Incubus scored a multi-format radio smash and mass success in 2001 with the lilting, sing-along Drive, which hit #1 on Modern Rock charts and also landed in the upper range of the Top 40.
But the band’s core fans will be unpleasantly surprised that their new album, A Crow Left Of The Murder, which hit stores February 2nd, falls quite short of the band’s first album Make Yourself.

The first track, "Megalomaniac", sets the tone for a reaffirmation of the hard-rock thrust that is an important component of the Incubus sound. After an awkward build-up of instrumental tension, the song unleashes the kind of sound that rises from the calmness of the sea and ends up breathing enough fire to destroy Tokyo. This gives way to lead singer Brandon Boyd, as he hurls his urgent invective: "Hey megalomaniac, you’re no Jesus/ Yeah, you’re no f***** Elvis/ Wash your hands clean of yourself baby/And step down, step down, step down." The album gets worse with each consecutive song in terms of the quality of music and the quality of lyrics. However, many of Incubus’s political ideas shine throughout the album.

In "Pistola," another track, Boyd states: "My pen is
a pistola…a patriot’s weapon of choice." Other tracks simmer with soial commentary. "Talk Shows on Mute," invokes Orwell’s "1984," and "Made for T.V. Movie" recalls both The Beatles and Alice in Chains. Songs like "Agoraphobia" (boasting a huge pop chorus), "Beware! Criminal" and the driving "Leech" are more intimate explorations, focusing more on personal agendas than global ones. It’s too bad that the songs are not as musically invigorating as some of the political ideas.

Incubus has never been a one-note band, and Boyd has never been a one-mood song writer. Despite the anger and outrage, a calm sense of joy and even triumph pervades A Crow Left Of The Murder. "Yeah, I’m down, but not out/ And far from done," Boyd promises on "Beware! Criminal." "Here In My Room" is a Weezer-like hushed ballad, with Boyd confiding, "If the world were to fall apart/ In a fiction-worthy wind/ I wouldn’t change a thing/ Now that you’re here/ Love is a verb/ Here in my room". "Smile Lines" finds Boyd extremely emotionally crushed. "High school never ends," and "Southern Girl" transmit the abandonment of new love, as the singer tells the object of his affection, "Look no further/ I am yours." In such emotional pieces, one would think that the other musicians would feel some emotion and try harder, but the album lacks consistency and often has an amazing chorus and a sub-par verse or vise versa.

A Crow Left of the Murder, sounds like a lot of care was put in to making it, but it seems to tail spin towards the end.

According to "While We Were Out" a candid interview with all the members of Incubus, included on the Bonus DVD which accompanies the album, Boyd tells how the CD was put together. "We basically wanted to make this album outside of our comfort zone, so right after Lollapalooza, we went to Atlanta, Georgia, and somehow put the album together in less than five weeks. In those five weeks, we did everything including mixing, recording and production."

Boyd is proud of the album and it is evident in the interview. "We were very pleasantly surprised that somehow, the record sounds like a lot of care was put in to it, and that the album must have taken longer to put together."

According to another part of the DVD entitled "Lollapalooza," Boyd talks about how the recent tour inspired the band to create the album. "It was an awesome experience, being there with all the other bands, and with that you get a unenviable inspiration from just being around the other musical talents. We used that energy to make the album right after we finished that tour."

The album is inconsistent in terms of music quality, and does "step down" and get worse from one song to the next. In a unique way the album is still worth buying for its social and political commentary and emotional explosions.