It's the summer of 1997, and 311 has broken into the mainstream. People have since discovered them from their massive radio, Rap-Rock hybrid hit,
Down and people are anxiously awaiting for a new 311 album that will hopefully live up to its predecessor. Well, the time has come and
Transistor shall deliver!
Clocking in at over an hour in length,
Transistor is by far 311's longest LP. Originally, 311 wanted do a double-album, but they instead condensed it into an elongated 21 track record. Now, this shouldn’t sway people away from listening to this great record. In my opinion, this is 311's most overlooked record, but it contains some really great work and musicianship. People see a low rating in the catalog and they just skip it! Don't! You'll be sorry my friend. What your are in for is an hour of Tim (or miT as it is spelled in the inlays) Mahoney's superb rhythmic and lead guitar playing, P-Nut's implausible bass lines and funky innovative slap technique, Chad Sexton’s dexterous drumming with his signature piccolo snare and the systematically harmonized vocals of S.A. Martinez and Nick Hexum. Let’s begin, shall we?
The album begins with one of the singles off the album, the riff-laden
Transistor. However, if you own the disc, you can rewind this track from the beginning and hear a pretty sweet jam known to many fans as the, “Transistor Intro”, so do that if you must. The song is highly energetic and you can’t help but bop your head to that sweet friggin’ guitar riff. This is truly an awesome opening track and it gets better with the next track, which just so happens to be another single.
Prisoner is just another groovy song that mixes rock riffs with reggae guitar almost flawlessly. P-Nut’s bass playing on this song is outstanding and gives the song a nice, relaxing feeling.
Throughout
Transistor we hear various styles of music mixing together so well and cohesively. Hard rock guitar riffs like those found on
Electricity and
Tune In (almost metal-ish at times), jazz guitar, funk and reggae guitar are often fused together to make an original song. Hip-hop influenced beats are also heard throughout the record as well as lightning fast raps from S.A. on tracks like
Galaxy and strong vocals from Nick featured on tracks such as
Use of Time
More outstanding songs from
Transistor include another single off the record, and pretty-well known successful one at that,
Beautiful Disaster. A great song featuring a duel-guitar face off by Nick and Tim at the beginning. At time’s you can’t help but to sing along to this great tune. P-Nut really shines in the instrumental driven song,
What Was I thinking by opening the song by an impressive slap bass line. When listening to the following track,
Jupiter you get the urge to some air-guitar with that melodious guitar riff. This is one of the best songs of the album so don’t miss out.
What I believe are the standout tracks on this album that make it such a great album are the acoustic-paced,
Use of Time. This song is so beautifully written and well composed that it can give you a tear in your eye at times. It is more, shall I say, gloomy perhaps than any other track on the record. No S.A. rapping or singing in this song, but Nick keeps his cool throughout the track by given us some melancholy vocals, but they are great without a doubt. Tim’s guitar playing is exceptionally profound. The song ends perfectly with Tim delivering a great, memorable guitar solo.
Running is another one of those exceptional tracks on
Transistor. Just check out the instrumentals by P-nut and those sweet, funk jazz riffs by Tim. You get both in this song at the same time. A cool wah-wah funk riff on the left speaker and a jazzy riff on the right. This is a great upbeat song with great rapping by S.A. Martinez.
My personal favorite song off the record is the last song,
Stealing Happy Hours. In my opinion this is
the most relaxing 311 song ever written and certainly one of their best. Really great bass delivery but P-Nut and Tim, once again, with those relaxing Jazzy solo’s. Three to be exact. The drums and percussion are quite humbling and Nick sings this song rather well in my opinion. S.A. supplies us with some cool sampled noises and some scratching. Overall, just a great way to end a long, long album. This is a song that makes existence extra nice and trust me, you’ll sleep well tonight if you listen to this just before you hit the hay.
The record is filled with memorable moments, but some listeners might get bored or uninterested after the 16 track or so. If that is the case just go take an intermission, and come back to finish this epic album. There are however some filler and otherwise, dull tracks on this record like
Rub A Dub which is just annoying and painstaking to listen to.
Creature Feature is another one of those songs that I always skip when listening to
Transistor.
If your looking for the experimental side of 311, look no further, this is your album. Avert your eyes from those subjective reviews. What do they know? With only a tad bit of tedious moments found in the record, this isn’t an album to overlook. There is a little something for everyone in this album, whether you’re into hip-hop, rock or reggae, 311’s got your back. Give this album a few listens and let it grow on you like fungus. Once it does, you won’t look back.
