Our Finest Flowers

Our Finest Flowers (subtitled Celebrating Twenty Long Dreary Years of Obscure Stardom) is the nineteenth studio album by The Residents, released through Euro Ralph and East Side Digital on October 13th, 1992, in celebration of the group's 20th Anniversary.
Supposedly inspired by a proposed track list for a "greatest hits" album, which was destroyed when a Resident vomited on it, Our Finest Flowers features a selection of newly-recorded tracks, composed using elements of various songs from throughout the group's (then) twenty-year catalog. Due to this, The Residents internally refer to the album as The Frankenstein Album.
After being out of print for twenty-two years, the CD was reissued (with updated cover art) by MVD Audio in 2015. It was reissued again, as a 31st Anniversary limited edition pREServed vinyl LP by Cherry Red Records and MVD for Record Store Day on April 22nd 2023.
== History==
===Monkey on my Back===
In September 1991,Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide to The Residents (Page 168) The Residents were thinking about their upcoming 20th anniversary. Filled with a healthy amount of bitterness toward the highs and lows of their career, the group decided to experiment with their nostalgia, to see if it would result in a potential album. They decided to create a 're-write' of their 20 year history, and record a song or composition for each year. 
For two nights a week, The Residents locked themselves within a studio. When there, the group shared personal stories, got drunk, and sang their own songs with newly improvised 'bawdy' lyrics, all of which was recorded by an engineer, and before dawn, the group would record old music for their new words. But these were not particularly lighthearted songs; their engineer noted that "The music [was] tending toward a dark and painful vision of what it has meant to be one of these people for 20 years. They hate music, especially their own, and ridicule and satirise their entire career." 
Around that same time, The Cryptic Corporation reported that The Residents' next album would be part 3 of The American Composers series, dubbed 'The Trouble With Harrys' which would feature re-arrangements of the music of Harry Nilson and Harry Partch. But a leak relating the nostalgia sessions (by that point given the working title Monkey on My Back) reached Residents fan-club head Uncle Willie. Willie reported on the leak in his October newsletter - but at the same time decried it as false information planted by The Residents, believing that 'On My Back' was clear hint that the group were 'lying.'"Everybody's Got Somethin' to Hide 'cept for Me and my Monkey" - UWEB Volume 3 #3, October 1991 
By February of 1992, The Residents discovered that their tentative and far from concrete plans had not only been reported on - but mocked as fake. They immediately gave Willie a stern talking to, cancelled the project, and forced him to recall his upcoming newsletter on "Myth" and instead publish an apology newsletter. The newsletter was delayed four months, and came out with a note to fans that Monkey on my Back was dead - as well as a comment that the group had already moved on to a new project - and that the studio was filled with flowers.Willie Blows it Bigtime (Uncle Willie, UWEB newsletter Volume 4, #1) 
=== Our Finest Flowers ===
Following from this internal drama, The Residents seemingly were unable to come up with any alternative ideas for their 20th anniversary project - at that point it was suggested by an outside force that they should release a greatest hits compilation that spanned their career, which they had done twice before. The group were so stumped that they actually considered it, sitting together in their studio and writing a list of their "greatest hits." But as it was nearly finished, one Resident began to feel ill and vomited on the proposed track list, "unconsciously expressing something none of them had been able to verbalize."Our Finest Flowers vinyl edition at Record Store Day 
Amongst "the resulting soggy mess of vomit, paper, and ink," the list of songs had supposedly "congealed" into a new list of collaged, never-before-heard tunes. "Perfect Love" and "Golden Goat" had smeared to become "Perfect / Goat," "Kick a Cat" and "Picnic in the Jungle" had become "Kick a Picnic", and so on. The Residents decided to take this as an "omen," and proceeded to arrange newly recorded collages of songs from their back catalog, inspired by the vomit-stained list.Our Finest Flowers liner notes, 1992 Ian Shirley, Residents biographer, insists that that the new versions were created using a computer, and that it was more akin to a remix process with occasional overdubs,Never Known Questions (Page 155) but it is obvious that the album is all new recordings.
The Residents instead began recording Our Finest Flowers with the assistance of their regular collaborators Diana Alden and Tony Janssen, who they had previously worked with for the 1990 album Freak Show, as well as two familiar and somewhat nostalgic names, Nessie Lessons (former wife of Hardy Fox, who worked with The Residents throughout the early 1980s), and Jana Flynn (daughter of Homer Flynn, who had portrayed Shirley on The King & Eye in 1989).
