Monday, May 20, 2002
Incubus: Morning View
Incubus is commonly grouped with heavy bands such as Korn or Limp Bizkit, but this band is far more mature than either, being more comparable to bands such as A Perfect Circle or System of a Down. Incubus rocks hard, it catches you viscerally, but the music does more than make you just headbang in an orgy of (most likely) teenage angst.
Though the band has been accused of selling out even as early as their previous album, Make Yourself because of its exploding of the band into wide popularity, Incubus does not betray it's hard roots; rather, it explores new territory while still being true to its roots, a process that is even more characteristic of the new album, Morning View. Incubus is able to pull off being hard and angry, but also sensitive and tender--a rare feat, and incredibally enjoyable.
The most popular single of the album, "I Wish You Were Here" is amazingly poetic, commenting that the sun on the ocean looks like "a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket," and the night sky looking like "a backlit canopy with holes punched in it." The chorus also has a powerful hook to go along with the powerful imagery.
My favorite track on the album, however, is "Aqueous Transmission." This song goes where other bands, especially a hard band like Incubus, fear to tread. For one thing, this song clocks in at over seven minutes, though it is well worth it. The song is slow and mellow, it almost lulls you to sleep. Like classical music (yes, I'm comparing incubus to classic music), it takes a simple melody, and elaborates on it more and more as the song goes on, finally culminating in several instrumental solos after the amazing, velvety vocals are done, then gradually fading into cricket chirps. This song diversifies Incubus's instrument repetoire, adding horns and strings (though strings play a modest role in several other songs as well) Though this is a departure for Incubus, it is totally their own. They bring the older instruments up to date by adding skillful DJing, among other things.
Incubus also brings in the hard, angry songs we all know and love, including: "Circles," "Blood on The Ground", and "Nice to Know You," which even mentions Jacques Cousteau. You can't get much better than that.
