Music Reviews

"Incubus"

2008-10-07T00:13:00.000-07:00

Here's my another favorite Alternative Band "Incubus". "Drive" was my all time favorite song from them, but before their songs let's start first with the band's biography.

Band Members

Lead Vocalist : Brandon Boyd
Multi-instrumentalist / Guitarist : Mike Einziger
Drummer : José Pasillas
Turntablist / Keyboardist : Chris Kilmore
Bassist : Ben Kenney

In year 1991-1997 vocalist Boyd, drummer Pasillas, and guitarist Einziger began playing together when they were in tenth grade; they were regularly playing all-ages concerts around southern California by the time they graduated from high school. In 1995, Gavin Koppell (known by stage name DJ Lyfe) joined them to record Fungus Amongus; the band's first major-label release was the six-track EP Enjoy Incubus in 1997

Fungus Amongus - 1995

1. "You Will Be a Hot Dancer"
2. "Shaft"
3. "Trouble in 421"
4. "Take Me To Your Leader"
5. "Medium"
6. "Speak Free"
7. "The Answer"
8. "Psychopsilocybin"
9. "Sink Beneath the Line"
10. "Hilikus"

Fungus Amongus is the debut album produced by the rock band Incubus, released November 1, 1995 on Stopuglynailfungus Music On Chillum, Incubus' own independent label. It was later re-released under Epic/Immortal on November 7, 2000 after popular demand. Many of the names given under 'Personnel' are actually pseudonyms for the Incubus members. 'Fabio' is guitarist Mike Einziger. 'Dirk Lan ce' is bassist Alex Katunich, who later adopted 'Dirk Lance' as his stage name. 'Brandy Flower' is an actual Sony employee, and 'Happy Knappy' is vocalist Brandon Boyd. 'Brett' and 'Brett Spivery' refer to Brett Spivey, long time friend of the band, who went on to make their first two DVDs, and the videos for "I Miss You" and "Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)". The album cover image is of an amanita muscaria mushroom, also known as a fly agaric mushroom.

S.C.I.E.N.C.E. - 1997

1. "Redefine"
2. "Vitamin"
3. "New Skin"
4. "Idiot Box"
5. "Glass"
6. "Magic Medicine"
7. "A Certain Shade of G reen"
8. "Favourite Things"
9. "Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)"
10. "Nebula"
11. "Deep Inside"
12. "Calgone"

S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is an Enhanced CD album by the rock band Incubus, released on September 9, 1997. It includes an official video. The album has sold 740,000 copies in the US to date.

S.C.I.E.N.C.E. was titled as such because the band felt like they were working on a science project whilst creating the album, as such the acronym has no real meaning. Instead the band has chosen to let people interpret the title as they see fit. The acronym S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is as enigmatic as the moustachioed man on the cover. The band has given several contradictory meanings for both th e album title and the face of "Chuck", whose image also appears on the cover of the Enjoy Incubus EP, and inside the jacket of Make Yourself. It is also speculated that the face on the cover is their 8th grade middle school science teacher who inspired them.

Make Yourself - 1999

1. "Privilege"
2. "Nowhere Fast"
3. "Consequence"
4. "The Warmth"
5. "When It Comes"
6. "Stellar"
7. "Make Yourself"
8. "Drive"
9. "Clean"
10. Battlestar Scralatc htica"
11. "I Miss You"
12. "Pardon Me"
13. "Out from Under"

Make Yourself is the third album by American alternative rock band Incubus, released by Sony on October 26, 1999. The album has been certified 2x platinum in the United States. It featured three charting singles, "Pardon Me", "Stellar", and "Drive", all of which reached the top three of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

To many fans, Make Yourself represents a significant shift in the band's sound, with higher quality production sounds, a more mellow, experimental tone to it than its precursor, S.C.I.E.N.C.E. and more complex, sophisticated lyrics.

There was also a tour edition released, with a second CD containing three acoustic tracks and one live track. This is the first Incubus album to be recorded with new turntablist Chris Kilmore, who replaced DJ Lyfe.

The album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Morning View - 2001

1. "Nice to Know You"
2. "Circles"
3. "Wish You Were Here"
4. "Just a Phase"
5. "11am"
6. "Blood on the Ground"
7. "Mexico"
8. "Warning"
9. "Echo"
10. "Have You Ever"
11. "Are You In?"
12. "Under My Umbrella"
13. "Aqueous Transmission"

Morning View is the fourth studio album by alternative rock band Incubus, released October 23, 2001. This is the band's last album to feature bassist Alex Katunich.

