A Crow Left of the Murder

Incubus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 3, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00018D5CQ
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (544 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,449 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #87 in Music > R&B > Funk > Metal
  • #92 in Music > Rock > Funk Rock

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

139 of 155 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Long review, February 28, 2004

By 

philippa (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Crow Left of the Murder (Audio CD)

I wrote this review for a Literature class at school.
_______________________

Many mainstream listeners will know of the Southern Californian band Incubus only for their pop-rock radio hits Drive and Wish You Were Here. The band has much more to offer, however, and prove this once again with their latest studio release A Crow Left of the Murder. Yet again Incubus has lived up to guitarist Mike Einziger's rock and roll philosophy that "if you make the same record twice, even if everyone likes it, you've failed." It is Incubus' admirable ability to reinvent itself with each record that keeps the hardcore fans coming back for more.

For this latest effort, they worked with critically acclaimed producer Brendan O'Brien of Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam fame. The influence of O'Brien is clearly heard on A Crow Left of the Murder, with the album managing to capture the raw energy and sound of a live show, without sounding messy or under-produced. The lyrical content of the songs is also reminiscent of Rage and Pearl Jam, but whether or not this can be attributed to O'Brien or simply the current political climate is debatable.

The opening track and first single, Megalomaniac, is a politically charged rocker that has front man Brandon Boyd calling out to George W. Bush and co. `Hey megalomaniac/You're no Jesus/Yeah you're no f***in Elvis/Wash your hands clean of yourself baby and/Step down, step down'. While Megalomaniac breaks little new ground for Incubus, it is the perfect way to bridge the gap between the group's previous release, Morning View(2001) and A Crow Left of the Murder.

While the first five tracks of A Crow Left of the Murder threaten but never quite explode, it is only when we reach track six, Sick Sad Little World, that the potential Incubus had been hinting at with the previous tracks is finally realised. Sick Sad Little World is a six and a half minute rock-funk odyssey and quite possibly the best song Incubus has written over its thirteen year career, combining a signature Mike Einziger guitar riff with intricate drumming, a killer bass line, ample atmosphere from the turntables and Boyd crooning about a character who could quite possibly be based on departing bassist Dirk Lance. `The world is a drought when out of love/Please come back to us/You're all of the above/"I'm making a choice to be out of touch, leave me be" he said/"Leave me here in my stark raving sick sad little world!"' The song is completed with a two minute Einziger solo reminiscent of Jimi Hendrix, moving from haunting and intricate to just plain crazy.

A Crow Left of the Murder seems to be a fusion of Incubus' former efforts, and the most obvious reminder of this is track nine, Priceless, which could have been lifted straight off the 1997 release S.C.I.E.N.C.E. While not a personal favourite, the almost schizophrenic guitar riff and rap-rock singing style, as well as yet another masterful Einziger solo will appeal to fans of Incubus' earlier works.

Not all the tracks on A Crow Left of the Murder are hard rockers, however. Southern Girl is a love-sick ballad that sees Boyd lamenting `You're an exception to the rule/A bonafide rarity/You're all I ever wanted/Southern girl/Could you want me?' The band also explore the softer side of things with the experimental track Here In My Room, incorporating a piano for the first time in any Incubus release.

A Crow Left of the Murder bubbles with social and political commentary, with Boyd voicing his opinions most prominently on America's involvement in the war on Iraq in a cryptic, poetic manner, as well as a few tracks which could be written about Incubus' previous bassist, Dirk Lance, who left the band shortly after the conclusion of the Morning View tour at the end of 2002. Replacement bassist Ben Kenney, formerly of the Roots, joined the band for the Lollapalooza tour (2003) and proves himself to be more than competent on A Crow Left of the Murder.

The element that appears to be missing from A Crow Left of the Murder is the scratching provided by turntablist DJ Kilmore. While he provides ample atmosphere and interesting sound effects, the absence of the scratching heard on S.C.I.E.N.C.E, Make Yourself (1999) and to a lesser extent Morning View will be a disappointment to many hardcore Incubus fans.

A Crow Left of the Murder is from start to finish a sonic journey that will please most current Incubus fans and no doubt convert a few mainstream rock listeners to the more experimental sound of a band who refuses to bow to public pressure when writing their music. It doesn't quite live up to the brilliance of the breakthrough album Make Yourself, but A Crow Left of the Murder does a hell of a job in trying.

