a very weak and unfortunately uninspired new release
i realy wanted to like this cd. make yourself was a breakthrough in more than one respect, and was a play-all-the-way-through masterpiece of scratches, guitar riffs, light rapping, hardcore screaming, and true emotion that has hardly been realized by any other band (the only other bands as eclectically enjoyable i can think of are 311 and the smashing pumpkins). when i popped this one into my cd player, though, i was disappointed, and even shocked, that from track one, the album never really picks up off the ground. weak choruses, uninspired guitars and uninspiring lyrics replace the beauty of its predecessor, mostly evindent in (2) 'circles'-which seems to go around in a painful one that never goes anywhere, (6) 'Blood on the ground', which whines that brandon dosent want to talk to someone (most likely his recently-separated-from girlfriend, who was unfortunately the inspiration for many of these songs) anymore in the most annoying, inharmonious, and non-melodic way possible, (10) 'Have you ever', which is equally as far from actually being a song, and (12) 'Under my umbrella,' in which brandon screams that these are eyes are not your eyes as if he dosent realize there is actually a band behind him, and each band member really seems ignorant to what any other is doing with their respective instrument. there are a few redeeming songs, namely (4) just a phase, which actually seems to have something behind it, (13) aqueous transmission, which is a very nice step into the atmospheric lovey-funky smoosh that we all love incubus for, and (9) Echo, which happens also to be by far the best song on the cd, treading in the ground that 'stellar' and 'i miss you' laid so firmly. but even the better songs dont hold a candle to the power of make yourself's 'the warmth,' 'nowhere fast,' 'drive,' and especially the amazing 'pardon me.' where brondon wouldve filled the excess empty space with more lyrics and rhymes to emphasize his point, morning view seems to have large voids where its apparent that this album really dosent have much to say. 'make yourself' had a point, a theme, a purpose. its non-conformist atmosphere and attitude made it one of my top 5 cd's all time.
morning view, if coming from a new band,wouldve made me think they were something to watch for in the future, once they matured and learned to write and what to write about. but coming from the already well-established and well-seasoned incubus, its just a dissapointment.
______________ Door industrieS i know i'm gonna get shit for this...
yes you're gonna get shit from me, mate. onepoint needs music critics for her upcoming art/music site, would you publish your review there, please? you'll get far more praises there.
i didn't really like it that much when i first heard it. but each time i listen, it grows on me more and more. and the point about it being more mellow, i think that is because they are all getting older.
wow! really negative subject on that first post..... especially when you say at least 3 of the tracks are good. Most CD's released now a day don't even have 1 good track....
I really disagree with you that this is uninspired. I don't think any work from Incubus could be uninspired.... they've always been a great band and they're just getting older and changing... mellowing out like most bands do with experience.
Aqueous transmission I personally think is one of the best songs they have ever put together at least up there with the warmth and drive and miss you...
I think this aoler is a way too harsh critic... This CD isn't as geat as Make Yourself , yea, but it's a hell of a lot better than the new limp bizkit or britney spears....
If Incubus was to outdo make yourself I would be very impressed...that was a killer album... I think morning view wasnt too far behind its still good music and a cd you could play all the way through easily ..way before many other bands cd's.
Hmm, well what to say to that, being a musician i do hate most of the bands out now such as o-town and or the other boy bands. Listening to incubus as restored my faith in one the industry and or the people in it. I listen to alot of 60's bands jsut because the content was wonderfun and that has gone down hill as of now.
Incubus has come along as one of the greatest bands musically and in their opinions that they share in the music. They said that they always try and release albums that are totally different. This is, but still none the less a wonderful album, maybe you don't listen to things for their concent musically, but it is wonderful.
Music is suppose to be from the heart, and maybe he has lost his girlfriend, he has gained new insight as to what to write, maybe it is not as up beat as you like, but still none the less it is from his heart, and i think it is better than numerous other albums out now.
I think Incubus is the the only good band left, as viewed by the pop culture at least, and while the rest of their albums were much better in my opinion, Morning View, is still a great CD, but if you want Incubus at their best then you MUST check out S.C.I.E.N.C.E. its an incredible CD.
