Disco de Incubus: “A Crow Left of the Murder [Slipcase]”

This is my first Incubus purchase, and I will certainly get their other albums now! I got this one for the surround sound mix, and it was well worth it! I expected that only the couple of "radio" songs would be good, but I was pleasantly surprised! What a great album, every song is a listener! Good, full 5.1 mix.

It did take me a while to get this latest piece of art from this amazing band, but it's happened. While I instantly loved S.C.I.E.N.C.E., Make Yourself, and Mourning View, it took me a few listens to absolutly love this album. When I first listened to it, the first, and only song that felt like Incubus was Megalomaniac. That dissapointed me, because its the album opener. But after my latest listen, I listened more critically, and now relize that this is yet another Incubus classic. The songs have a grand structure that their other albums lacked. They are less poppy, and more gritty sounding. The one HUGE problem I have with the album is that the bass is hardly audiable through Mike Einziger loud guitars. Einziger's work is among his best on this album, don't get me wrong, he's one of my favorite guitarists. The drumming is insanly fast and well paced and varried. Boyd's vocals are perfect for the songs, and his lyrics are refreshingly different. Incubus is one of the most talented bands in this day and age of no-talent acts. The fact that they change through every album they make proves they have a vast array of musical varriety. i hope that their new album (supposedly coming out late this year) is as good as this, and past releases. The album closer asks "This is it, did you have a good time?".....yes Incubus, yes i did.

Track Highlites:

Megalomaniac

Agoraphobia

Talk Shows on Mute

Sick, Sad, Little World

Pistola

Zee Deveel

While this contains the exact same special features as the special edition, it's still worth buying for the surround sound included on the DVD side. This is Incubus' much anticipated follow-up to 2001's Morning View. While not garnering especially high praises this is definitely a worthy follow up. Anybody that is trashing this CD probably hasn't given it a chance to prove itself. Only after a few listens will you truly appreciate the brilliance that is brought to the table here. The production isn't polished at all, it's very raw. So much so that you can actually hear hand claps in a few songs. Personally, I think this unpolished side of Incubus is nice, I like it a lot.

With this release Incubus has matured even more than they let on in Morning View. You really wouldn't guess it with songs like Smile Lines and Leech though. Those two songs strike me as classic Incubus (though I realize I might be the only one that thinks that). Songs like Beware! Criminal, Agoraphobia, Zee Deveel, and Talk Shows On Mute strike me as different to Incubus' style. These songs lyrically are extremely strong but when first listening to them they seem stale, like they shouldn't be included on this CD. But over time I am willing to guarantee that at least one of the aformentioned songs will be one of your favorites. Every song on here has something special about it, Sick Sad Little World being the odvious stand-out with it's tremendous guitar solo. Not enough good things can be said about Mike's guitar work, it is incredible on this CD, though it doesn't seem to be getting the response I would think it should be getting. He experiments more with his pedals and style of playing more on this release than Morning View and even Make Yourself. You can tell this by listening to the solos on Sick Sad Little World and Priceless in particular. Brandon also kicks it up a notch and delivers vocally his best offering so far, and he uses his voice well too. As always Kilmore's turntables create an atmosphere to the music while never really busting out. Jose is at the top of his game on this release too, he seems to deviate from his treaded path and tries something new with this CD. And the new addition, Ben Kenney, fits in very nicely with the crew. While the bass isn't as prominent as it once was, it is very good nonetheless.

The DVD side is, much to my surprise edited, at least the one I got was. But other than that it's very entertaining with it's four live performances--Pistola, Megalomaniac, A Crow Left Of The Murder, and Talk Shows On Mute. The While We Were Out featurette is very funny as is with all Incubus behind the scenes footage though. I particularly liked the part where Jose talks about his new car, histerically funny. And of course Brandon's Injury. This is the part that is edited, which bugs me because I love hearing the way Brandon curses here. Also, if you have surround sound speakers wired to your DVD player than you are in for a treat, the CD sounds phenominal.

A couple of my favorite songs on here are Megalomaniac, Beware! Criminal, Zee Deveel, and Made For TV Movie. Anybody who truly appreciates Incubus' music will definitely seek refuge in this CD. It's got a bit of everything in it, so enjoy.