Brandon Boyd revealed last week on his facebook which was followed by the official website announcement this week that the long awaited 6th studio album from Incubus is complete!
“True to the Incubus legacy, this record is nothing like its predecessor, but still maintains the quintessential Incubus vibe”.
By far and away my favourite band of the modern era and indeed my lifetime....barely a day goes by when I dont listen to them, their music capturing such a wide spectrum of moods, situations + emotions. I am possibly the biggest incubus fan in the North West of England- to point were I have a very similar tat to Brandon and can boast to have seen them live numerous times and to owning every album and bootleg the band have ever released.
In my opinion every one of their 101 original tracks to date is faultless in its own way and has help define me as I grew up, from raw funk metal angst filled teenager thru to a technical alt rock sound as they matured into their 30s...no superlative exists to describe how much their music means to me.
In homage to my heroes I will make some tough choices + pick out 5 definitive tracks from each of the studio albums so far and take a look at the new album...
Enjoy / Fungus Amongus
Incubus formed in 91 when vocalist Brandon Boyd, drummer Jose Pasillas, guitarist Mike Einziger and bassist Alex Katunich (otherwise known as ‘Dirk Lance’) began playing together when they were in tenth grade at high school in Calabasas, California.
‘Fungus Amongus’ is the product of this 1995 recording with producer Jim Wurt where the band were joined by DJ Lyfe on the turntables...the album was later rehashed in 97 as the bands first major label release, a 6 track EP ‘Enjoy Incubus’. The music at this stage of their career can best be described as Funk-metal with 3 tracks inspired by Sci-Fi 'Take Me to Your Leader', 'Shaft' which appear on both albums and 'Trouble in 421' from Fungus.
As a piece of music Fungus flows fantasticly well my standout tracks being 'You will be a hot dancer', 'Pyschosilocybin', 'Hilikus' and my personal favourite 'Sink beneath the line' for the instrumental/vocal mini solo alone showcases their raw individual talent, enjoy...
S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
The bands second album ‘S.C.I.E.N.C.E’ sold over 100,000 copies without support of radio or tv exposure after its release in 1997 which lead to opening for bands such as System of a Down and Sublime. Notably after the albums release the band sacked DJ Lyfe due to artistic differences and recruited a friend Chris ‘DJ’ Kilmore to fill the position due to his laid back attitude and style aswell as ability.
In my opinion, this album is sheer and utter genius! For me its the only album in history that has sucessfully merged, funk metal with hip hop and yet still incorporates fusions of jazz and triphop - many other bands tried and failed to acheive what incubus did to perfection even spanning the entire genre of 'nu metal'. Flowing from 'Redifine's dij intro to 'Calgone's outro its impossible to select stand out track - my top 3 tracks would be 'New Skin', 'Deep inside' and, ofcourse the classic 'A certain shade of Green'. However, for this riff alone, not to mention the lyrical genius which meant for years everytime I met someone I would "rendezvous at 1/4 too" the utterly genius 'Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)'...
Make Yourself
Incubus released their critically acclaimed third album ‘Make Yourself’, recorded in the majority without a producer, albeit with the exception of REM and Nirvana’s producer Scott Litt who helped mix big singles ‘Drive’ and ‘Stellar’ which propelled the band into the mainstream in 1999. Drive later went onto to be the bands 1st #1 single + won best video at MTV VMAs. The next single, ‘Pardon Me’ was initially not well-received until Brandon and Mike performed it live acousticly which won many new fans and got their name on many playlists the album eventually going double platinum.
The album is a move away from metal to a more traditonal rock sound but still mixes a fusion of hip-hop on 'Battlestar Scralatchica' which feature Cut Chemist and Dj Nu Mark from my the legendry Jurrasic 5. Not only is this my favourite incubus album but one of my top 5 albums of all time. Its impossible to pick a track, however lyrically my three favourites would have to be 'Out my Under', 'Clean' and the track that kicks off the album ‘Privilege’. The title track 'Make Yourself' for me was life changing and I ensure I live by the chorus "You should make ammends with you, if only for better health...but if you really want to live, why not try and make yourself?"
