Incubus

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

Yeah, Trust Fall EP had a great sound, and agree with In the Company of Wolves. The comparison of this new song with Jimmy Eats World hurts!

Hahaa, yea that was my first reaction when I heard it. I happen to like Jimmy, even though their latest album fell super flat for me. Just went back to A Crow Left of the Murder and forgot how fun that album was; Talk Shows On Mute is so good.

[allegate]

Since you mentioned TSOM - is there something to the Cocaine thing I've seen about that song? "Come One Come All Into Nineteen Eighty-four"

[Jon]

Same experience here, I saw them a local rock festival, in 2017, and it was bland. Not bad, just average. They were touring behind '8' and that's the first album of them that I didn't completely enjoy. It's sad to see them go this way, they were once one of my favorite bands, even If Not Now, When? was great for me (as @allegate mentioned, it came out during a transition period of my life so it resonated with me big time). But yes, these last two singles and '8' didn't do much for me.

I fell off after A Crow Left of the Murder... I know people had issues with that album, but I consider it their last good effort. "Pistola", "Priceless", "Leech", and "Sick Sad Little World" are some of my favorites by them, period.

[Jord]

I've been a die hard for years, even got a couple of ACLOTM tattoos as it was the record that made me pick up a guitar. The problem lies a little bit around that era, for myself and quite a number of other fans too as it was when they kinda cut loose, they all upped their instrumental game and made some great stuff in those years, that record is killer, Sick Sad Little World is an all time favourite of mine and then they followed up with some great b-sides and stuff like The Odyssey for Halo 2. To hear them tap into this incredible progressive vein with that stuff, and with the live shows around the time really hinted at incredible things to come, Light Grenades came and was pretty good and the Look Alive bonus CD was another hint at some really cool instrumental stuff, but then they released INN,W and ever since then they've just slid into the kind of thing they churn out now with the exceptional good track (Trust Fall).

Mike even admitted in an interview a few years back that anyone expecting them to follow that route they had around the Crow era is just kidding themselves, and they'd choose playing out stuff like Love Hurts to packed out audiences anyday - or something along those lines. They'll always be my favourite band that have been with me for 20 years of my life, but they are a different band than they were.

[brotha52]

Mike even admitted in an interview a few years back that anyone expecting them to follow that route they had around the Crow era is just kidding themselves, and they'd choose playing out stuff like Love Hurts to packed out audiences anyday - or something along those lines. They'll always be my favourite band that have been with me for 20 years of my life, but they are a different band than they were.

I've always associated the change with the guitarist going to college. Formal education can really stifle creativity.

[Jon]

Mike even admitted in an interview a few years back that anyone expecting them to follow that route they had around the Crow era is just kidding themselves, and they'd choose playing out stuff like Love Hurts to packed out audiences anyday - or something along those lines. They'll always be my favourite band that have been with me for 20 years of my life, but they are a different band than they were.

I'm completely okay with that: Opeth and Miles Davis (who's famous phrase musically was, "Never look back") are among my favorites. These last few Incubus releases have felt, uninspiried, to put it one way.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

Mike even admitted in an interview a few years back that anyone expecting them to follow that route they had around the Crow era is just kidding themselves, and they'd choose playing out stuff like Love Hurts to packed out audiences anyday - or something along those lines. They'll always be my favourite band that have been with me for 20 years of my life, but they are a different band than they were.

That is actually pretty sad to hear from a man that I considered to be one of the top guitarists with his creativity. When I play The Odyssey, people have either never heard it, or are blown away that it is actually Incubus. I'm all for exploring a new sound, but at least tap back into your roots just a tad? I want a groovy bassline back so dam bad.

[allegate]

I'm kind of bummed that Side B came out and you have to purchase the two singles again. what's the point of that?

the white hair Brandon's sporting makes him look like Julianne Moore as President Alma Coin.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

I wish Side B sounded similar to Side A. Karma, Come Back is ooook, but everything else is an uninspired bore fest.

[Jord]

I miss the incubusview forum so it's nice to have a place to discuss them.

It was exactly for me how I predicted, a couple of decent tunes but nothing more. It's getting tonnes of love on Reddit, so fair enough for the band. I enjoy Karma, Come Back & On Without Me (that intro is pretty solid Incubus) so it's not a total stinker, I'd say I'm even warming up to Our Love, but Into The Summer & Paper Cuts are a giant no from me.

