Incubus: Monuments and Melodies

I’ve always enjoyed listening to Incubus, though admittedly never enough to actually go out and buy any of their albums. I’ve heard them at friends’ places, on the radio (though definitely not on any radio station from here in Montreal) and occasionally in clubs and bars.

For the casual fan of Incubus, like me, that makes ‘Monuments and Melodies’ a good purchase; if one can find the 2CD limited edition, it becomes an ideal one. CD 1, the regular release, features 15 of their greatest hits. On the limited edition, Disc 2 is a collection of 11 B-Sides and unreleased tracks, including Incubus’ cover of Prince’s “Let’s Get Crazy”.

Now to offer a critical review: As I said, I enjoy Incubus. However, when you put their best singles together in one compilation and actually play it, you are inundated by their morose monotone. Songs like “Drive”, “Pardon Me”, “Anna Molly”, “Talk Shows On Mute” are great on their own, but stacked together with the rest of the tracks on the disc, it becomes very bleak listening.

Disc 2, which most of us casuals won’t have heard, while still as sombre as most of Incubus’ discography, nevertheless surprises with variation in tone and tempo, far better than the one-note singles of Disc 1. Songs like “While All The Vultures Feed”, “Anything”, “Punch Drunk” and “Martini” offer much more variety and much-needed changes in pacing and mood. The only track that I find is an absolute throw-away is “Let’s Go Crazy”. The Prince cover, while different, is uncharacteristically playful given the overall feel of both CDs, let alone Disc 2. That it is the closer only further serves to make it stick out more than the rest of the compilation.

Overall, ‘Monuments and Melodies’ is a good summary of Incubus’ catalogue, though it is rather grim.

Incubus: Monuments and Melodies
Epic Records
Steve’s Rating:
Disc 1: 6/10
Disc 2: 8/10
Overall Rating: 8/10

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Find arcitcles with similar tags: confront, confront magazine, epic records, incubus, let's go crazy, martini, melodies, monuments, music, prince, punch drunk, While all the vultures feed

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