Disc 1
1. "Black Heart Inertia" (New track)
2. "Drive" (Make Yourself)
3. "Megalomaniac" (A Crow Left Of The Murder…)
4. "Anna Molly” (Light Grenades)
5. "Love Hurts" (Light Grenades)
6. "Wish You Were Here" (Morning View)
7. "Warning" (Morning View)
8. "Stellar" (Make Yourself)
9. "Talk Shows on Mute” (A Crow Left Of The Murder…)
10. "Pardon Me" (Make Yourself)
11. "Dig" (Light Grenades)
12. "Oil and Water” (Light Grenades)
13. "Are You In?" (Morning View)
14. "Nice to Know You” (Morning View)
15. "Midnight Swim" (New Track)Disc 2
1. "Neither of Us Can See”
2. "Look Alive"
3. "While All the Vultures Feed"
4. "Pantomime"
5. "Anything"
6. "Punch Drunk"
7. "Admiration"
8. "Martini"
9. "A Certain Shade of Green (Acoustic)"
10. "Monuments and Melodies"
11. "Let's Go Crazy (Prince cover)"
They have a catch phrase that follows them from CD to CD, concert to concert, fan to fan: Enjoy Incubus. And we have for almost two decades now (hard to believe it’s been 18 years total). From Fungus Amongus to Light Grenades, this US-native band has spawned countless hits that everyone can jam, smoke out, or chill to, over the course of their 6 studio albums. It’s not like you can escape them; they’re radio darlings, in their own right (God, “Pardon Me” was played every other song back in the day). To date, they’ve pushed millions upon millions of copies worldwide.
Like anything good in this RIAA day and age, the “Greatest Hits CD” has been a plague that we cannot escape. It makes sense that Incubus would eventually get one; it happens to be in the form of Monuments and Melodies. At least there is something to show here, even for the most casual of fans. The album’s title is from the song that was originally released as the B-side to "Megalomaniac" and as a bonus track on international releases of A Crow Left of the Murder...So, “Monuments and Melodies” isn’t new to hardcore fans. I’m getting a little ahead of myself, though.
The first disc of the two CD effort sports a fifteen track compilation of all Brandon Boyd and company you can stomach in one sitting. Everything from “Pardon Me”, “Drive”, “Wish You Were Here”, and “Megalomaniac” (my personal favorite), all of their singles are here, in some random order. Thank God that flow doesn’t count on Greatest Hits albums because the progression sucks.
These radio hits are bookended by two new tracks: “Black Heart Inertia” and “Midnight Swim”, the former of which completely outclasses the latter. Personally, “Swim” should have been swapped with “Neither of Us Can See” (from some joke of a soundtrack) and it would be a near perfect blending of new and old on the first disc. “Black Heart Inertia” has been floating around for a few months now (since the April Fool’s Day short film). The song has peaked (to this date) at #8 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. That marked the band's fifteenth Top 10 track. “Inertia” received mixed reviews from the public. I thought it was a decent track that blended with the sound of much of their later material.
The second disc might not be of much interest to the casual fan, but to the rest of us, this is a great pick up. It really whets my appetite for that pending seventh studio album, due out hopefully before the impending apocalypse in 2012. Great b-sides and rarities like “Look Alive”, “Neither of Us Can See”, “Pantomime”, and acoustic “A Certain Shade of Green” are rounded out by a particularly odd cover of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy”. My personal favorite track from the b-sides is "While All the Vultures Feed”, but then again, there’s not a whole lot that I found at fault here. There are no surprises, no real gimmicks. It’s a straightforward Greatest Hits CD.
My only gripe is the serious lack of representation from Fungus Amongus and S.C.I.E.N.C.E.: virtually none. There are some good songs from those 2 CDs, both of which your radio listener is going to be unfamiliar with. Would have made the second disc even more appealing, in my opinion. Maybe re-record something, jazz it up, and throw it out there on the airwaves. I’m even more appalled, though, at the lack of some of the really, really epic Incubus tracks, namely: “The Warmth”, “Rogues”, and “Sick, Sad Little World”, which is just a mind blowing track (especially live, clocking in from 8:30 to 11 minutes, depending on the show).
Still, though, I guess, it’s “singles or nothing’, these days. With the way I’ve been jonesin’ for these guys to finish up with their real life goals and get back into the studio, I’ll gladly take these discs to spin.
