It's really shocking to hear about the two incidents that took place in Norway - the explosion in Oslo, and the shooting in Utoeya. Really shocking indeed because according to the latest GPI (Global Peace Index), Norway is placed ninth with the score of 1.356. Even Malaysia, the country that the government (or the Big Brother, take your pick - seriously) has been tirelessly promoting as a peaceful country, is ranked at 19th. But anyway, to our fellow friends in Norway, our prayers are with you.
Admittedly, I stopped listening to Incubus 'seriously' right after 2001's Morning View because, to reiterate the point that I made in the previous review, I was one of those who stopped or didn't grow up after 1999. At the time it feels like as if the band has deliberately alienated their fans by releasing materials that no longer 'rock my socks off', or something. And while critics left and right were talking about maturity in sound, none of those that was written makes any sense to me. Not until 2011...
Admittedly, it did take a very long time for me to properly digest the fact that Incubus is no longer the band that I used to like when they were merely Red Hot Chilli Peppers' carbon copy (1997's S.C.I.E.N.C.E.). And very long time it is since in that time, the band has gone on to release another two albums, A Crow and Light Grenades, the latter which I didn't give even the slightest of a chance for a listen. Before this Incubus has pretty much lost it. But not until 2011...
Admittedly, after I braved myself and gave their new album a spin did it start to hit me hard right on my face and everything starts to make a lot of sense. Everything as in the whole sound evolution thing in which I rejected outwardly in the first place. I thought that bands like Incubus are supposed to be a hard rocking band until they cease to exist (or until they have rendered themselves irrelevant), and that by improving on a sound that was already perfectly theirs into an unfamiliar territory that they were making a big mistake. But then not until 2011...
Admittedly, after an endless two weeks' worth of a serving of the refresher that is If Not Now, When?, I have now a very clear image of what Incubus is in relation to their new, more experimental sound - for a band maturing and growing more comfortable in their own skin, they no longer have to be the pushover that tries so hard to impress other people, to nail home a point. For me, the previous three studio albums are like the transitional phase for them, and this sixth long player is the finished product. This is 2011...
Admittedly, when looking at all of their previous releases (and yes, I've given both A Crow and Light Grenades a fair amount of careful listening), If Not Now is probably not their strongest record to date, repeating practically the same thing that I've written about My Morning Jacket's new album. The opener for example, sounds like a cheesy 80's Olympic anthem of some sort, so they sound kind of debilitated and humdrum. Then they too had the sort-of Silverchair-circa-Diorama moment (for me anyway) with "In the Company of Wolves". But it is all good. Because the whole material was constructed strictly as a unified whole of a single entity (the album), it works. The one or two weak-er moments are therefore quickly forgiven and accepted as one of the means as a whole, rather than a unit that sticks out like a sore thumb. And admittedly, thanks to this album, ironically now I am of the opinion that 2004's A Crow Left of the Murder is Incubus's strongest studio offering to date - and this is coming from someone who three weeks ago, and for a good whole decade thought S.C.I.E.N.C.E. was their best album. To those who has yet to grow up past 1999, give this album a fair and proper chance for a listen and it will reward you. It's a wholesome record through and through. Besides, this is 2011...
Perhaps it's just us but somehow we are sensing that many new releases by bands that we consider to be 'heavyweights' (and a term that we are getting tired of using) are getting softer. Radiohead, for example, is almost whispering with The King of Limbs; Incubus, following the many incessant whining by people who didn't grow up past 1999, sounds soulful (soulful - for God's sake!); and now Louisville, Kentucky's My Morning Jacket is next. Of course technically speaking that is incorrect because Circuital was released on 31st of May.
The evolution of M.M.J.'s sound should not come as a surprise at all to those who have been paying close attention to them since their debut in 1999, with perhaps 2005's Z being the most unusual of them all. Not Kid A unusual, but close enough. And, as is with the case of all evolutions, some things had to be given up and this is where the only unfortunate thing about M.M.J.'s evolution happened - Jim James' amazing, haunting voice ("I Needed It Most" is the best example) is now entirely gone. What is then replaced in the ten track Circuital is just a tamed crooning with limited emoting possibility, tailored to suit the mostly easy-paced songs.
It is not a rotten record - no, far from it actually. It is still an enthralling record that can and will accompany you in many occasions. Although the whole album feels largely subdued, there is still something fun ("Holdin' On to Black Metal") to cheer you up, something that waltzes towards you in a funny way that only attracts and draws you in ("The Day is Coming"), and something weird-ish to throw you off your orbit and catch you by surprise ("Victory Dance") before they slowly and surely pull you back on to ground ("Circuital"). That, is one Hell of a listening experience I have to say.
But, bet there is a but, to say that this is My Morning Jacket's strongest record to date feels a bit premature. It's a good one, but not that you'll recommend first to a new listener.
Well, sometimes you have to put up with pointless garbage as well. Like - yeah, the album title is misspelled, my bad - this new album by Limp Bizkit. Few facts first: 1) Used to like LB circa Three Dollar Bill and Significant Other 2) Used to think LB makes (sorta) stylish music for the current crop of misunderstood raging youth with over-charged testosterone; i.e. pretty much relevant with the time
But that was then. When Chocolate Starfish happened, everything went batshit for them. It's too loud, too brash, too expletive, too showy, too idiotic. And a large portion of the blame pie falls squarely on Fred Durst. The F-word fest of "Hot Dog" for one is a good example of what exactly went wrong - either they lose focus on what made them appealing to listeners in the first place, or Fred Durst totally misunderstood the concept of mainstream acceptance with the freedom to do whatever the hell that he wishes, which is most probably it.
It has been argued many times before (by lots of people) that part of the problem with LB is Fred Durst - who is also at the same time the reason why anyone paid attention to the band in the first place. It's a double-edged sword that the band carries in their trophy cabinet. Wes Borland might be the creative driving force of the band as his fret work weaves the loose material of the rest of the band, and FD's loose brain, together into one coherent song piece. But it's also apparent that when left on his own (Bigdumbface come to mind), he is anonymous and muted. So after an unfruitful solo effort, and LB's apparent reliance and need of Borland, they patched things up and two albums was the result - and Cold Gobra is one of it.
If you're the kind of person who likes LB for the music, and the music alone (which would most probably be very rare), then Cold Gobra will please you. Well, that is if you liked them hard, unrelenting, and punishing, just like the olden days. But if you're looking for FD letting loose with his anger and capturing back the style and the flow of his earlier works then you will be thoroughly disappointed. He is just as bitter, maybe a lot bitterer now. He is just as angrier, way lot angrier now. And he is just as idiotic, way way lot idiotic-er. In the end, because FD is still the front and center of the band, none of the 13 tracks works. No matter how hard they try to recapture their former glorious days. And they did tried very, very hard.
If this turns out to be as awesome as the cover is, then we are completely sold - 2011 is the massive-st year for music. If the world really is going to end in next year, then at least our final days would have been totally worth it.
Huh - this is quickly turning out to be this year's surprise package yet. No I don't mean package, I mean album. A serious contender for the Album of the Year; and this is the year where we have seen many new releases by heavyweights like Radiohead, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket, Tyler the Creator (just assume that he already is), just to name a few.
Irregardless of them being a product of an advertising agency (according to some).
