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Incubus sun rises again on 'Morning View¹
BRIANPASSEY
Photo editor
It is refreshing to occasionally find a band that is unique in the current inundation of formulaic nü-metal.
Incubus is one of those bands.
On the aptly titled ³Morning View,² Incubus explores the road they wandered down on their previous effort, ³Make Yourself.² But the darker side of the last album has been replaced with a lighter, more upbeat sound on many of the new tracks. In place of disturbing lyrics of coldness and spontaneous combustion found on ³Make Yourself,² vocalist Brandon Boyd sings ³and in this moment I am happy² on the current single, ³Wish You Were Here.²
While ³Morning View² continues to explore new sounds and ideas like its predecessor, it lacks the originality of ³Make Yourself² and earlier Incubus material, but is still very different from other nü-metal bands who rap and thrash their way through pop culture. Incubus mixes the traditional, yet innovative rock guitar of Michael Einziger with spacey sound effects courtesy of DJ Kilmore and even a little funk from the rhythm section for a truly unique sound. But the real draw of Incubus is Boyd. Armed with a remarkable voice that can scream through the metal-tinged ³Blood on the Ground² or whisper over the beautiful soundscapes of ³Aqueous Transmission.²
³Morning View² begins with the most ³Incubus-sounding² song on the album, ³Nice to Know You,² complete with references to celestial bodies reminiscent of ³Stellar² from ³Make Yourself.²
On ³Wish You Were Here,² Incubus sets the standard for the power-ballad of the new decade. It begins as a standard head-banger, complete with crashing guitar, and continues the sound throughout the chorus¹s tender lyrics. But Boyd¹s voice softens the verses and turns the song into a love anthem for the rising generation.
³Just a Phase² showcases Boyd¹s voice more than the other songs, turning it into an instrument itself as it wraps around the low-tech guitar and strings mixture. The turntables are present here too, but act more as an addition to the melody than to the overall sound. ³Warning,² with its catchy chorus and accessible rhythm, is begging to become an overplayed hit-single. The standout rocker of the album, ³Under My Umbrella² is also enticing with alternately calming and piercing vocals layered over a pounding drumbeat and trippy techno sounds.
Hints of ³Make Yourself² pop up again in haunting ³Mexico,² an acoustic ballad that recalls the number one single, ³Drive.² The beauty of the album continues in the tender ³Echo,² which manages to become a ballad without going acoustic.
Yet even the beauty of ³Echo² is transcended by the heavenly atmosphere of ³Aqueous Transmission.² Here, Incubus find their own crouching tiger as the Chinese-inspired strings and woodwinds mix with Boyd¹s delicate vocals that calms even the dragon of ³Have You Ever.² As an added bonus, the album offers a multimedia portion entitled ³The Morning View Sessions.² The cause is good ‹ to provide an inside look at the band we all love during the making of the new album ‹ but the delivery is disappointing. The beginning of the short video portion leads the viewer to believe that most of the songs would be featured. The viewer is utterly disappointed when it ends after about 10 minutes after only one or two songs.
Overall, ³Morning View² offers a bright landscape in the modern wasteland of nü-metal, but fails to add the expected Incubus-style trend-setting material.
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editor in chief david browning
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