Morning View
For the bands 4th album they lived together and recorded at a beachside mansion on Morning View, Malibu, California in 2001. I got my 1st chance to see the band on this album tour on the UK leg of their European tour alongside Hundred Reasons. Around this tour bass player Dirk Lance left the band due to personal differences and was quietly replaced by former The Roots guitarist Ben Kenney who began working with Einziger on new songs for a psychedelic jazz-funk project called Time Lapse Consortium which definitely worth a purchase!
The first single from Morning View, the epic ‘Wish You Were Here’ was released prior and reached #2, the band later released the second single and equally incredible 'Nice to know to know you'.
The album has a sound that is overall softer than previous albums, especially apparent on songs such as 'Echo', 'Warning' and the ultimate chillout track 'Are you in?', however, their heavier side is still evident on tracks like 'Have You Ever','Under My Umbrella' and 'Circles'. My personal favourite track on the album is 'Blood on the ground' for its meaningful lyrics relating to bad vibes with a lover but diffinitively I am going to choose 'Just a Phase' to illustrate their inovation of song structure usage...
A Crow Left of the Murder
After a fierce legal battle with label Epic/ Immortal a new 3 to 4 album was struck in 2003 in order for them to be paid what they deserved the band began writing their next album. Recorded in Atlanta and produced by the legendry producer Brendan O’Brien who worked with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine amongst others.
‘A Crow Left of the Murder...’ was spawned, as an album it is alot faster, energetic and technical than previous albums.The band embarked on a massive word tour were I was lucky enough to see them again on the UK leg alongside Brand:New.
The 1st single ‘Megalomaniac’ raised controversy as attack on the Bush administration and was banned from daytime view on MTV,the band denied making any political statement said:
“Whatever anyone conjures up or takes from our music is good; our point is to get people thinking."
The second single ‘Talk Shows on Mute’ refferences my year of of birth '1984' which is coincidently a great novel by George Orwell, the video is inspired by another of his works, Animal farm. My personal favourite tracks from the album have to be the title track and 'Pistola' for its lyrical brilliance and astonoshing guitar work, check out this fantastic animated vid...
Light Grenades
The band went back into the studio with O’Brien and the album ‘Light Grenades’ was relased in 2006 heading straight for US #1 for one week before dropping from the charts, the album is their most evolved, emotional and mature sound yet.
During touring of this album the band played alongside bands such as the Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Duran Duran and played the VH1 tribue to the Who alongside Pearl Jam, Foo fighters and the Flaming Lips. The band display their sensitive side on tracks like 'A kiss to send us off', 'Love Hurts' and the lyrically fantastic 'Diamonds and Cole'. Personally, this album really helped me deal with some demons in my life at the time but I still, and always will prefer the more riff driven side to incubus with my favourite tracks being the title track and the 1st single 'Anna Molly' which not only contains a sick riff but the vid is filled with gorgeous cinematography...
Monuments and Melodies...
In 2008 the band took a break from touring and recording while Brandon Boyd enrolled in a university art program, Ben Kenny worked with other artists and on a solo project whilst Mike Einziger went to Harvard music school to study composition and José Pasillas spent time with his new born baby.
In 2009 the band released their greatest hits 'Monuments and Melodies' which included many unrelased B-sides, acoustic versions, an awesome prince cover and 3 tracks made for the movie 'Stealth' in 2005, incidently dont bother with the movie, I make aircraft for a living and its terrible 'Move a move' being the best part about it!
Two original tracks recorded for the album were ‘Midnight Swim’ and my favourite track, coincidently the 1st single, the brilliant ‘Black Heart Inetia’ which also has a great vid...
In 2010, Boyd released his first solo album, ‘The Wild Trapeze’ last year which is lyrically a fantastic album but lacks the depth instrumentally the band provide, my favourite tracks being the single 'Runaway Train' and 'Revenge of the spectral Tiger'. Boyd announced that Incubus will head back into the studio to begin writing and recording, which brings us to present day...
Over the years many critics have praised the band's ambition, it has also made them difficult to correctly genre classify through their differening styles which in my opinion is awesome! Using a wide variety of instruments in their music that are not traditionally not associated with rock, such as sitar, bongos, dideridoo and notably Einziger’s use of Stevie Vai’s pipa on the studdenly beauitful ‘Aqeous Transmission’, fingers crossed for more of this!
Regardless of anything I love incubus and am possibly a little blinded but I'm glad its not been rushed as that is the death of many a succesful band but I litterally cant wait for the new album.
In the mean time - Peace, Love and Hope to all...
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