Monuments and Melodies

Monuments and Melodies is the first greatest hits compilation album by American rock band Incubus released on June 16, 2009, through Epic Records.[1] It is released as a double-disc set, the first disc features 13 previously released singles from the albums Make Yourself, Morning View, A Crow Left of the Murder..., and Light Grenades, along with two new Brendan O'Brien–produced tracks, "Black Heart Inertia" and "Midnight Swim".

Monuments and Melodies
Greatest hits album by
ReleasedJune 16, 2009
VenueLive X, 99X, Atlanta (A Certain Shade of Green)
Studio4th Street Recording, Santa Monica, California
NRG Studios, North Hollywood
Morning View Studio, Malibu, California
Southern Tracks Recording, Atlanta
Henson Recording Studio, Hollywood
GenreAlternative rock, alternative metal
Length61:10 (disc 1)
47:22 (disc 2)
(Total: 108:32)
LabelEpic/Immortal
ProducerBrendan O'Brien, Scott Litt
Incubus chronology
Light Grenades
(2006)
Monuments and Melodies
(2009)
If Not Now, When?
(2011)

The second disc is a collection of rarities including B-sides, soundtrack cuts, alternate versions, three previously unreleased songs, and a cover of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy". The album takes its title from a 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...; it is also included on Disc 2 of this album.

Reception edit

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
Rock Sound          [3]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the compilation four out of five stars, commenting that the first disc "does its job efficiently, running through all but two of Incubus' Billboard hits", and that the second disc "[provides] a nice service of rounding up the tunes that got away."[2] Conrad Hughes of Contactmusic.com wrote in his June 2009 review that "the band's work reminds me a little bit of what the Chili Peppers may have done were Mike Patton their lead singer instead of Kiedis. And hopefully they'll follow up their Greatest Hits with a better album than the Chili's Stadium Arcadium."[4] Craig Hlavaty of the Houston Press reflected in August 2009 that "It's been a long and varied career for the band, who started in 1991 as little more than teenagers armed with a Red Hot Chili Peppers tab book and unfinished algebra homework", adding that "Make Yourself turned the band away from the monotony of punk-funk into more soulful, organic territory. Overnight, Incubus seemingly took a turn from mookish modern rock into straight-up makeout-core."[5]

Aly Comingore of the Santa Barbara Independent stated in her July 2009 review that "the five musicians have crafted some of the most forward-thinking and experimental radio-friendly rock of their time, proving all the while that alt-metal can prosper within the mainstream-and attract the attention of millions."[6]

Track listing edit

Charts edit

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[7] 20
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[8] 24
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[9] 20
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 35
Irish Albums (IRMA)[11] 96
Italian Albums (FIMI)[12] 76
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] 3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 22
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 104
US Billboard 200[16] 5
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[17] 2

Credits edit


References edit

  1. ^ Incubus View messageboard. Retrieved 3-11-09
  2. ^ a b Monuments and Melodies review. Allmusic
  3. ^ Walker, Jen (June 2009). "Incubus – Monuments and Melodies." Rock Sound (123): 84.
  4. ^ "Incubus - Monuments and Melodies". Contactmusic.com. June 2, 2009.
  5. ^ Hlavaty, Craig. "Incubus' Brandon Boyd: "The Shit We've Been Screwing Around With Has Been Really Exciting"". Houston Press.
  6. ^ "Incubus Reemerges with Monuments and Melodies".
  7. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Incubus – Monuments and Melodies". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  8. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Incubus – Monuments and Melodies" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  9. ^ "Incubus Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  10. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Incubus – Monuments and Melodies" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  11. ^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Incubus". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  12. ^ "Italiancharts.com – Incubus – Monuments and Melodies". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  13. ^ "Charts.nz – Incubus – Monuments and Melodies". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  14. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Incubus – Monuments and Melodies". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  15. ^ "Chart Log UK 1994–2010: I Am Arrows – Laura Izibor". zobbel.de. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  16. ^ "Incubus Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  17. ^ "Incubus Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 2, 2020.