Morning View is one of the most inconsistent albums I own, but for Incubus it was probably one of there best albums. After I saw rave reviews for this anywhere I turned I decided to buy it expecting great things. But what I got was at times a classic album, and at times a complete waste of money.
Morning View is one of those albums that got hyped up because it has those catchy little rock tunes, including one of the best straight up rock songs I had heard in the albums opener: "Nice To Know You". The song sounds like an explosion of instruments crammed together with a beautiful breakdown and a memorial chorus. It makes this album seems like it is going to be a classic, but then comes the next song.
"Circles", is a good song by some people, but to me it seems like a complete waste following the classic "Nice To Know You". The song seems like it is going to follow the path of rocking out, but we see a loud-to-soft formula in the supporting lines in chorus, overall this song wasn't to memorable.
Overall there a lot of songs like this on this album and they all come after great songs [except Mexico which comes after an average song in Blood On The Ground] , but you can't have wasteful songs like "Mexico" on an album when you are pot rayed to be a simple but productive rock band. "Just A Phase", is a song that try's to rock out but like Circles, but again like Circles fail with a lame chorus and overall a beat that is repetitive throughout the album.
But then there are still the great and classic songs. "11 AM" maybe one of my favorite Incubus songs it has a laid back feel but it is very aggressive in lyrical content, it isn't necessarily the best song structure wise but still a great song. "Have You Ever" and "Are You In" are two classic songs in a row. "Have You Ever" is a song that takes more of a rocker style with aggressive lyrics that come right after you, while "Are You In" is a soft and sorrowful song that is executed beautifully. "Have You Ever" is the first of these songs I am going to describe the song features one of the coolest beats I've heard in a while with the drums and guitars played as loud as they possibly can be played during the chorus. "Are You In" sounds like a laid back song and it is amazing that it can follow a rocker such as "Have You Ever", but it doesn't it with a chorus that is not stressed to much, and a beat that is very laid back and relaxing.
So is this album with two perfect songs in a row finally showing some consistency? No because after these two favorites come the dreadful "Under My Umbrella", I don't know if this song is just getting us ready for the epic closer or if it is a filler track like "Mexico" but it sure does need some work. The beat is alright but the song doesn't have the right structure to be a great song.
"Aqueous Transmission" is a great closer to this album and shows how much upside Incubus had and has when they take there time to write great music. The song has a soft kind of African drum beat that is executed to perfection, and the chorus with lyrics such as: "Floating down the river" just adds to how beautiful this song is and what a great closer it is. Clocking in at over 7 minutes sure it maybe a long listen, and diehard fans of Incubus hard rock may not love this song. But I love this song because it seems to add another dimension of this band and this is another classic song.
"Morning View", had the potential to be in Rolling Stones 500 top albums if Incubus would have taking their sweet time and filled those filler tracks with more meaningful lyrics and less repetitive beats. The album has the classic tracks and tracks that bring this rating down but it is still the bands best album in my opinion and definitely worth a good listen.
