or tugged at by stray, textured sounds. Conflict and the sense of being under attack is written into most of the lyrics, giving the album a darker tone. That said, there’s a lot to like about the album, both musically and conceptually. “The Sound of Failure” in particular is beautifully lush and melancholy, and throughout the album, Wayne Coyne seems liberated by success. The fact that the album merges psychedelia-as-philosophy with an idiosyncratic anti-war statement is also refreshingly bold.