Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder

[Titan]

Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder



Prescript:
I have absolutely no idea what to expect (well not really, a friend of mine said I would like it and that’s it’s more musical and rocky, and I'm guessing some of it might be poppy). Anywho, if you haven’t guessed this is my first listen, I’m listening to it on MTV’s “The Leak”. This is very much a first impression review, so it’ll be nice and fun and blunt. Hoorah!

1-Megalomaniac 4:56
How kindly I was introduced to this album with crazy scary space distortions, huh, that was loud. I heard this live back in the summer so by now I’m quite accustomed. The recorded version is decent, but my first impression of it has always been that it seemed a touch overproduced and underperformed. But I’m not really complaining all that much. This song rocks a bit in the chorus and the melodies in the verse kick. Not a huge fan of most of the sound effects though.

2-A Crow Left of the Murder 3:32
Oh shit, I’m a fan already, excellent guitar tone right from the start! Definitely a speedy track. A head bobber, I would definitely groove-rockout to this. More wail-type vocals from Brandon. Pretty simplistic thus far. Great chords coming from Mike and melodies from Brandon as we approach the end of the bridge. There’s that great guitar tone again. I’m a huge fan of the verses in this song. Ooh, it’s got some good melodies hidden in there! I feel like a sports-caster.

3 - Agoraphobia 3:54
A bit more of a creepy bass-driven type groove. The chorus is much more happy/poppy/melodic, I can kind of bob my head to it I guess, fuck, that's going to get catchy. Nothing really crazy-stand-outtish on this one so far. Just some fun floaty melodies. I really like the part before the chorus when Boyd says “Before it ends us, ends us, ends us”. Aha, a nice Beatles/Queen-esque choir thing, I like that a lot, fuck that only lasted like 2 seconds, that fucking sucks. Ah well, that was a really short 4 minute song.

4 - Talk Shows on Mute 3:51
Plugging in guitar, ow. Wow, horribly 80’s keyboard, what is going on with Kilmore? Oh, they're talking about 1984 in the chorus, well then I guess that’s okay. I like that vocal line actually. I have no idea what he’s talking about though. Yeah so far the only thing I really like about this song are lines 2 and 4 of the choruses, and well, a bit of the verse melodies.

5 - Beware! Criminal 3:50
They’re fucking going nuts with the sound effects at the beginnings of songs. This one kind of rocks like a knight from King Arthur’s court who’s stuck at the beach and just discovered rock music. I don’t know why one preview I read said that there were really only 2 non-hard songs, none of these so far have been real hard. This one’s got some heavy guitar work in the chorus. Not the same kind of hard as Make Yourself. Much more straight 60’s & 70’s rock. Beware! Criminal. Love that vocal line. I think I’d like that after another listen. Yep, I did.

6 - Sick, Sad Little World 6:12
Ick, I don’t like any of the beginnings of these tracks. Oh FUCK YES!!!!!! This song kicks ass like a Mega Man song on steroids!!!!! HELL YES!!!! Kay, now ambience. Kind of an interesting chorus. Yep, the bass/guitar combo absolutely kicks ass on this song, totally makes it. The world is a joke when out of love... I’m making the choice to be out of touch... leave me here in my sick, sad little world. Ah, some keen José Pasillas brand drum tappage. Solo time for Mike. Yeah he was definitely high when he wrote that. At 5:30 we have a somewhat cool part that could have been a lot cooler if it was harder. The static punk beats are starting to get old. The song sounds kind of tense in the chorus at the end though.

7 - Pistola 4:25
OUCH!!!!! MOTHER FUCKER WHAT IS UP WITH THE INTROS TO THESE FUCKING TRACKS THAT FUCKING HURTS MY EARS!!!!! I like this song, I’ve heard this live too. I like it much more nowadays than I used to. Maybe this album will need to grow on me. Nice continuously grooving bass lines on this one. Ah, the breakdown into the bridge, nice. Clapping?? Fucking great FX on the guitar during the solo stuff. Well that was fun.

8 - Southern Girl 3:43
That was a little better. Oh, cringingly sexy melodies, and he just said we’ll behave like animals. Too much falsetto (yawn). The snare-tapping sounds perfect for this song. Yeah, that chorus is so 80’s with the falsetto. It’s kinda cool. At this point this song is really only a song I would play if I was trying to get a southern girl to sleep with me.

9 - Priceless 4:09
WHACK WHACK WHACK GOES THE PUNK BEAT! It was cool before that. Good work by Einzinger. Again I like the verse more than the chorus. I’m getting some more Toadies vibes from this song, I had one on one of the past ones (oneoneone). This does rock in that angry sort of Toadies punk/rock way. Oh, good sound FX with a crazy cool synthetic beat and in comes José oh and then Ben on the bass rockin’ it. This bridge section is much more reminiscient of S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

10 - Zee Deveel 3:54
OW. Wait, I think MTV might be the one fucking up the volume of the intros. Hey, now this is the tense, angry, cocky shit I like to hear. Yeah! Fucking cool 70’s rock beat on the chorus. Wham. Bam. Bam. Bam. You should be careful what you wish for! This is definitely going to be one of the ones I like. Bam bam bam. Haha, Boyd is going crazy! Yay for being crazy! Crazy crazy crazy! That could have had a killer outro, but it didn’t.

11 - Made for TV Movie 3:40
Fun guitar tone again. Yay, I like the groove of this and the vocals from the start. Ooh! Totally a Beatles-esque organy/keyboard riff. Un-poppy melodies on the chorus. Way to go Mikey! Play crazy grungy rock chords! I think that was pretty much a Silverchair-ish type slow grunge rocker. It rocked decently.

