Incubus
Monuments And Melodies

THE REVIEW

It’s time for Incubus to take stock and total up what they’ve done so far, in light of six studio albums and eighteen years since their formation.

A now substantial career, to be celebrated with this "Monument And Melodies", a juicy "best of" divided into two distinct discs ("Monuments", which contains the band’s most significant singles, and "Melodies", a mix comprised of unreleased tracks, b-sides, covers, and reimaginings of old songs).

A career quite discussed, that of the Americans led by "heartthrob" Brandon Boyd: starting off with an explosive mix of funk, rapcore, metal, and alternative rock (don’t miss the masterpiece "S. C. I. E. N. C. E."), they gradually moved towards "fm rock" sounds at first (see "Morning View," which contains the controversial and very famous "Are You In?"), then returning to a rather raw and unadorned rock tinged with grunge (the splendid "A Crow Left Of The Murder," perhaps their second-best effort) and winking at alternative rock in their last studio work "Light Grenades" (year 2006). A minor detail: despite the many (and discussed, by critics and public) style and influence changes, the Incubus brand is well engraved in all the band’s works, infused with high-quality writing and Brandon Boyd's monstrously skilled performance, the true pivot around which the band's musical offering revolves.

Two absolute rarities are present in the first disc, both produced by trusty Brendan O'Brien: the first, "Black Heart Inertia", is also the first single released (a pleasant pop rock track, but certainly not essential; the guys have done better in the field – "Agoraphobia," for example), while the second, "Midnight Swim", is a great burst of rock energy placed right at the closure of the first CD.

In between, a series of great tracks that are staggering, ranging from the inevitable classics "Drive", "Wish You Were Here", "Megalomaniac", "Are You In?" and "Love Hurts" to excellent but possibly less popular songs that are still undoubtedly valid (the melodic perfection of "Anna Molly" - perhaps one of the best refrains crafted by the band -, the hard-hitting power of "Stellar", the perfect pop of "Talk Shows On Mute", not forgetting the superb "Pardon Me").

It’s much more interesting to dwell on the content of the second disc, "Melodies", a godsend for those who have already had the chance to enjoy the band’s music. It starts with the pop rock complete with a strings arrangement in "Neither Of Us Can See", alongside "Admiration" in the "Stealth" soundtrack (there was also "While All The Vultures Feed", but it was inexplicably - considering the song’s quality, a good rock piece rich in tempo changes - discarded, only to be "cleaned up" and included in this best of). "Look Alive", a well-executed piece based on a great bass loop, is retrieved directly from the Japanese version of the latest "Light Grenades" (together with the delicate "Punch Drunk"). "Pantomime", originally on the bonus CD of the DVD "Alive At Red Rocks", is a quintessential "Incubus" track with a well-executed crescendo at its conclusion. "Anything", born of a jam between Einziger and Pasillas during the sessions for the multi-selling "A Morning View", fully represents the stylistic touchstone of the reference album. "Martini", unreleased from the "Light Grenades" sessions, veers significantly away from the band’s usual offering, strangely approaching certain elements of Orson. The work is completed with a passable acoustic version of the old masterpiece "A Certain Shade Of Green", the ballad that gives its name to the work (a B-side of "Megalomaniac") and a good cover of Prince ("Let's Go Crazy").

Key tracks: "Drive", "Megalomaniac", "Anna Molly", "Pardon Me", "Martini"