I have been a fan of Incubus since my sophomore year of high school. They have been one of my favorite bands for almost a decade now. They won me over, as I imagine they did most people, with Make Yourself. However it may be time for me to move on. I love Incubus, but I haven't truly enjoyed an entire album of theirs since A Crow Left of the Murder. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Light Grenades, but that was not an album I completely loved off the bat. There were good tracks, certainly, but the album in its entirety was not at the level I was used to. However I continued to listen to it over and over until eventually, much as lichen does upon a rock, Light Grenades grew on me. Next came their 2-disc greatest hits album Monuments and Melodies. To me it seemed kind of strange for them to put out a greatest hits album. On the one hand they had been putting out albums for 10 years, so they had technically earned it I guess. Though I always assumed that bands only put one out closer to 20 years and maybe signaling the end of their career together. The first disc was, with the exception of two songs, entirely composed of singles. These are songs that I really enjoyed, so I didn't mind that. However those other two songs and indeed the entire other disc were all unreleased tracks. If I said that they were all gems I would be lying. There were some good songs, sure… and it would be unfair of me to assume that every song that they wrote would really appeal to me. Unfair or no, this was sort of what I was used to. I really liked Incubus. However these songs were just really hit or miss. With the exception of Pantomime and an acoustic version of the previously released A Certain Shade of Green, I don't really find myself going out of my way to listen to these unreleased tracks. This may change of course, but not right now.
Today I purchased their new album, If Not Now, When?, their first album since their post-M&M hiatus. I've listened to it once through and I have to say… I'm just not digging it. The case may be that, much like with Light Grenades, I just have to listen to it more for the songs to really take hold and sink in. The only song that I think really stands out is the same song that they have picked for their first single off of it, Adolescents. It was the only song that I have noticed thus far to contain a similar, if not the same "feel" of the older Incubus tracks. I'm really hoping that after further listenings the rest of this album will grow on me. I never wanted to be the guy who went around talking about how things used to be back in the "good ol' days" and I also don't like the idea that I have changed so much as a person that the very thing that Incubus is no longer appeals to me.
Final verdict: I remain optimistic that I might like it eventually, but right now not so much.
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