To show no hard feelings between The Residents and UWEB, the group named the closing track of the album "Be Kind To UWEB Footed Friends." Despite this, Willie closed the fan club in December 1992, shortly after the release of the album. "UWEB" at RZWeb (archived via archive.org) During the Our Finest Flowers sessions, The Residents also produced a new version of their 1972 debut EP Santa Dog, which was released as Santa Dog '92, a limited edition single sent to UWEB members in January 1993 as a parting gift from the club. The album was completed in July of 1992.
=== Artwork ===
The artwork featured on first pressings of the album was created by arranging hundreds of dead flowers.Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide, Page 164 The photo was taken by Henrik Kam.
== Release==
Our Finest Flowers was released on CD on October 13th, 1992, by Euro Ralph in a limited quantity of 5000 copies, followed shortly by a non-limited version. The original packaging was designed by frequent collaborator Rex Ray, with photography by Henrik Kam. 
In America, the album was released by East Side Digital. A fourth pressing from Euro Ralph was released sometime after that. The CD went out of print shortly after this and wasn't available until 2014 when MVD Audio put out a remastered CD with new artwork.
This edition also went out of print, and the album remained so for many years. It was later reissued in a 31st Anniversary pREServed vinyl edition for Record Store Day on April 22nd 2023. This limited vinyl edition of only 1500 copies was designated as an "RSD First" release, indicating a future wider release of the material as part of the pREServed series.
== Legacy ==
=== Outtakes and related tracks ===
An outtake from the Our Finest Flowers sessions, "I Can't Get No Spot" (combining "Satisfaction" with Snakefinger's "The Spot"), which was released on the digital compilation El Año del Muerto in 2009. Elements from this track were used for "The Cry of a Crow," later featured on the 1993 EP Prelude to "The Teds." 
Instrumentals from "Diskomo '92" and "The Sour Song" were included on the albums Diskomo 2000 and dot.com, respectively. On the 2006 album RMX, five new "RMX" versions of songs from Our Finest Flowers were featured; "Blue Tongues," "Jungle Bunny," "He Also Serves," "Deadwood," and Ship of Fools." An additional RMX of "Blue Tongues" was featured on the EP Dogtag (Bunny Intermission) in 2008.
In 2010, The Residents recorded a four-minute instrumental piece based on "Blue Rosebuds" titled "PinkRoseBuds," which follows a similar structure to "Blue Tongues."
=== Live versions ===
The arrangements introduced on Our Finest Flowers have proved to be a favorite for The Residents in terms of live performance, with several songs from the album featured in set lists in the years following its release; in 1997, they performed a version of "Loss of Innocence" similar to "Gone Again," and "Forty Four No More" and "Loss of Innocence" were both performed at their Fillmore performances that year. 
For their 2001 Icky Flix project, The Residents recorded new versions of "Kick a Picnic" and "He Also Serves," and performed both songs back to back during the live tour. Their 2005 retrospective tour The Way We Were featured "Perfect Goat," "Dead Wood," and "Ship of Fools." 
"He Also Serves" was featured in the set list for the Talking Light tour from 2010 to 2011. For their 40th Anniversary tour, The Wonder of Weird, in 2013, "Baby Sister" and "Dead Wood" were featured, and on the Shadowland tour between 2016 and 2017, "Blue Tongues," "Ship of Fools" and "Forty Four No More" were all featured. 
"Baby Sister" was revived for the In Between Dreams tour from 2017 to 2019, and most recently, a new arrangement of "Blue Rosebuds" (once again following a similar structure to "Blue Tongues") was introduced in the Duck Stab! Alive! live-in-the-studio TV special in 2021.