I got tickets to see them on their UK tour but that's postponed till whenever now, because they still bring it live big time - on the 8 tour they played Calgone, Echo & Vitamin and it blew my mind.

The thing with Incubus now is that because of the hiatuses and how close they came to breaking up in after If Not Now, When, any detractors of their new music will often be met with response like 'ah well at least they are still producing music', but if that music is 'Into The Summer' or 'Dance Like You're Dumb' from a band who wrote stuff like The Odyssey and Just A Phase - it just doesn't compare.

Also, am I the only one who thinks between Love In A Time Of Surveillance, Throw Out The Map & Karma Come Back, their heavier riffs these days have echoes of Tom Morello in them?

[mfte]

Also, am I the only one who thinks between Love In A Time Of Surveillance, Throw Out The Map & Karma Come Back, their heavier riffs these days have echoes of Tom Morello in them?

The breakdown in Leech is very Morello-esque as well...

[AndItKeepsRepeating]

Random question, but I was just listening to the album and forgot how much I loved it:

Is anyone else a big fan of A Crow Left of the Murder...? I think it's their best album that isn't named S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

Crow is pretty much as good as it gets for me as an Incubus fan; it has everything. Also, being the first album without Dirk Lance, it lived up to the hype for me, with Megalomaniac being a huge song for the time it came out.

Some of my favorite Incubus songs are on crow... Sick Sad Little World, Pistola, Zee Deveel, and Made for TV Movie to name a few.

[henryeatscereal]

Random question, but I was just listening to the album and forgot how much I loved it:

Is anyone else a big fan of A Crow Left of the Murder...? I think it's their best album that isn't named S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

It's very underrated and i think "Talk Shows in Mute" is one of their best singles ever

[mfte]

I didn't like it very much when it came out, mainly because I thought that Brandon's voice reached maximum Whine-Tone on that record and was mixed way too loud. His insistent ooooohing and ahhhhing were a little over the top. I probably ranted about this somewhere in this thread.

In retrospect, it is one of my favorite albums by them. This album and Morning View are the best IMO. As much as I Enjoy S.C.I.E.N.C.E. I am never in the mood to listen to it front to back at 40 years old.

Why do you think that it is underrated? It went platinum, it charted well, and is a favorite among fans. I agree that Talk Shows on Mute is one of their best singles.

I think that Light Grenades is underrated. Not a lot of people seem to like that album. Granted there are some stinkers on there (Oil and Water., Diamonds and Coal) I think that album came closest to them sounding more experimental and S.C.I.E.N.C.E. like, without it sounding forced. Pendulous Threads is one of the most experimental things in their catalogue, you can tell that they were listening to Mars Volta at the time I was excited to hear what they would do after that..............and then If Not Now When came out and the dream was over lol.

[allegate]

Well, Light Grenades was 2006 and Mike had the carpal tunnel surgery in 2007 so it doesn't surprise me that he had to slow down.

Einziger noted that the musical direction on this album was influenced by the overriding notion of "simplicity;" "Brandon and I, when we started focusing on writing songs for this album, something that we hadn't really focused on in the past was the idea of this very, very strong simplicity. That's what this album is based on, some very, very simple ideas. [...] I think the sounds that a lot of people come to expect from us are based on the idea of large walls of very thick guitars. That's kind of a trademark for a lot of loud, aggressive rock music, but it can also be a crutch, or a wall that you can hide behind. But we didn't rely on that for this album, it actually doesn't have any of that."

I just wish that Brandon didn't bring his brick-walling to the band and left that to the solo albums.

unrelated - because it's not the band as a whole - Brandon has a new song out.

[mfte]

That song is a pleasant surprise.

It reminds me of that Fucking Whatever EP from last year.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

If we're talking Light Grenades, there are some amazing songs on there, but the pacing is terrible and there are A LOT of stinkers on there. The title track and Pendulous Threads (Which always seemed like it belonged on a different album somewhere) are my favorites here, with us getting our first Brandon scream since Pardon Me or Science days so I enjoy that a lot.

If Not Now, When? Is also all over the place, but The Company of Wolves is a huge track and doesn't get spoken about enough if you wanna talk experimental material from them; it's fantastic along with Tomorrow's Food. Their newer material still shows signs of greatness, but they are riddled with mediocre ideas and generic territory. I really wish they continued with whatever sound they found during the Trust Fall Side A days, because that EP is fantastic.

They had the balls to play this live on Letterman and they absolutely killed it.