Incubus is pretty cool. I don't know what songs come from the new album, but they do have some good songs playing on the radio right now. I think Wish You Were Here is an excellent song. If you want to listen to some more great music, buy a Pearl Jam CD!!!
blak - i never said i would play limp bizkit or britney spears before i played this. i dont own a single one of their albums, and i dont think either has put out anything worth listening to. you mention in incubus's defense that they have mellowed out - the mellow songs are not the ones in question. and yes, aqueous transmission is a damn good song, as this aoler already mentioned in his review. my qualms with the record are the weak, nonsensical attempts at hardcore songs (which, on all their other albums, had something behind the lyrics and behind the music - jazzy, funky, metaly, whatever, just something. this album, to me, lost that unique touch of flavor) and the overly simplified lyrical sceme that permeates almost the entire album, making it sound vacant and unfinished.
neronett - i respect your opinion as an artist, but i am, in fact, listening for the musical content. someone who was simply listening to the gut of the music wouldve likely not written the review i did.
jrb2403 - i have all the incubus cds, including the more obscure enjoy, science, and fungos. yeah, science is incredible.
i am not saying at all that incubus has sold out, or that they've mellowed out too much to be true to their fans. in fact, a few of the mellow songs are delightful examples of what plain good music should be, despite one's particular tastes. however, it sounds to me as though many of the songs were force-fed onto the record in an attempt to keep long time fans happy. to me, a record with six or seven genuinely mediocre to bad songs is not a record worth having in one's collection. i, personally, cannot force myself to play the entire thing all the way through, nor can i imagine it staying in anyone's cd player for a long period of time. however, i genuinely apologise if i've insulted anyone's tastes - if you enjoy it, far be it from me to spoil it. ______________ Door industrieS
for an awesome incubus song, by the way, find (i'm not telling you to download it illegally... *turns head*) crowded elevator, the only 'new' track off of when incubus attacks (which is a damn good little half-cd).
oh and sure, onepoint and fieroavian i'll definitely submit the review to wherever - it may be a good idea to have more than one review per cd tho, as some of these people seem to clearly disagree. ______________
and uhh... i'm not necessarily ashamed of being on aol, even tho there are things i'd much rather have, but please dont shove it in my face. i know i'm a loser. but at least i contribute. ______________ Door industrieS
That was a good review, Door. I even agree with it. I've loved Incubus when I first ran into Enjoy Incubus a long ass time ago. I've followed them through their CDs leading up to now. I've grown to love their hard but funky music. As I found with Make Yourself, they are leaning to being a more creative band than returning to what fan knew about them (growing musically - things that most bands did such as Silvercahir with Neon Ballroom). I actually enjoyed that. But now with their new CD, they are try to get success again with what they already did with Make Yourself, a new innovation. Doesn't really stick well with me. But nontheless, it does have a few tracks that some other people have said.
Anyways, good review and can't wait to read more by you sometime in the future.
None of their albums sound the same.... i think it is great that they can change style while still having damn good music... I highly agree with those other posters that say this is some of the last descent rock/pop music that is playing out there these days.... a lot of rock has gone to shit it's unfortunate... i'm getting sick of all these rap metal screaming wannabe copy-cat bands.... especially the 20 local copy-cats in every neighborhood, I mean yea the first band that really popularlized it "limp bizkit" , yea it was good when they first did it, it was new and unique (for the most part) and cool, now its way tired out and needs to die..just like the rest of the pop boy band shit... Luckily there's somethign like incubus to save some of us from it. There's more bands out there of course but very few... it's sad... I find myself listening to stuff at least 5 years or older most of the time now a day...
oh yea, DoorinD.... you truly think it is "uninspired"? That's what I was arguing... I just don't see how you come to that conclusion especially being a long time fan... Maybe a few tracks if that's what you were saying but you made it sound like the CD as a whole... just thought that was really harsh and misleading.
crowded elevator is also on the scream 3 soundtrack
but anyway.. if you listen to incubus's albums.. you notice none of them are the same. incubus themselves say that they try to make a musical genre change through every album, and its traumatic for their fans to listen to a new album becuase it is so different.
you're just one of the weaker listeners who is easily traumitized.
wow. you people like to flame, although this CD isn't 100% it's still a damn good CD - i would buy it for Aqueous Transmission alone. although echo. just a phase, wish you were here, are you in are all damn good songs. I just can't see slaying incubus because they had a few shitty songs that don't fit the overall tone of the CD - if you don't like them then program your CD player and stop whining. Art isn't beautiful to everyone.
