| Fungus Amongus | 1995 |
| Enjoy Incubus | 1996 |
| S.C.I.E.N.C.E. | review #2 | 1998 |
| Make Yourself | 1999 |
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(reviewed by Philip Maddox)
This was Incubus's first official release (they released an album called Fungus Amongus before this, but it's EXTREMELY rare and I can't find a copy for uder 25 bucks). It's only 6 songs long, but they're all pretty good. The opener, "You Will Be A Hot Dancer", is my favorite song on here. It's got a tight, funky groove to it and smoooothly sung verses before it explodes into a hardcore chorus. In fact, that's how most of these songs go - they start slow and funky, then get metallic. It ain't exactly an unpredictable album. But hey, most of these songs are good (and, if you ask me, Incubus was the best funk-metal band in the 90s - better than Korn, and WAY better than Limp Bizkit). A couple of songs on here don't really get hard at all - the last 2 are just basically funky, especially the last track. There's also a hidden track on here, and it's sort of a weird sound collage. It's pretty short, too. For some reason, I always listen to it. In fact, now that I think about it, this album could pass as the Red Hot Chili Peppers in a couple of places. Either way, this album really is quite enjoyable. It's pleasant, if not too memorable.
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(Philip Maddox's review)
Hey! This doesn't sound like Enjoy Incubus at all! This record is approximately a thousand times more distinctive than the last one. This album has a few tracks that really tear - I LOVE "Redefine(d)" and "A Certan Shade of Green". That's how this style of music should be played - loud, catchy, and groovy. The lyrics are pretty good, too - instead of Limp Bizkit-like stupidity or Korn-like moping, this record actually sounds pretty intelligent and well though out in places. "Vitamin" is about how we live in a "Zombified, somnambulist society". That songs pretty near techno - it's got a loopy keyboard riff running through the verses before it becomes a hard rocker.
"New Skin" and "Idiot Box" are both cool moshers. "Glass" and "Deep Inside" are the really funky tracks on this album, and they rule! "Glass" is my favorite song on here - it's got one of the most killer bass lines I've ever heard. A couple of songs aren't quite as good - "Summer Romance" is funky, but isn't very interesting; "Favorite Things" is ok, but nothing special - it just kind of plods along; "Calgone" is cool sounding, but some of the lyrics are really bad on this one, although it's still fun. There's also a ten-minute plus hidden track sound collage on this record that actually has a cool groove running through it - Incubus takes all kinds of weird sounds and stuff and makes it all groove. The ending of it is probably only really cool for me, because it's the demo-button recording of this really old, cheap Casio keyboard I have. It sounds like those Zappa jams on Freak Out (I wonder if Incubus ever listened to Zappa?). This is my favorite funk-metal release, by the way, just edging out the first Korn album. Buy it if you like the style at all.
I'm not a *HUGE* fan of either the band nor the album, but compared to the other lifeless and derivative crap that has made its way through my radio rotation, this has a bit of creativity, and damnit, downright CATCHINESS. And, as you all know from religiously reading everything I have to say, more often than not, any catchy song is going to find its way into my good graces. Now, wanna know a little secret? I like that Michael Bolton song "Said I Loved You But I lied". There! I got it out! What are you gonna do about it, huh? No I AM NOT GAY!!!
But this illustrates a very embarrasing point. My personal opinion is that if you can create a catchy hook, or even better a MULTITUDE of catchy hooks, other less interesting facets of your music like say, poor lyrics (see any Bush album) or over the top vocals and production (see any 80s Maiden album) will fall by the wayside. Thats how I look at it. Do you think AC/DC would not have been deemed as "intolerable as Iron Maiden" if they hadn't written some of the catchiest hooks of all time? I mean, lets face it, as annoying as a lot of people find Bruce Dickinson, just put Brian Johnson or Bon Scott in his place. Not only does their "growling" and "shouting" sound similar in many instances, but Dickenson has FAR more range than either Scott or Johnson. So why do my friends worship the DCers and laugh at Maiden? Because AC/DC are a hook-laden band. Maiden write far more complex songs than the simple down to earth-shaking rhythm pulses of Malcolm Young.
The point of that aimless rambling was to point out why I like Incubus way more than say, Korn or Limp Bizkit. The lyrics are just about as pointless as Jonathan Davis' "poetry" or Fred Dursts "frat boy rappings", but these guys can write some hooks. Take, for example, the radio hit "New Skin". Well, it was sort of a hit anyway. That song has one of the catchiest little chord progressions I have ever heard. Not very complex at all, but I'll be damned if it doesn't make me want to start bumping little rigged up Honda Civics off the road.
