Incubus
Morning View

What's the issue: have they suddenly gone soft or have they smelled the money of the MTV generation's fanbase? I lean towards the second hypothesis, just look at the beginning of the video for "Wish You Were Here": Incubus running on a bridge chased by a crowd of screaming girls, like they were the Blue!!!

Let me preface by saying that I don't consider "Morning View" a bad album, because it's musically well done, but what's missing is the anger, the emotional charge, the madness, the successful experimentation that marked their masterpiece, "S.C.I.E.N.C.E.". The touches of Jazz, Funky, and Drum 'N Bass have disappeared, electronics are bare-boned, the great metal riffs have softened, this is an album of predictable pop/rock where the flashes of class are very, very rare. One of these is certainly "Just A Phase", which begins as a ballad with sweet arpeggios and Boyd's soft echoes; halfway through, it seems like it's going to explode, but it surprises you and settles into the melody, then towards the end, it bursts into an electric and destructive finale. The album starts with "Nice To Know You" and "Circles", two songs with powerful riffs but they end up being monotonous and lackluster; "Wish You Were Here" is the classic pop/rock single that winks more than once at MTV. The rest of the album trudges along between decent but sleepy ballads ("Mexico", "11 AM"), more ("Have You Ever" "Warning") or less ("Blood On The Ground", "Under My Umbrella") decent rock tracks, ridiculous and unnecessary blatantly pop songs (the annoying "Are You In", "Echo"), and closes with a long soporific ride, with oriental echoes and almost entirely instrumental ("Aqueous Transmission").

I do not recommend this album to those who loved Incubus in the past, simply because this album isn't by Incubus, it's by another band that has completely changed its style. The next album, "A Crow Left Of The Murder", can't exactly be called a great album, but with intentions that, albeit distantly, refer to "S.C.I.E.N.C.E.", there might be some hope for the rebirth of this group that really cannot get lost in mediocrity.