 
When Incubus released their third studio album
'Make Yourself' all those years ago I was a massive
fan of the band but that soon slipped away when
they released 'Morning View' and ever since then
I have only heard the odd new Incubus song with
'Megalomaniac' being the one that stands out the
most to me.
The band have just released their sixth studio
album 'If Not Now, When?' and the worrying thing
about the release is there has been no hype or
advertising for it at all which makes you wonder
if it is any good.
Over the years Incubus have been known to change
their sound and 'If not now, When?' features the
biggest change in sound ever for the band and
is also going to be their biggest gamble as the
album is very stripped back, soulful and the poppiest
music the band have ever created, with the majority
of the songs sounding like they should be top
40 hits alongside those of sleepy bands like Coldplay
and various male solo artists.
The album opens with the title track 'If Not Now,
When?' and from the moment the chilled out drum
beats and sleepy guitars come in you just know
that Incubus have matured and got softer in their
old age and as soon as Brandon Boyd's vocals come
in with his big soulful groove you will either
love or hate what you are hearing and if you hate
it I suggest you switch the album off at once
as the pace stays the same throughout the album.
The piano driven track 'Promises, Promises' is
a beautiful sounding track and features a chorus
that would give any of the heavy weight soul singers
a run for their money, it is the perfect track
to relax to and is one of the tracks on the album
that you will come back to more than others.
'Friends And Lovers' is another track that you
will find yourself coming back to again and again
as once again Brandon rules the show with his
unique vocals and puts on a superb performance
especially during the sleepy yet wonderful chorus,
whilst psychedelic soundscapes run in the back.
'The Original features a real uplifting instrumental
introduction with Boyd's vocals taking s good
45 seconds to come in, the vocals are soft and
clear like the rest of the songs on the album
but it is the chorus which runs in a positive
way giving the track that lasting feel.
'In The Company Of Wolves' Is one hell of an epic
song which runs for nearly 7 minutes, during the
earlier part of the song it sounds ever so much
like something that Coldplay would write but as
the song progresses it changes from a very sleepy
sounding song to a dark instrumental song which
happens to really show off the bands creative
side.
'Switchblade happens to be the heaviest sounding
track on the album and also happens to be quite
a catchy number.
'Adolescents' Is the first single to be taken
from the album and after hearing the funky guitar
work from Mike Einzinger you can understand why
it was picked over the rest of the songs to be
released as an single.
I believe that a lot of Incubus fans are going
to be disappointed with the album but at the same
time there are going to be a lot of people who
really love the album but I will say that the
album is very samey throughout and despite being
a quality album in my eyes it does lack variety
as 10 of the 11 tracks run at the same pace and
feature the same formula.
4/5
Review by Trigger
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