Any of the songs off of side one fall into this category. I have to say that side one of this album is one of the better sides of any album I have heard in a long time. Certainly the best of any "new" music, with the definite exception of Dream Theater's "Change of Seasons", which is probably the best song ever written, IMHO. However, although I really dig the jazzy (yes, its almost a full fledged Jazz ensemble!) "Anti-Gravity Love Song", side two is kind of dull. Lots of guitar effects and little melody, which reminds me of most Korn albums. Still, Brandon Boyd is a cool sounding vocalist, the guitarist can actually play scales, and the bassist is phenomenal. Listen to that slap speed on "Redefine". Overall, its easily the best of any of this alterno-metal crap that I have ever heard, though this band is far more 311 than Korn or Limp Bizkit. And side one rules.
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COMMENTS
Also must note the good production on this one. It really helps the record. And all the songs are enjoyable except for Magic Medicine. Which is just too whacky for me with it's techno pyschedelia samples including a woman saying "on this page you see a little girl giggling at a hippotomus, i wonder why." Damn silly but maybe good if you were on drugs. Probably not.
"The ending of it is probably only really cool for me, because it's the demo-button recording of this really old, cheap Casio keyboard I have."
Damn, I just got into Incubus recently, and when I heard that part I thought of the same thing. Just like you, I thought I was the only one that related the end of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. to the Casio. Good stuff man, it's cool to see someone else that knew about that.
(reviewed by Philip Maddox)
What happened for this album? This sounds like straightforward, late 90s Korn metal. Any of the funk on the last albums is completely gone here (except for the instrumental "Battlestar Scralatchtica", which isn't that great). This album sounds suspiciously like bandwagon jumping. Either way, some of these songs rule. The opener rules, like it always does - "Privilege" is one of the coolest songs of 1999. It's the one that sounds most like old Incubus. "When it Comes" and "Clean" are both cool, too. They have hard, catchy riffs. "When it Comes" is even kind of funky! The single, "Pardon Me" is pretty good, too. It just sounds like a generic late 90s metal track, but it's still good. The rest of the stuff is all pleasant but forgettable - the record sounds good while you're listening to it, but nothing really makes you say "Wow! I'm gonna play that song again!". You could do worse than this album, but S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is much better. Buy that one first. If you really like that one, you'll probably like this one, too. I do like it, I just don't listen to it too much because it's sitting on my shelf between S.C.I.E.N.C.E. and Jethro Tull's Aqualung. Also, there's no hidden track on this album, which is a shame, since I loved the previous two (when I make tapes of S.C.I.E.N.C.E., I always include the hidden track).
(Several months later) - You know, I can't quite imagine liking this album as much as I used to, and I didn't like it all that much to begin with. This is just generic to the core, little (if any) better than other "generic" bands like Matchbox 20. "Privilege" still rules, but the rest is hardly necessary. Even the songs I kinda used to like do very little for me now. So that 6 is dropping down to a low, low 4. Don't buy this record. It's dull. Plus, a lot of the lyrics are really stupid. "To resist is to piss in the wind/Anyone who dies will end up smelling"? That's the single stupidest thing I've heard in my entire life, including that dumb "There ain't no bears in there" chorus on "Cache Cache" by the Who.
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COMMENTS
[email protected] (Ruth Howard)
Ok you know what?, FUCK YOU! Make Yourself, is by far one of the best albums ever to be made. Incubus's "shitty lyrics" merely stand in for a much bigger idea:if you piss in the wind, youll smell.Right, that means don't try and prove someone wrong because you dont like the way the shit is going down. Morning View is even better, INCUBUS KICKS ASS
"Don't buy this record. It's dull. Plus, a lot of the lyrics are really stupid. "To resist is to piss in the wind/Anyone who dies will end up smelling"? That's the single stupidest thing I've heard in my entire life, including that dumb "There ain't no bears in there" chorus on "Cache Cache" by the Who."
you dumass.....the line is "to resist is to piss in the wind/anyone who DOES will end up smelling"
no wonder it didnt make sense to you....you think the word is DIES...its blatently DOES....dont criticise it if u dont even listen properly. its an extremely clever line..saying if you try to resist...its as pointless as pissing in the wind...explaination:people who piss into the world...just end of smelling (becuz the piss comes back at them)...if u took just 5mins to figure out lyrics..u wudnt make such an ass of yourself. Simply, very very few incubus songs aren't amazing. The rest are perfection manifested onto a CD.
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