Incubus
S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

THE REVIEW

I see Brandon Boyd, when, as a kid, he sings the songs of Faith No More, trying to imitate Mike Patton. Yes, because "S.C.I.E.N.C.E.", the third album by Incubus (after the interesting but perhaps a bit raw "Fungus Amongus" and "Enjoy Incubus"), is heavily influenced by the Californian band, especially in the vocals, yet without ever crossing into plagiarism, resulting in an original and diverse album that blends metal, rock, funk, electronic, jazz, hip-hop, drum 'n bass and more.
To the basic quartet of voice, guitar, bass, and drums, a DJ was added, crucial in this album for the structure and quality of the music, which, unfortunately, in subsequent records will not prove to be as important. The reason is simple: to give the band a more commercial appeal, DJ Lyfe will be removed, and this will be one of the reasons leading to the negative shift of the group that from "Make Yourself" (which is a good album, mind you, but nothing more) onwards won't be able to produce albums at the same level as the masterpiece in question.

The album starts with "Redefine", which positively combines metal riffs, funky interludes, scratches, and melody, to then explode in a crazy finale; then comes "Vitamin", which has a beautiful and powerful refrain, interspersed with electronic and percussive turns.
"New Skin" is a great song, starting with monotonous guitar strumming and "Ratamahatta" style percussion, then quickly exploding into a metal riff where Boyd gives his best and, like the Patton of "Ugly in The Morning", unleashes screams aimed to the extreme.
"Idiot Box" has a great riff, almost halfway between power and thrash, which speeds up in the end (certainly one of my favorite songs, along with "Nebula").
"Glass" has a funky and electronic pattern that becomes electric only in the captivating chorus, enhanced by Boyd's voice; then comes the drum 'n bass lullaby "Magic Medicine", accompanied by a female voice in the background.
Then there is the fast, powerful, with its particular riff "Certain Shade Of Green", and here too Boyd enjoys imitating Patton, doing it with great class I would say; "Favorite Things" is a power rock combined with melody and spurts of electronics; "Summer Romance" is a sweet funky ballad with a beautiful melody, accompanied by warm percussion, a soft piano, and, in the end, even a sax.
"Nebula" is pure delirium, difficult to describe, it's a kind of metal-sketch-electro-crazy-psycho-rock where Boyd seems to interpret four different characters in four different tones in continuous and sudden rhythmic breaks, all in a mishmash of different genres, culminating in insane electric distortion.
"Deep Inside" is a jazz-funk almost swing with guitars à la Santana, interspersed with clever and crazy rhythm changes that break walls.
Madness is also touched upon in the concluding "Calgone", a concentrate of alienated electronic sounds, sweet arpeggios, anguished laments that are only the prelude to the distorted riffs of the final self-destruction, interrupted by the voices of our lads before reaching the ghost track filled with electronics, drum 'n bass, video game sounds, various scratches, and little electro-nursery rhymes.

This is one of those records you absolutely must have, it's the album of Incubus' maturation, if you love them and don't have it, get it, those who don't know them should start with this one and then procure the others at a later time, as they are definitely not on its level. Because the Incubus have become another band, they have converted to the god of money, not that the subsequent albums are bad (because despite everything, they are still very talented musicians), but you can tell that the desire to experiment is over and now they have even signed the soundtrack of a 150 million dollar Hollywood mega production, the new action movie from the director of Fast & Furious, if that isn't another signal...