12 - Smile Lines 4:01
Wow, those are some fucked up sounding melodies in the guitar right thurr. I think this song is what they’d play if Cloud City cought on fire. I understand why they say high school never ends. Harhar. The falsetto is used better on this track. Seriously with the punk beat, stop, for the love of rhythm. Nice singing as we approach 3:00.

13 - Here In My Room 4:22
Oh such a beautiful melody, please don’t stop. Oh, this song is classic. Oh my dear god, classic. Fuck, they’re probably going to release this monster... then I’m going to forget what I love about it so much. I hate life, I’m going to take a permanent nap. Here in my room. Brandon does some real note-worthy melodizing. Beautiful ending too. Very good song. I think you'd appreciate this song Ugly.

14 - Leech 4:42
Ooh, cool effects. Wow, definitely got some more eighties influence going on. Oh, pimp-ass breakdown approaching 1:00 minute. The ride’s over, did you enjoy yourself? Please don’t a song with lines like that at the end of an album. I do like the chorus, it rocks well. Good bass work again. Yeah, this album’s gonna grow on me pretty quick. More rocking out after 2:40... works for me. They just faded the album out with the line, “the ride’s over,” playing again and again. Sigh.

Titan’s Ranking:

Couldn’t possibly differentiate the specific good, bad, and ugly between 14 songs that I’ve only heard once. I will say that the big-hitters for me from first listen are: Here In My Room, Sick, Sad, Little World, A Crow Left of the Murder, Zee Deveel, Beware! Criminal, Agoraphobia, Leech, Pistola (though part of that might be because I can already sing-a-long). For the most part the less poppy/ more interesting ones seemed to be the more rocking ones.

Postscript / Titan’s Rating: 94%
That seriously felt like being a sportscaster during a game. This album, upon first listen, definitely has it’s uppest ups and most annoying downs (like the incessant punk beats - though they're fitting into the music more as I listen to it more). There are some great moments when I really felt like rocking out. There were some great melodies and I think those will really start to come out and be appreciated. Of course, the songs I loved at first will be the first I get sick of and the others will become the favourites. Hopefully it’s just equally weighted enuff to hold up. There is a good bit of variety on the album, which is obviously good. There’s lots to groove too, I think it’s good head-bobbing, listening music, and a bit of good sing-a-long music. I just listened to some of the songs again. The reasons I will love this album are quickly coming to me. The songs are already starting to grow on me, especially the ones I named as my favourites thus far. I'm even beginning to enjoy the melodies in the songs I didn't find excellent melodies in before. Yeah, this album totally rocks. I’m very excited.

Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder

[ January 29, 2004, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: Titan ]

[Pliedes]

*listening

[Combat Chuck]

Dude, I loved how you took the commentary thing on with this review.

And is it bad to say that I probably won't devote alot of time into listening to this album?

And is it bad to say that I'm lying?

[Super Nintendo]

Incubus is definitely my favorite band...and I have been awaiting the release of this album for more than two years now. I didn't know what to expect, especially when one of my friends got the album a week early and told me that incubus is "washed up". I really respect this kid's music opinions too. But then I got the album and the first listen through I felt a lot like Titan. This album has grown on me so quick though, I love it. On my way home from Bloomington today I listened to the entire album nearly 4 times. Wicked.

Favorite Tracks: "Sick, Sad Little World", "A Crow Left of the Murder" and "Smile Lines".

(That's tentative though, it seems my favorites change about everyday.)

[Ugly Bastard]

Damnit I need this album.

I just now noticed and read this review Titan, and thanks for it.

Maybe...maybe maybe, you could upload Here In My Room for me?? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Great review, when I get the album, she will be my listening guide.

-Ugly Bastard

[AcTivE]

Originally posted by Ugly Bastard:
Damnit I need this album.

I just now noticed and read this review Titan, and thanks for it.

Maybe...maybe maybe, you could upload Here In My Room for me?? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Great review, when I get the album, she will be my listening guide.

-Ugly Bastard

download Soulseek. Best program to download full cds in my opinion. 'Browse User Files'

[Ugly Bastard]

I have it, and have used it probably more than anyone on this site...but BSU's firewall fisted us recently.

-Ugly Bastard

[farawayfromhere]

I purchased the cd the evening it came out and havent stopped playing it yet. I agree with the rest of you, the more I listen to it, the more I like it. I've loved every cd that Incubus has ever put out and have a feeling that the pattern will continue.

[silver and cold]

Originally posted by farawayfromhere:
the more I listen to it, the more I like it. I've loved every cd that Incubus has ever put out and have a feeling that the pattern will continue.

I agree...

I too bought it that day, and man do I love it!

*holds cd case to heart.

I would have to say, that Here in my Room brings me great joy, and one of my favorites of this cd.

[Super Nintendo]

When you say "I've loved every cd that Incubus has ever put out..."

Does that include Fungus Amongus...because...er...I've heard better. Do bear in mind, I LOVE incubus...i mean, look at the avatar. I guess Fungus has some quality tracks on it though.

[Saint DH]

I just bought this CD yesterday, and I must say that I fucking like it. And yes, I actually did buy this CD. Well, kind of. I used a Best Buy gift card, but nevertheless, I didn't steal it.

[farawayfromhere]

Yes, Super Nintendo, I stand by what I said. You are right Fungus wasnt one of their greatest cds but it qualifies. Of course I could just be blinded by my love for Brandon Boyd.

[silver and cold]

I DO love any cd by them. I guess Im obssesed.

[Super Nintendo]

Haha, I am too.
It's pretty crazy, they made that cd when they were 17!!!
I heard though, in an interview from them, that they said something to the effect that they wish they wouldn't have made it.

[silver and cold]

So, I was on their webite a minute ago, and I found some very useful info!
July 18 they will be playing in Ft. Wayne at the Allentown Memorial.Kick ass.

[Super Nintendo]

yeah...ill be there without a doubt