A Clear Sky Ahead (Morning View - Incubus)

Member Name: fashiondiva

Product:	Morning View - Incubus
Date:	17/06/02 (165 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: no filler tracks

Disadvantages: some dull songs

Brandon Boyd (vocals/percussion), Dirk Lance (bass), Jose Pasillas (drums), Mike Einziger (drums), DJ Kilmore (turntables) are Incubus. "Morning View" is the first album I have really listened to of theirs, and I wasn't disappointed. At first I was apprehensive about buying this album but went ahead with it since I liked the singles. Their type of music isn't too heavy or too mild but somewhere in between.

1. Nice To Know You : This song was a single that didn't do greatly in the charts but it doesn't mean it is a terrible song. This has a long intro but then it kicks in with a hard drum beat accompanied by guitars. I think the singing is decent and tuneful considering the genre of music they play. It is quite a mild track and a good way to begin the album.

2. Circles : This begins with a guitar intro. It is quite an upbeat song for Incubus. Brandon's singing nearly crosses into rapping. The music changes quite a lot in this song which I like because the music is not repetitive and this makes it sound great. It is one of the heavy songs on the album.

3. Wish You Were Here : I like the soothing intro to this song. The verses are calming. It reminds me of relaxing on the beach on a summer day. This is another great single from this album. The singing mainly dominates this song. You can also hear the DJ scratching away on his decks in the background.

4. Just A Phase : This has an extremely long intro which gets a bit tedious after a while. When I first heard this I thought my CD was skipping but then I realised it was part of the music. The singing changes from being whingy to Brandon humming . This song is the equivalent of three songs rolled into one. It has many different moods - happy to begin with then it turns depressing. Not a favourite of mine but definitely one of the more experimental tracks on the album.

5. 11am : Like the majority of songs on this album, this also has an interestin
g intro. The singing is typical Brandon Boyd, which if you haven't picked up by now consists of his voice changing tone. I quite like this song. It is reminiscent of Arabic music, kind of the way Serj Tankian from System Of A Down sings.

6. Blood On The Ground : The singing breaks in immediately just like the music. The guitars dominate this track making it heavy as the title suggests. Brandon's singing contrasts throughout this song from almost talking to shouting. Even when he is singing loudly in the chorus the music almost drains his voice.

7. Mexico : This is one of the more subdued songs on this album. It clashes with the previous track. The tempo never changes and the only instruments that are featured in this song is Brandon's voice, an acoustic guitar and violins. This is a song I tend to skip as I don't really like it.

8. Warning : This is one of my favourite songs on the album as it is one of the very few that I feel I can sing along to. It has just been released in America and I think it may be a future single in the UK. This shows a different side to Incubus as it is quite a depressing song and the chorus tells a story. The "Warning" of this song is "don't let life pass you by".

9. Echo : This song has an uptempo drum beat with a calming guitar melody. I would describe this as a chill out track. It is very repetitive but in a good way. This is a decent ballad type track and that's all that can really be said of this song.

10. Have You Ever : This begins with a boom of sound and if you felt relaxed after listening to the previous track, this will give you a fright and definitely wake you up as this is what happened to me! The guitars are very loud and this is a very fast moving song. If this was used in a concert, it would get the crowd going. The singing compliments the music. After a couple of listens this track has grown on me.

11. Are You In? : This is
their next UK release. As soon as I heard this I thought it was very catchy. The DJ scratching records is noticeable too. The bass is distinct in this song. as you don't usually hear it in an Incubus song.

12. Under My Umbrella : Another very upbeat track which is very mixed in moods. In some parts the guitar is much louder than in other parts. There is an annoying repetitive beeping sound in the verses which I try to ignore but it still annoys me. In the verses Brandon's voice is deeper in this song than in any other track on this album. This track tends to give me a bit of a headache as it has too many changes.

13. Aqueous Transmission : This has an oriental feel to it. It is the most unique sounding track on this album. It is a great end to a very mixed album.

To bring this review to a conclusion, I think the album is great. There are a couple of disappointing songs but apart from that I'd recommend this album. The one thing I'm glad this album doesn't feature is filler tracks. This is something that I find some over hyped rock bands put on their albums instead of original songs.

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