== Track listing==
#Gone Again (3:59)
#*Lyrics: Loss Of Innocence
#*Music: Nobody Laughs When They Leave / The Walrus Hunt
#The Sour Song (2:42) 
#*Lyrics: Mostly new, 'Sugar Melts' section from Vinegar
#*Music: The Simple Song/Jailhouse Rock
#Six Amber Things (2:33) 
#*Amber / Six Things To A Cycle
#Mr. Lonely (2:30)
#*Happy Home / The Man In The Dark Sedan
#Perfect Goat (2:49) 
#*Lyrics: Golden Goat / Perfect Love
#*Music: The Making Of A Soul / Shut Up, Shut Up
#Blue Tongues (3:42) 
#*Lyrics: Blue Rosebuds
#*Music: Smelly Tongues
#Jungle Bunny (2:48) 
#*Lyrics: Monkey & Bunny
#*Music: Picnic In The Jungle
#I'm Dreaming of a White Sailor (3:10)
#*Lyrics: The Sailor Song / The Shoe Salesman
#*Music: My Second Wife
#...Or Maybe A Marine (2:48) 
#*Lyrics: Handful Of Desires / Give To Someone Else
#*Music: The Sailor Song
#Kick a Picnic (2:26) 
#*Picnic In The Jungle / Aircraft Damage
#Dead Wood (4:25)
#*Lyrics: Mahogany Wood
#*Music: Die Stay Go
#Baby Sister (3:44)
#Forty-Four No More (3:36)
#He Also Serves (Abridged remake of The Service) (2:46)
#Ship Of Fools (4:16)
#*Lyrics: Don`t Tread On Me / Pain & Pleasure
#*Music: Ship`s A Goin' Down
#Be Kind To U-WEB Footed Friends (Cover of Stars & Stripes Forever) (0:48)
==Credits==
*Lyrics By: The Residents
*Music By: The Residents
*Inspiration from the following artists: Snakefinger, Renaldo & The Loaf, John Phillip Sousa & Elvis
*Produced By: The Cryptic Corporation
*Featuring The Singing Talents Of Diane Alden, Nessie Lessons, Tony Janssen & Jana Flynn
*Mixed By: Tony Janssen & The Residents
*Cover Art By Pour No Graphics
*Cover Photography By Henrik Kam
*Additional Photography By Jay Neel
*Package Design By Rex Ray
*(P) + (C): The Cryptic Corporation
==Liner notes==
===Original release (1992)===
What's a group to do when its twentieth birthday rolls around; when the only comparable lasting musical units are the Grateful Dead or The Rolling Stones, and they both have had members die, for Christ sake.
Some people thought a nice collection of "greatest hits" would be a suitable observance. So The Residents tried to write down their "greatest hits" until suddenly one of the guys got a stomach ache and threw up on the song listing. The guy that made the mess had to wash the list off and in the process pretty well smeared the ink all around the paper. Everybody thought it was funny so they started reading the words, or at least what the words looked like. "Perfect Goat," one said. "I think we should put that on our album"
They knew the vomit was no accident, it was an omen. They tore the paper into little pieces and dropped them onto the floor. It was still wet. Some of the pieces you couldn't read anymore, but they didn't seem to care.
Somehow, ideas came from those torn slips. And sure enough, "Perfect Goat" did make it on the album, along with fifteen other tracks that Dr. Frankenstein would have surely been proud to have stitched together.
Yes, these are new songs. Just like all good pop music, there is something familiar about them, something friendly. But as you listen, never forget that vomit is at their core: twenty long years of painful regurgitation.
===Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses (1997)===
To celebrate their 20th anniversary, The Residents wanted to do an album that looked backward without being nostalgic. They took music from various times in their career and combined the melodies and lyrics in unusual ways to create "new" compositions. Knowing their musical history helps one spot the clever deceptions, but the tracks are certainly strong on their own.
==Release history==
Year	Label 	Region	Notes
1992	Euro Ralph 	EU 	2 Variations
1992	East Side Digital	US 	
1993	Euro Ralph 	EU 	
2015	MVD Audio 	US 	New Artwork
== Cover Art Gallery ==
===== Euro Ralph, 1992 - second pressing =====
File:OFF Front.jpg|Front cover
File:OFF Inner Cover.jpg|Inner cover
File:OFF Disc Tray.jpg|Disc tray
File:OFF Back.jpg|Back cover
File:OFF Outer Booklet.jpg|Outside of booklet 
File:OFF Inner Booklet.jpg|Inside of booklet
File:OFF CD.jpg|Disc art
===== ESD, 1992 =====
File:Our finest flowers outer booklet.jpg|Outer booklet
File:Our finest flowers inner booklet.jpg|Inner booklet
File:Our finest flowers back art.jpg|Back cover art
File:Our finest flowers disc.jpg|Disc art
==See also==
*"Santa Dog '92"
*Twenty Twisted Questions
==External links and references==
*Our Finest Flowers at The Residents Historical
*Our Finest Flowers at RZWeb
*Our Finest Flowers at Discogs
Category:Albums
Category:Remix albums
Category:Our Finest Flowers
Category:1992