Review Summary: Most interestingly bizzare Incubus album ever made - yet their worst
Incubus fans rave about how amazing Incubus is all the time.
"S.C.I.E.N.C.E. was the best, man! They freakin' sold out after that!" ...
"Nah man, Make Yourself is where it's at! That album was my childhood! 'Pardon Me' changed my life after I heard it on the radio a few times and I realized how good it was!" ...
"How can you bros forget Morning View?!? 'Wish You Were Here' is the best song I've heard in my life! That album is so diverse, dudes!" (Disclaimer: those are awful Californian surfer stereotypes if they are even accurate; probably not)
But, bar anti-mainstream super elitist hipsters (I think I just offended 10 people reading this review) this album is
never mentioned to be
better than
any of the three albums mentioned above. "Oh. Their 4th best album", is the common agreement among many Incubus fans, particularly purists. But yes, I have the balls to say that this album
is worse than If Not Now, When?.
"Why?!?" you might revolt in bewilderment. How is that possible???
First of all, one thing to note listening to this album is the band seems to have had literally no expectations as to recording this album or even writing it. Heck, they
don't even seem to care if it is good at all.
The most immediately disconcerting thing on this album to any non-hardcore Incubus fans, particularly fans raised off of
Make Yourself or
Morning View is the
lyrical content of this album, or Brandon Boyd's strange delivery of every single line in the album, for that matter. It doesn't matter that this is their first album and that they probably composed most of these songs when they were 15 to 17 years old. It still all reeks of extreme immaturity. Even on the best tracks. Nothing is ever fleshed out in this album. Nothing. It sure makes all the band members sound like major druggies (oh wait, they are; i.e. "Psychopsilocybin" or "Take Me to Your Leader"; a lot of those hipsters must be druggies if they like this album so much too).
The worst lyrical offender in my book by far is "Medium". What is the main chorus to this song?
"Not too tender, not too tough... (MEDIUM!)
Not too little, just enough... (MEDIUM!)
Not too tender, not too tough... (MEDIUM!)
Not too little, just enough... (MEDIUM!)"
It is not exactly the same every time, with small differences in each chorus, but... these are not good lyrics... Possibly the worst song lyrics ever made in a rock song..... You have to be majorly tripping on cocaine or marijuana to even remotely think this is a good song. The instruments can't save it. No, not even the outro.
"Psychopsilocybin" is almost just as bad. Either Brandon Boyd is screaming about how he is a "horny motherf***er" or chanting "PSYCHOPSILOCYBIN" once every 15 seconds. While it is the 2nd worst song on the album lyrically, it is far more
instrumentally interesting. Jose Pasillas makes a few slightly interesting drum fills and Mike Einziger steals the show with his guitar riffing as well as having a small solo. His solo is the only good part of this song.
It goes without saying that "You Will Be a Hot Dancer" is the third worst lyrically. Interesting bass slapping and guitar riffs for sure though. Go Dirk Lance.
Before this review turns into an entire lyrical analysis, let's move on to some things I actually think are decent about this album.
Despite it's retarded lyrics, "Shaft!" is a fun jam song with a majorly acquired taste. Juvenile punk funk metal.
"Trouble in 421!" is much in the same vein as "Shaft!" without the fast tempo.
Now we move on to one of the record's highlights: "Take Me to Your Leader", the sole single off this album. By now, you've come to expect pretty awful to mediocre lyrics from the average song. But someone how this track gels more. A weird alien voice effect opens the tracks followed by tribal drumming, quickly followed by atonal riffing and Boyd's voice. But the track gets better as it goes along. The peak moment of the track is as follows:
"I forgot to remember my...PAIN!
My pain!
Forgot to inject my...cocaine!
Forgot to apply my...rogaine!
Forgot to remember...my pain!
(PAIN!)
(PAIN!)
...... "
The track just explodes and then fades out. Awesome. It's the
only Fungus song they've ever played live since 1998. YouTube search "take me to your leader live 2004" to see what I mean.
Considering the bad lyrical track average, "Speak Free" and "The Answer" are semi-decent.
"Sink Beneath the Line" is a dang good song, considering the seriously funky groove and overlooking the lyrics.
"Hilikus" also hits the funk groove meter heavily. It may also have Boyd's best lyric of the entire album:
"History has a tendency
To block out the popular beliefs
About the leaders of the time"
Profound Boyd. Profound. This song may be the sole lyrical gem in an album of bad lyrics.
Let's not forget Einziger. He ends with a solo about 20-30 seconds before the track ends. Not bad. Had to leave his mark.
In short, this album has undeniably bad lyrics in places, but the instrumentation, while not incredibly great, kind of makes up for it. Mike's 2 guitar solos in "Psychopsilocybin" and "Hilikus" and Dirk Lance's unceasing bass slapping are the only real standouts though. The forced silliness doesn't quite help matters either. Their influences seep through their performances too much as well. In the end, it's alright.
Also, this album is way too strange for the average Incubus listener if the cover art didn't already give it away for you. It's not hard to see why the band never plays songs from this album live anymore, and how they seem to almost be ashamed of this album; paraphrasing Boyd: "I have nightmares about my [Fungus Amongus] self in my sleep..." Melody is not a focus of and is almost not present in this album. An extremely acquired taste is needed to enjoy this album even slightly. Believe me, I despised it the first 10 times I listened to it.
This album's sibling
S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is a much better representation of the band's quirky side. As well as my recommendation for the first Incubus album to listen to if you enjoy edgy, loud music that is a bit strange. Otherwise, head for
Make Yourself. It is instantly accessible to the average listener.
FOR HARDCORE FANS AND COMPLETIONISTS ONLY
Recommended Songs:
"Take Me To Your Leader"
"Sink Beneath the Line"
"Hilikus"
