Link: www.311.com
The Inside Pulse: Former innovators who have turned into worse than a shell of their former selves.
Positives:
As far as 311 recordings go, this one sounds far better than the rest of their catalog. They usually have horrible production values, but everything sounds full on this. My only complaint is the muddy guitars, which sound like a reject from an early 90’s Pushmonkey record.
Negatives:
The Pushmonkey reference is actually pretty funny, because they sound a LOT like Pushmonkey in the vocal department on this record. If you haven’t heard Pushmonkey, they’re an Austin band that’s always been pretty phenomenal, but tough to copy or peg down. 311 does their best impression, at least vocally.
311 always had a pretty unique sound, but they’ve dropped it in favor of a radio-friendly rock sound. I mean, there’s still the tin snare and some ragga influences apparent, but for the most part they seem to be aiming for radio success. That’s all well and cool when you’re a young band, but they’ve been around for more than a decade and have an established fanbase. I can’t imagine longtime fans being happy; in fact, my cousin is a pretty hardcore 311 fan and he’s disgusted with it, so I’m assuming most people feel the same.
Cross-breed:
311 mixed with bland radio rock.
Reason Not To Buy:
Because there’s nothing good or even remotely interesting about it. And besides, it’s probably the worst album title in the history of music.
