Incubus Drive Lyrics

Incubus | Santa Barbara | Review | Pics

Incubus has always been a maverick of sorts, selling more than 100,000 copies of their first album, Science , virtually by word of mouth alone with no help from radio stations or MTV. The band has had a long love-hate relationship with MTV, which, after ignoring the band’s early work, used its song “Privilege” on MTV Sports’ PlayStation releases. Subsequent music videos followed until the band released a video for 2003’s “Megalomaniac,” which MTV viewed as an attack on then-President Bush and banned. By then, the band had become too popular to control and had a subsequent Grammy nomination, multi-platinum album sales and a much-publicized break with Sony. Through it all, the band continued to grow musically and emotionally, and each subsequent album offered a new layer of sound and compelling lyrics. In 2003, bassist Ben Kenney of The Roots fame joined the group, adding a new funky layer to the music. His hip-hop sound is reminiscent of Master Les Claypool at times.

Much like their last appearance at the Santa Barbara Bowl, two summers ago, the band played a compelling set, traveling through the time line of their rich catalog of material. Original drummer Jose Pasillas II and guitar player Mike Einziger laid down seamless rhythms, belying their strong ties that go all the way back to high school.

Incubus – If Not Now, When? « Suds on Bleeker

Terrible, F.

Ok, maybe it’s not that bad.  To be honest, Incbus is (possibly now was) one of my favorite bands.  Not just in sense of I loved the song Drive or Stellar, but I love Fungus Amongus, Science, everything really right through A Crow Left of the Murder.  By far Make Yourself and Morning View are the band’s quintessential albums.  They started to lose me with Light Grenades.  Something seemed to be missing from that album that was always present in the rest of the bands catalog.

The new album “If Not Now, When?” answers that burning question.  The band doesn’t seem to be making music with any angst or edge to it.  In order for tracks like Drive, I Miss You, Aqueous Transmission, Are You In, etc. to resonate as much as they did, they needed to be set against songs with lyrics and music that strive to kick you in the gut.  S.C.I.E.N.C.E. juxtaposed Anti-gravity Love Song and Certain Shade of Green against Idiot Box and New Skin; Make Yourself placed Drive and Stellar with Make Yourself and Pardon Me, and Morning View had Warning, Echo, and Aqueous Transmission along side Blood on the Ground, Nice to Know You, and Wish You Were Here.  The new album is full of the “soft” stuff.

After many listens to album, I started to notice that I could hardly tell if Mike Einziger, DJ Kilmore, or Ben Kenney are even playing on the album.  You can obviously hear guitars and bass, and one can only assume that Kilmore is now relegated to a keyboard, or at the very least DJ equipment that can mimic a keyboard.  What isn’t there, is Einziger’s signature guitar riffs, or Kenney’s soulful bass lines, and obviously the passing of the “rap-rock” fusion has stripped Kilmore of his turntables.

What the album does have going for it, only at certain points, is Brandon Boyd’s lyrics.  Boyd still has a great voice for rock music.  Again, the most intriguing and gripping elements of past Incubus albums is hearing the range Boyd has from wispy soulful lyrics to screaming words of pain and anger that resonate out of the speakers.

Drive, The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us

Incubus

Drive-by

Lyrics

Drive