As Boyd appropriately asks in the final track, Leech, `The ride's over/Did you enjoy yourself?'

I certainly did.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Effort, December 23, 2004

By 

Tyler Durden (Wayne's World, Milky Way Galaxy 122112) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Crow Left of the Murder (Audio CD)

Wow, This cd is amazing. A complete cultral blast of sorts. I love Incubus and all their forms. I've seen them, sadly only once, during the crow left of murder tour, when the guys graciously visited Philedelphia at the wac. Sick show. This is a great record, and my personal favorite.

MEGOLAMANIAC
The uncompromised, unruley, political bash, that is the album opener, blasts through your eardrums at an amazing rate, ditchotomizing it's time between the melodic verse, and the thrashy chorus. Hardcore song, Amazing.

A CROW LEFT OF THE MURDER
With the melotic, wistful second track comes a pleasent vibration of song. Good, but not the best.

AGORAPHOBIA
With the soulfull observation of discomfort, Brandon sings of the governments control. "I don't wanna stay inside, for good"

TALK SHOWS ON MUTE
A soical comment on the state of the species, possibly, but a good song none the less. Seems as an odd choice of a single, if you ask me.

BEWARE!CRIMINAL
Unadulturated funky bliss of song, this is Beware!Criminal. Sick Rock song...Great!!!!!!!!!!!

SICK SAD LITTLE WORLD
Anger could never be so beatiful. Brandon bellows his heart over Mike's riprockin guitar. The lyrics are great, and the music is executed to perfect, bravo!!

PISTOLA
Hard rock at it's finest!! Great message here. Violence may solve nothing, but words have a way fight the power!!

SOUTHERN GIRL
Love masks the air, in this beatiful airy ballad.

PRICELESS
Ahh, the sweet scent of revenge occupies this lyrical assault. Finnaminal drum work here. Dude, I can't spell.

ZEE DEVEEL
Materialism is wrong, I reiterate in my nike sneakers, as I sip Pepsi. Great Message. Amazing lyrics, blasted forth with a raw emotion over a combination of technical brillance. My favorite song on the disc, just plain great.

MADE FOR TV MOVIE
To me this is just adverage, I mean its a good song but doesn't fit the cirtiria of it's peers.

SMILE LINES
Good upbeat song with an awrkward capability of genious.

HERE IN MY ROOM
OOOO, He's talkin' about sex. Good song. Some desent mtaphors, accompany the beatiful piano and reddundant preccusion.

LEECH
Thats right, an angery assault finishes the beatiful album. Good song, very true. Screw the posers, Screw me.

Great album, Comendible effort!!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Set the record straight., January 11, 2005

By 

Toby "Toby" (Croyde, Devon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Crow Left of the Murder (Audio CD)

What is this nonsense I keep reading about the album being bad? In what way is it possibly bad? Yes, it is vastly different to S.C.I.E.N.C.E, but great bands grow and evolve just like all good things. So I'm gonna try and defend the changes here.

Ben Kenny: You may have loved Dirk Lance, he was a fantastic bassist. However, Ben Kenny is a better musician (shown to the full on the DVD, "Alive at the Red Rocks"). He adds a totally new dimension to Incubus because he manages to create brand new chords and sonic ambience. Incubus have always been about experimentation, especially live. Ben Kenny adds to that in a way which I don't think Dirk Lance ever did.

DJ Kilmore: Stop having a go at him! Just because he doesn't do scratching all the time doesn't mean he's not doing anything! He works to create a scope which you would notice quite a lot if it weren't there.

Brandon: He's writing catchy lyrics so people say he's sold out. WTF? I'm sorry, but why, every time a band starts writing better songs, which more people will like, do all these narrow minded idiots come out the woodwork to insult original, effective, quality work?

The mix: It's not overproduced, like so much is today. So what you get on the album is what you here live. It's fantastic! What you'e hearing is Incubus playing, not loads of effects and compression.

The songs: are great. They aren't bad. How are they bad? I've read that they all sound the same. Well they don't - in fact, I don't know too many more albums as diverse as this. All the songs on Fungus Amongus sound the same - don't get me wrong it's good, but it's good for a bunch of 17 year olds. S.C.I.E.N.C.E songs are very similar bar 2, so how people can complain, I don't know.

This is one of the most fantastic albums of the year. Don't let those who are stuck in the past get to your heads. BUY THIS ALBUM!!