Review Summary: Review.
I'd give you a list of reasons why
8 sucks, but if you don't already know them they're obvious upon listening, not that I'm encouraging that in any capacity. I'll do it anyway, because it will make me feel better.
"No Fun" is the best song on this album, and it still sounds like a cover band playing notes based on a description of an Incubus song they found on the back of a candy wrapper. "State of the Art" might legitimately be the worst song they've ever made; imagine "Promises, Promises" but not even catchy enough to be passable on any conceivable layer of irony or sincerity. Remember when Brandon used to be really good at metaphors and similes? There's one on this whole album, and it's "love is like a blind archer trying to shoot an apple off my head". There's a 50-second interlude where, my best guess is they're trying to play polka while Brandon impersonates a small child learning how to take a shower? and that's the most experimental piece of music on this album. Every song is so utterly devoid of energy, like they've released a record composed of the spaces between the notes in all their previous work. There's one kind of okay instrumental, which means standards are now so low that I will give anything a pass on a new Incubus album so long as it spares us an awful chorus melody or lyrics for three minutes. My one concession is if you hated
If Not Now, When? you may finally appreciate that album's stabs at experimentation ("In the Company of Wolves" is still top notch) compared to this inane """alternative pop rock""" drivel. If I haven't already convinced you, Skrillex produced this album – you can't make this stuff up, people! – but he doesn't even have a negative affect because there's no music here to ruin, literally nothing present of enough substance that Sonny Moore could possibly make worse. If the band doesn't put in the effort to think of a name that isn't
literally the number of the album in their discography, what kind of message does that send except that we shouldn't even put in the effort to listen? Or that I shouldn't put in effort reviewing it, or writing a summary? The answer is that's exactly the message they've sent. *** this, I've already spent too many words on it. Listen to
Morning View.
