To the Defense of Incubus!

On November 28th, Incubus released their latest album, Light Grenades, with only one single out on the market - Anna Molly. When the impending release of a new album was announced, I was excited, as were a lot of Incubus fans, but it doesn't seem to have lasted very long.

The majority of people I've discussed the album with, have seemingly all decided the album is a disappointment; too much pop, a lot of weak singles and poorly arranged. And this is where I come in. Previous Incubus albums have yielded ridiculously creative and catchy songs such as You Would Be a Hot Dancer, Certain Shade of Green, Drive, and a bevy of other songs too numerous to mention. A common knock on Light Grenades is the individual weakness of songs, with Anna Molly, Dig and Love Hurts the only strong singles. Dig and Love Hurts are too commercial says popular thought, reducing the album to essentially one worthy tune.

Incubus' glorious history of gracing albums with a handful of catchy singles has come back to haunt them. And I love their previous albums. Fungus Amongus and S.C.I.E.N.C.E were both great albums, with excellent transition while not sacrificing the flow or integrity of the whole. Make Yourself, considered by some their most pop influenced album, held a myriad of varied songs, but not going far enough as to clutter, and distance the whole of the album. Morning View followed, and was seemingly constructed in series of segueing groups of jingles, usually flowing from mood to mood. A Crow Left of the Murder came next, as a collection of political protest anthems, while staying true to Incubus' creative funktastic and mellow crooning history. Each of these albums were great in their own way, with meaningful lyrics and beautiful lyrics, haunting the minds of many, while riding high on the chart.

But that's from where the trouble stems. Light Grenades hit people expecting similarly constructed albums of interesting songs, perhaps a few venturing experiments, and general satisfaction. However, this album was forged with different tools. Incubus has created an album of, not punching rhythmic songs, but a flowing concept unmatched by any previous work. With visual album work mirroring their musical foray, the album, if appreciated properly, comes across as a mature single entity. Examining each song on an individual basis is an exercise in futility, when the true strength of the album lies in it's whole. Like a chain, each link is seemingly unspectacular, but with the collective strength to gap great distances. That isn't to say the tracks are weak on their own, just not what the general public expected.

So while Incubus should be applauded for taking a risk and publishing an album or artistic mirth, they are hailed as a tapped-dry well of creativity, for failing to stick to their guns.

Well I say bravo. Bravo in putting the guns down, and fighting a new battle in a new way. Bravo for not sticking with what works, but having the necessary conviction to try the uncertain. Bravo.