Incubus

With their sixth album, Incubus continue to carry the torch for the ambitious sound of late-'90s alt rock, injecting their hard-edged anthems with a sense of sonic drama and thematic grandeur. Whether fans of their rawer, funkier stuff will go for the pop polish is unclear, but it worked for Green Day. Lead single "Anna Molly" sounds clean, efficient and professional enough to make it to the final round of The Apprentice. Thankfully, that sheen gets a good, loud scuffing with the massive, two-part "Earth to Bella."

Thanks to the funky-ish metal on their early albums and tours with the likes of Korn and 311
in the late Nineties, Incubus have always carried a faint whiff of new metal -- despite the
fact that they abandoned any traces of that sound long ago. On its sixth long-player, the
California quintet reteams with producer Brendan O'Brien and comes ever closer to
becoming active-rock radio's most sensitive, romantic and adventurous marquee... More >