[allegate]

Oh man the audience shot at the end is great. a lot of "Wait, they played that?" looks on faces.

Side note: is there a way to hear the non-Skrillex version of 8?

[cahernandez]

Brandon Boyd ranks Incubus' albums. I too put Morning View on first place, but can't understand why SCIENCE isn't placed higher in his list. I'm also quite fond of If Not Now When?, did not know that this was a period of turmoil in the band, wonder what happened between them. I would place 8 even lower...the fact that he wrote "we’ll listen to this sometimes in rehearsal and there are songs on it where we’re looking at each other as if we didn’t write it." and " There are a few tracks I really love, but there are a few that should be B-sides in retrospect." It's telling that even they think that this is not their best.

https://www.loudersound.com/features...t-brandon-boyd

[ickyvicky]

Yeah, that is interesting. Especially Make Yourself isn't higher either. I listened to that album non-stop when it came out.

[mfte]

Every once in a while, I try and put on If Not Now When? and I just can't get into it because I find it quite boring (outside of In The Company of Wolves).
8 is definitely the disaster of that discography, and that is due in large part to questionable mixing choices that make that record nearly unlistenable (Thanks Sonny Moore).

[allegate]

wasn't INNW? roughly when Mike had surgery?

surgery in March 2007 for carpal tunnel syndrome, a repetitive-strain injury to his left wrist. The condition forced him to take a hiatus from the band and his instrument.

on top of that he was going to Harvard (staying off my soapbox for this one) and it seemed to me at the time that it was a matter of 'well can we even do this anymore without him?'

It's funny reading about 8, considering the production hoo-haw that was going on. I would really like to hear the original album before the Skrillex production hit.

[henryeatscereal]

"Fungus Amongus" and "S.C.I.E.N.C.E." at the bottom?

Man this guy is funny!

I would take literally ANY album over "If Not Now, When?"

[mfte]

It's funny reading about 8, considering the production hoo-haw that was going on. I would really like to hear the original album before the Skrillex production hit.

There was the original version of Nimble Bastard audio on their official YouTube for a while before the record came out. At the time I remember tweeting at Sardy to ask if we would ever hear his mixes, but that ended up in the void.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

In The Company of Wolves is one of the best tracks they have ever written. If Not Now isn't terrible, but it isn't all that great either. Rebel Girls and Tomorrow's Food are good tracks as well.

8 is just so forgettable and sounds like them on Autopilot.

My rankings right now would have to be:

Morning View
Make Yourself
A Crow Left of the Murder...
S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
Light Grenades
Fungus Amongus
If Not Now, When?
8

[henryeatscereal]

- Make Yourself
- S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
- A Crow Left of the Murder...
- Morning View
- Light Grenades
- Fungus Amongus
- 8
- If Not Now, When?

[Jord]

In The Company of Wolves is one of the best tracks they have ever written. If Not Now isn't terrible, but it isn't all that great either. Rebel Girls and Tomorrow's Food are good tracks as well.

To this day I believe leaving Surface To Air off that record/not making it the first single from that album is one of their biggest late career mistakes, same goes for Familiar Faces from 8.

- ACLOTM
- Morning View
- Light Grenades
- Make Yourself
- S.C.I.E.N.C.E
- 8
- If Not Now, When?
- Trust Fall (Side A)
- Fungus Amongus
- Trust Fall (Side B)

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

To this day I believe leaving Surface To Air off that record/not making it the first single from that album is one of their biggest late career mistakes, same goes for Familiar Faces from 8.

- ACLOTM
- Morning View
- Light Grenades
- Make Yourself
- S.C.I.E.N.C.E
- 8
- If Not Now, When?
- Trust Fall (Side A)
- Fungus Amongus
- Trust Fall (Side B)

Ahh, I knew I was forgetting one! Yes, Surface To Air is so good and I love how the drums drive that song. This and Rebel Girls are better than almost everything that made the cut lol.

[bobbie solo]

He ranks their best albums so low b/c on one hand, he's verbally expressed how embarrassed he is of their association with the nu-metal scene when those records came out numerous times, as well as the heavier, more aggressive leanings to their music back then. But then on the other hand, Incubus will continually accept bookings alongside bands from that era, b/c they know $where$ $their$ $bread$ $is$ $buttered$.



Total hypocrite. Remember how Boyd has re-envisioned himself through the years, as almost a crooner. Look at his solo work. and some of the...things...that have came along with it.



Anyway, groove to this shit & who cares what that nincompoop thinks.