22. Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.CE.

This is when Incubus was great. After this, they were good. Not bad, but not great. This is when they had this funky, jazzy, metal hybrid and experimented with all kinds of sounds and instruments and wrote songs with lyrics likestyle: italic;font-family:georgia;" > fallacious cognitions/spewed from televisions/do mold our decisions. This is when Brandon Boyd had dreadlocked hair down to his ass and never wore a shirt and when going to an Incubus show meant coming home sore and tired and fulfilled. Back before Boyd found love with a supermodel and cut his hair and started writing lyrics like I dig my toes into the sand/the ocean looks like a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket.*

S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is one of the greatest albums in existence. From start to finish, it is an exercise in musical gymnastics. It is all over the place, in a good way. It explores so many styles of music, you have to listen to it for a month at least before you can fully take in all it has to offer.

*and let it be known that these are not bad lyrics, per se. they are quite pretty and poetic. but i did not want incubus to be pretty and poetic. i wanted them to keep being the band that killed my knees at irving plaza.

Favorite song: Idiot Box
S.C.I.E.N.C.E. wiki