Incubus: where to start with the band ahead of their forthcoming album, and what to avoid beforehand

• Incubus are set to release their first album in eight years later this year.
• Something In The Water follows on from their last release, 8, dating back to 2017.
• With a generation of newer fans discovering the band on TikTok or through their older family members CD collection, where should they start when listening to the group?

Incubus has been an enduring part of my life since I first listened to S.C.I.E.N.C.E. many moons ago, under the recommendation of college friends.

From then on, my love affair with Brandon Boyd, Mike Einziger, and everyone else who has been a part of the band only grew. I discovered Make Yourself thanks to how often Pardon Me was 'cranked' on Kerrang! TV, and I even made allowances among certain friends in the alternative music community for Light Grenades.

But I was incredibly excited when news broke that the band is set to release a brand new album later this year – their first in eight years since 8 came out in 2017. However, there was some trepidation. The intervening years haven't always been kind to my love for Incubus, with the younger version of myself wondering, 'What happened to that funk-metal band I loved so much?'

Nostalgia – it's a weird, rose-tinted pair of glasses sometimes.

Before I get any more misty-eyed, though, there might be a number of fans out there who have only just discovered Incubus. This could be due to the hype around their forthcoming album Something In The Water, clips they've seen on TikTok, or perhaps even thinking of a younger Brandon Boyd as a pin-up once again… (I've definitely been part of a stampede when he took his shirt off at concerts!).

So, for those new to the band's existing catalogue, I've put together a starter guide to aid you in your musical journey. I begin with the obvious, then diverge into recommendations based on whether you're into one aspect of Incubus or another, coupled with some curious additions to check out and, of course, what to avoid.

So, where would I suggest you start with Incubus? It has to go back to 1999, doesn't it?

A starters guide to Incubus - where to start and what to avoid

Start here: Make Yourself (1999)

It seems an obvious start, but I believe there are two types of Incubus fans: those who like their more modern radio rock tracks and those who prefer their unadulterated funky-rock. Make Yourself caters to both audiences, in my estimation.

Why? Well, alongside being the album that helped them break into the Billboard charts, it also features some of Incubus’s biggest hits; Drive, Stellar, and Pardon Me all received huge rotation on music television and radio at the time.

But at the heart of Make Yourself, there's still that intrinsic groove that carried over from their previous album. It's the fork in the road for the group—would they continue their success with the songwriting styles found throughout Make Yourself, or would they stick with the groove-metal element? It is, however, the perfect marriage of where the band came from and where they were going.

• Buy Make Yourself from Amazon

For the fans of the funkier side of Make Yourself - S.C.I.E.N.C.E (1997)

My personal favourite, though one that I can appreciate some newer fans might not gravitate towards—this was Incubus (almost) at their funkiest.

Propelled by the 'bop' that was A Certain Shade of Green, the album drew more from their early Mr. Bungle-inspired work but refined moments down to more radio-friendly terms. Though fans who want to hear Brandon croon before the explosion of Make Yourself will be happy to know that Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song) has those soaring vocals you and I have come to love.

• Buy S.C.I.E.N.C.E from Amazon

For fans of the more modern rock of Make Yourself - Morning View (2001)

So you’ve listened to Make Yourself and thought that the more modern rock tracks are what makes the album? Then you, friend, will want to check out Morning View.

The final album with Dirk Lance on bass guitar, the swirling atmospherics throughout the album, from the outset with Nice To Know You to the sultry Are You In, Morning View helped catapult the band from smaller venues to the arena rockers they’ve become today.

It is, however, wholly less funky than previous albums, and though the groove remains, it is the album that led the band to continue down this path of songwriting. It’s good—it’s very good in fact—but purists might still prefer their earlier works.

But beware—there is another version the band released celebrating the 23rd anniversary of the album, with the whole record re-recorded with their current line-up. Is it good? Yeah, it’s alright… but why mess with something that wasn’t broken in the first place?

Buy Morning View from HMV

For the curious: Fungus Amongus (1994)

It is a curious addition to Incubus’s back catalogue, but a very important one—despite not appearing on streaming services for some strange reason. Perhaps Brandon Boyd’s comments about it not ‘feeling like a studio album’ might be part of the reason?

But by his own admission, Fungus Amongus, the group's first album originally released by their own independent record label, Chillum Records, was very much wearing their influences on their sleeve.

Heavily influenced by Mr. Bungle, Primus, and a number of other funk/groove metal outfits at the time, Fungus Amongus perhaps isn’t an album newer Incubus fans should immediately jump into, as it is a pretty unpolished gem. A gem nonetheless for long-term fans though.

In another 2012 interview, when asked why the band doesn’t perform songs such as Take Me To Your Leader live anymore, Brandon stated: “We're very happy that they exist, but we just as soon let them exist in recordings. I don't even know if we'd know how to play them.”

Buy Fungus Amongus from Discogs marketplace

For the cautious: Light Grenades (2006)

Where A Crow Left of the Murder solidified their radio-friendly output that continued from Morning View, Light Grenades holds up as a mixed bag. Despite attaining Gold status by the RIAA, it didn’t quite hit the Platinum heights the band achieved since the release of Make Yourself.

Could that be because there was too much going on, and sonically it felt all over the place? By guitarist Mike Einziger's own admission during an MTV interview, he stated that Light Grenades “sounds like 13 different bands playing 13 different songs... Every time we're about to start making a new album, I tell myself, 'Okay, this one's going to be cohesive,' and it never happens."

It is full of huge ballads that became staples of Incubus’s work around that time, and those wanting the poppier, chart-friendly side of Incubus will no doubt gravitate towards this or A Crow Left of the Murder. But it suffers from wanting to be many things, however, not achieving as much as they hoped for.

Buy Light Grenades from HMV

To avoid - Monuments and Melodies (2009)

“Greatest hits albums shouldn’t count, Benjamin,” you might ask yourself. But let’s be honest - if you want a good cross-section of a band’s output, why wouldn’t you start with one?

This, however, isn’t the Incubus compilation you are looking for.

I say this because while Monuments and Melodies does have a huge amount of their biggest successes, it lacks one key thing - any of their work prior to Make Yourself. The only track from S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is an acoustic version of A Certain Shade of Green, which left fans like myself feeling a slight slap in our faces; it was S.C.I.E.N.C.E. that helped bring Incubus to the party - why would they not glaze some of their funkier elements in a “greatest hits” release?

If you can call it a greatest hits, when it’s missing much earlier, beloved works.

Buy Monuments and Memories from Amazon.

Additional listening recommendations

There are a couple of EPs worth checking out by Incubus if you can find them. When Incubus Attacks Volume 1 contains some of the acoustic offerings by the band, who, in an effort to promote Make Yourself, took to radio studios to perform live. The EP also has the fantastic track Crowded Elevator—a song left on the cutting room floor yet managed to find itself on the Scream 3 soundtrack.

While Fungus Amongus might not be on streaming services, Enjoy Incubus was released when the band signed to Epic and Immortal Records. The EP contains re-recorded tracks from their debut album and from their first EP, Let Me Tell Ya 'Bout Root Beer, which also happened to contain an early version of New Skin which subsequently appeared on S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

What are your favourite Incubus albums and do you agree with our starter’s guide to the group? Share your favourite songs ahead of the band’s new album coming out later this year by leaving a comment down below.