Fans who discovered Incubus and their album Make Yourself through their massive radio hit "Drive" may be surprised that the band released a follow-up album so quickly. Yet the reality is that Make Yourself was a definitive sleeper hit, never peaking past the Top 50 of Billboard's album charts, but staying on those same charts for close to two years and in the process shifting over two million units. With each successive single that was released, the band gradually moved away from the nu-metal/Ozzfest crowd they had been initially lumped into and revealed the solid songwriting and talent for a good melody underneath the layers of surging guitars. The lessons learned from Make Yourself have definitely been applied to Morning View. While there is still a fair share of aggressive numbers ("Circles," " "Blood on the Ground," and " "Under My Umbrella" arguably the strongest of the harder tracks), the ratio of softer and mellower numbers have increased dramatically, to the point where hardcore fans of earlier material may be bewildered. For the most part, the transition works. "Mexico" is a sparsely arranged acoustic ballad that gives lead singer Brandon Boyd an opportunity to demonstrate his formidable vocal range. "Are You In" is an upbeat, funky tune reminiscent of Sugar Ray (and that's meant in a good way). The most offbeat track is the album closer, "Aqueous Transmission," a tranquil, exotic-sounding ballad that sees the band successfully experimenting with Middle Eastern string arrangements. Not all the experiments gel ("Echo"), and there is a tendency, especially in the middle third of the album, for the songs to sound too similar in sound and tempo, but on the whole, Morning View is a fine follow-up to Make Yourself and a natural progression in the band's musical evolution. While it may not appeal to fans of the harder material, music lovers who like their rock a little less aggressive and a little more ambitious and, well, sensitive should give Morning View a spin. ~ Deren Svendsen, All Music Guide
Scott Litt (Mixing), Gerry Hilera (Violin), Rick "Soldier" Will (Engineer), Scott Litt (Engineer), Jose Antonio Pasillas II (Illustrations), Karie Prescott (Viola), Rick "Soldier" Will (Mixing), Brian Smith (Photography), Mike Einziger (Engineer), Evan Wilson (Viola), Eve Butler (Violin), Joel Derouin (Violin), Mario Diaz de Leon (Violin), Suzie Katayama (String Arrangements), Tom Sweeney (Engineer), Larry Corbett (Cello), Kiley de Jesus (Remote Recording), Jon Clarke (Woodwind), Jose Antonio Pasillas II (Musician), Peter Kent (Violin), Dave Holdredge (Digital Editing), Incubus (Producer), Dirk Lance (Musician), Chris Kilmore (Musician), Dawn Beckman (Vocals (Background)), Bob Ludwig (Mastering), Jason Cropper (Remote Recording), Ernie Woody (Remote Recording), Greg Nelson (Monitors), David Stenske (Violin), Daniel Smith (Cello), Scott Litt (Producer), Dave Holdredge (Digital Recording), Dave Holdredge (Engineer), Suzie Katayama (Conductor), Brandon Boyd (Musician), Mike Einziger (Musician), Field Marshall (Assistant)
Morning View is the fourth studio album by rock band Incubus, released October 23, 2001 through Epic Records, a companion DVD, Morning View Sessions, was released on May 29, 2002. The album has a sound that is overall softer than previous albums, especially apparent on songs such as "Echo" and "Are You In?", however, Incubus's heavier side is still evident on tracks like "Have You Ever" and "Under My Umbrella". Songs such as "Just a Phase" display more original song structures. Regarding the album's sound, guitarist Mike Einziger notes that it:
"would've been really easy for us to try to replicate certain songs that did well on our last record, which we didn't do. We didn't do anything even remotely close to that. We put pressure on ourselves to make a good record because if none of us were happy with it, we'll all be miserable for the next two years while we're on tour."[1]
Five years after the album's release, an official video for the song "Circles" was released on December 3, 2006 on Sony BMG Musicbox. Morning View is the last release by the band to feature bassist Alex Katunich.
To record the album, the band lived temporarily in Malibu, California, near a street called "Morning View Drive". Former bassist Alex Katunich (aka "Dirk Lance") noted that the band had previously "tried to do that for at least the writing portion of Make Yourself, but we didn't have enough clout at the time. When we were getting ready to write this one, we knew that we needed to get into a more creative place. The idea was to not feel as if you were driving [somewhere] to work on a record. You could just get up and it was a natural extension of your day."[1]
Vocalist Brandon Boyd stated that the band "needed quick access to the beach because we're kinda spoiled brats sometimes. We need that outlet. At least I do. It's nice to write music all day and be like, 'I'm going to take a break, see you guys in two hours.'"[1]
Out of the 30 songs the band sketched out for the album, 13 were recorded ending up on the final release.
Album title
Former bassist Alex Katunich (aka "Dirk Lance") stated that the album's title comes from "the name of the street the house was on where we recorded the album."[1]Brandon Boyd notes that "every time we'd pull into the street we had the view of the ocean and Pacific Coast Highway. I got a big creative boner every time I'd show up to the house. Every time we'd pull up, DJ Kilmore would be like, "Ah, Morning View. It's time to rock!"[1]
Songs
The final song, "Aqueous Transmission", employs the use of Chinese instruments such as the Pipa. The Pipa used on the recording was given to Mike Einziger from Steve Vai, who also helped him develop the main riff to "Echo." "Aqueous Transmission" is 7 minutes and 46 seconds long, with the last minute consisting of frogs croaking outside the studio in Malibu. Lead vocalist Brandon Boyd says that the purpose of the song was to make "the listener pee in his/her pants" from relaxation.
Reception
The album received generally positive reviews, with a Metacritic score of 62, based on 10 reviews.[2]Q Magazine states that "even at their most acerbic or delicately downplayed extremes, Incubus are compelling."[2], while CDNow noted that Incubus "has begun to grow up a bit."[2]