The album has a sound that is overall softer than previous albums, especially apparent on songs such as "Echo" and "Are You In?", however, Incubus's heavier side is still evident on tracks like "Have You Ever" and "Under My Umbrella". Songs such as "Just a Phase" display more original song structures. Regarding the album's sound, guitarist Mike Einziger notes that it:

"would've been really easy for us to try to replicate certain songs that did well on our last record, which we didn't do. We didn' t do anything even remotely close to that. We put pressure on ourselves to make a good record because if none of us were happy with it, we'll all be miserable for the next two years while we're on tour."

A Crow Left of the Murder... - 2003

1. "Megalomaniac"
2. "A Crow Left of the Murder"
3. "Agoraphobia"
4. "Talk Shows on Mute"
5. "Beware! Criminal"
6. "Sick Sad Little World"
7. "Pistola"
8. "Southern Girl"
9. "Priceless"
10. "Zee Deveel"
11. "Made for TV Movie"
12. "Smile Lines"
13. "Here in My Room"
14. "Leech"

A Crow Left of the Murder... is the fifth studio album released on February 3, 2004, by the alternative rock band Incubus. It is the first release by the band featuring Ben Kenney, who replaced Dirk Lance on the bass.

The singles from this album, "Megalomaniac" and "Talk Shows on Mute". "Agoraphobia" and "Sick Sad Little World", were also released as radio-only singles.

The album debuted at nu mber two on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 332,000 copies in its first week on the chart. It has since gone on to sell 1.9 million copies.

Light Grenades - 2005

1. "Quicksand"
2. "A Kiss to Send Us Off"
3. "Dig"
4. "Anna Molly"
5. "Love Hurts"
6. "Light Grenades"
7. "Earth to Bella (Part I)"
8. "Oil and Water"
9. "Diamonds and Coal"
10. "Rogues"
11. "Paper Shoes"
12. "Pendulous Threads"
13. "Earth to Bella (Part II)"

Light Grenades is the sixth album by Incubus, released on November 28, 2006 (see 2006 in music). The album sold 359,000 copies during its first week of release worldwide, mostly in the United States.

Light Grenades debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 165,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week; it is the band's first number one album. However, Light Grenades also holds the dubious record of the biggest drop from #1 in chart history, falling from #1 to #37 in its second week on the Billboard 200 Albums chart and breaking the record set by Marilyn Manson's The Golden Age of Grotesque, which fell from #1 to #21 in 2003. The album has since gone gold in the US. As of July 11, 2007, it has sold 845,000 copies in the US.

Hiatus, Greatest Hits and future (2008–present)

In December 2008, an Incubus newsletter said that the band plans to release a Greatest Hits album sometime in the Spring of 2009. It was suggested that the album would also have a few new tracks on it.

Alternative Band "LIFEHOUSE"

2008-08-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

Band Members

Singer-songwriter : Jason Wade
Drummer : Rick Woolstenhulme
Bassist : Bryce Soderberg

In 1999 they came to as a Christian band called Blyss. Their debut album was also released named "Diff's Lucky Day".

Blyss - Diff's Lucky Day - 1999

1. Cling and Clatter
2. Unknown
3. Fool
4. Crown of Scars
5. Mudpie
6. Trying
7. Storm
8. Breathing
9. Somewhere In Between
10. Fairy Tales and Castles
11. What's Wrong With That
12. Revolution Cry

In 2000 they remixed the five songs from Diff's Lucky Day and made a major album named "No Name Face". Lifehouse became their new band name and only two of the members remained Jason Wade and Andrade, Rick Woolstenhulme became part of the band Lifehouse as a drummer.

In 2001 the single Hanging by a Moment written by Jason Wade was released and being labeled as the "Most Played Song of 2001". The song reached number 1 place and became song of the year at the Billboard Hot 100. The second single was released entitled "Sick Cycle Carousel" but did not reached the same popularity as the first single. Then the song "Breathing" as for their final single released, which also did not succeed that much.

The song "Everything" was also used in both the pilot and first-season finale episodes of the future hit drama, Smallville.

No Name Face - 2000

1. Hanging By A Moment
2. Sick Cycle Carousel
3. Unknown
4. Somebody Else's Song
5. Trying
6. Only One
7. Simon
8. Cling and Clatter
9. Breathing
10. Quasimodo
11. Somewhere In Between
12. Everything
13. What's Wrong With That
14. Fool

Shortly after a long tour for No Name Face, Lifehouse re-entered the studio to cut their second album Stanley Climbfall. Though the album features all original songs with uniqueness and style similar to the first album, its success was shortlived and its singles, "Spin" and "Take Me Away", were vastly overshadowed by the success of the first album and its singles. Shortly after the release of this album, Rick's brother Sean Woolstenhulme (of The Calling) was officially made the fourth member of the band in June of 2002 after touring with Lifehouse.

In April 2004, Sergio Andrade confirmed that he had decided to leave the band to pursue individual projects. Shortly after this, Sean also left the band to pursue other musical projects such as Abandoned Pools and The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex.

Stanley Climbfall - 2002

1. Spin
2. Wash
3. Sky Is Falling
4. Anchor
5. Am I Ever Gonna Find Out
6. Stanley Climbfall
7. Out Of Breath
8. Just Another Name
9. Take Me Away
10. My Precious
11. Empty Space
12. The Beginning
13. How Long
14. Sky Is Falling (Acoustic Version)
15. Take Me Away (Acoustic Version)

Jason Wade and Rick Woolstenhulme remained the active members of Lifehouse. In late 2004, Bryce Soderberg (previously of AM Radio) signed on as Lifehouse's new bass guitarist. On July 6, 2004, they went to Maryland to begin work on their eponymous third album. Lifehouse was released on March 22, 2005 and was produced by John Alagia.

The album's first single, "You and Me", was released for airplay on January 18, 2005. It was written several years prior and was originally performed by Jason Wade in the 2000 independent film All Over Again. The song also appears on the soundtrack to Smallville. One episode, "Spirit", featured the band actually performing it and three other songs from the album ("Come Back Down", "Blind", and "Undone") on the show. The song has also appeared on Boston Legal, Gavin & Stacey, Everwood, Grey's Anatomy, and Medium.

The music video for the album's second single, "Blind", was released October 19, 2005. It stars Tina Majorino (most well-known as Deb from the MTV film Napoleon Dynamite) and features several other up-and-coming young actors such as Sarch McClain, Stephen Cheung, and Andy Walters.

Lifehouse - 2005

1. Come Back Down
2. You and Me
3. Blind
4. All In All
5. Better Luck Next Time
6. Days Go By
7. Into The Sun
8. Undone
9. We'll Never Know
10. Walking Away
11. Chapter One
12. he End Has Only Begun

B-Sides

The following songs were recorded during the sessions for Lifehouse and appear on various limited-edition releases of the album:

1. Today
2. Along The Way
3. Through These Times
4. Butterfly
5. Ordinary Pain
6. Better Part Of Me

In 2007, their fourth album was released entitled "Who We Are". The album features Wade, Woolstenhulme and Soderberg as its lineup, and "rocks a little harder" than their previous album, according to the band. The album was recorded in Kiefer Sutherland and Jude Cole's recording studio, Ironworks Studios, in Los Angeles. The album's release was followed by a tour with The Goo Goo Dolls and Colbie Caillat, which began June 15 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, AZ, after which, according to Woolstenhulme, the band will go on a "world-wide headlining tour".

The album's first sin

gle was "First Time", released on April 24, 2007. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 48 in May, and peaked at #3 on the Hot Adult Top 40 Charts.

The album's second single, "Whatever It Takes", was released to radio stations October 29, 2007. The music video for the song premiered on Yahoo Music on November 16, 2007.

The song "Broken", the album's third single, has appeared on several TV series, including Grey's Anatomy ("Lay Your Hands On Me"), Criminal Minds ("In Birth and Death"), One Tree Hill, and The Hills. As of

January 24, 2008, it has peaked at #2 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart (The equivalent of #102 on the Hot 100). The Music Video for "Broken" was debuted on Thursday September 11th, 2008.

The song "Who We Are" was used in an advertisement on A&E to promote their original programming.

According to Entertainment Tonight's website, Lifehouse is having a contest to make a video for the song "Make

Me Over". The band is giving 60 USC School of Cinematic Arts graduate students a chance to shoot the video for their new single.

Lifehouse announced in August of 2008 that they will be starting on their fifth album which is tentatively scheduled for a early 2009 release.

Who We Are - 2007

1. Disarray
2. First Time
3. Whatever It Takes
4. Who We Are
5. Broken
6. The Joke
7. Easier to Be
8. Make Me Over
9. Mesmerized
10. Bridges
11. Learn You Inside Out
12. Storm

B-sides

The following songs were recorded during the sessions for Who We Are and appear on various limited-edition releases of the album:

1. I'll Keep the Change
2. I Want You to Know
3. Signs of Life
4. If This Is Goodbye