A Crow Left Of The Murder... (studio album) by Incubus

From RoundTheBend 06/07/2016 01:34

Possibly the last release worth listening to. Still had that few hits and filler album thing going on, but they totally made the KROQ experience for me in the early 2000s.

Coming off the critical and commercial successes of Morning View and Make Yourself, Incubus knew they had to go for a different sound than the previous two that are very similar.

A Crow Left of the Murder would have been a fantastic EP. A tale of two sides, tracks 1-6 stand up to the best Incubus. It falls fast from there and saves itself a little bit with the last two tracks.

Everything here is more challenging and less accessible for the listener. The vocal melodies on all the songs save Megalomaniac go to different notes than you would expect and they don't always seem to fit.

There are times where you expect a certain vocal delivery but that would be too simple and too expected. It seems like a conscious effort to sing the unexpected note with the guitar riffs and this can be challenging and sometimes frustrating.

But it does give A Crow Left of the Murder its own unique sound compared to other Incubus albums. That and the questionable production decisions on some of these tracks

Megalomaniac is typical Incubus at its best.
Sick Sad Little World is a great prog-rock epic.

The whole thing is a little out in left field but high fives for trying something different even if the end result is a little underwhelming.

I consider this album as experimental as Incubus gets. Light Grenades to follow is standard modern rock fare and If not Now When enters adult contemporary blandness

Best album of Incubus in the 2000's, in my opinion.