Oklahoma’s favorite rocking sons were especially busy and inspired this academic year, releasing two excellent albums, one original and critically lauded, the other a classic covered, which prompted mixed reviews.

“Embyronic,” a double album showcasing the band at its most unsettling and crazed, dropped hefty, squirming and pulsating into fans’ laps on Oct. 13. Buried deep under frenetic layers of sonic chaos and beauty are the Lips’ most ambitious and soul-scathing lyrics yet. There’s little in “Embryonic” for sunny-day fans of the lush, orchestral melodies and silly topicality in “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.” Instead, the album features fuzzy ballads of madness and regret (“See the Leaves,” “Evil”) and stuff that can only be described as a full-fledged freakout (“Worm Mountain,” which features heirs to Wayne Coyne’s weirdo crown, MGMT).

Critics immediately recognized “Embryonic” as the Flaming Lips’ best work since their 1999 release, “The Soft Bulletin.” British music rag NME dubbed it “brilliantly unhinged” and decided it was worthy of their highest rating. Stuart Berman of Pitchfork gave it a 9.0 out of 10, claiming the record caught the band “at their most sprawling and ambitious, boldly pushing themselves toward more adventurous horizons.”

Coyne and company played a few selections from “Embryonic” at their New Year’s Eve Freakout this year, the event that sparked the recording of their live album, “The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon,” which is exactly what it sounds like. 2010 began, and the Lips welcomed it with a live performance of one of history’s greatest, best-selling albums.

“The Dark Side of the Moon” wasn’t any kind of statement of superiority or conceit. Coyne defended the album, saying it was something he thought the band’s fans would enjoy hearing live, and enjoy we all did. Nobody’s versions of “The Great Gig in the Sky” or “On the Run” will ever stand up to the paranoia of Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, but that doesn’t make it less fun to hear earnest contemporaries play them live. The Lips have announced their intention to play through the album during their headline spot at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival.