311 is the Ed Wood of the alternative world. Critics hate ’em,
\nand after listening to
\nTransistor<\/i>, I can see why. But their enthusiasm for what
\nthey’re doing is contagious. They’re never going to be in the same
\nrealm as the Red Hot Chili Peppers or even Rancid, but their love
\nfor music is as strong as their love for pot, for which they even
\nthank in their liner notes.<\/p>\n
No doubt
\nTransistor<\/i> is a fine soundtrack for the 1990s Dorm Nation.
\nFraternities and dorm hallways boom “Prisoner” and “Rub A Dub” from
\ntheir speakers, but for people with even a limited music
\nbackground, their lyrics are as dumb as a “Suddenly Susan” script
\nand their songs have an annoying tendency to end unexpectedly.<\/p>\n
Some of their earlier releases such as
\nMusic<\/i> and
\nGrassroots<\/i> featured a band who was trying to find their
\nvoice in a mix of punk, funk and rap. With a budget,
\nTransistor<\/i> shows the band still hasn’t found what it’s
\nlooking for. Dave Matthews and Blues Traveler have far better
\nchops, the weakest tracks of the Beastie Boys can eclipse most
\nmaterial on
\nTransistor<\/i> and for funk…well…if you haven’t heard any
\nmaterial from George Clinton or Prince, go outside and start
\nbeating yourself over the head with a couple of good sized rocks,
\nnow.<\/p>\n
Some experiments actually pay off on
\nTransistor<\/i>. The opening title track and “Prisoner” provide a
\nnice, smooth groove that hints at a great jammin’ album to come.
\nHowever, the Iron Maiden-like guitar intro to “Beautiful Disaster”
\nthrows the album way off track.<\/p>\n
As for the lyrics, well, you don’t really listen to 311 to
\napproach enlightenment, even though they make plenty of references
\nto Babylon and goddesses. However, you can tell how stoned the band
\nwas recording this because half of the lyrics look like they came
\nfrom the fortune cookies they ate when they had the munchies.<\/p>\n
“Stick to the way you rock\/it just do it real slow.”(“Rub A
\nDub”) “Wanna take it further\/let’s take that funk further.” (“No
\nControl”) “And when the kind consciousness come unto you\/you will
\nknow and it won’t stop.” (“Inner Light Spectrum”) Sorry, haven’t
\nachieved enlightenment yet, dudes.<\/p>\n
Maybe if the album was shorter, the pain would have been less.
\nClocking in at about 70 minutes, this ranks up with one of the most
\npainful, enduring moments of this year. Watching close-ups of
\nRobin’s crotch in
\nBatman And Robin<\/i> and seeing Nicolas Cage run in slow motion
\nfor what seemed like half of
\nCon Air<\/i> were the other two exercises in hell this year.
\nSeeing all of
\nAlien Resurrection<\/i> was the most difficult to endure, but I
\ndigress.<\/p>\n
Writing on a music critic site, I realize that critics can be
\nwrong. Rush, one of the most critically reviled groups in history,
\nhas produced some damn good work. But 311 is another sad staple in
\nthe current crop of bands that try to merge different styles in
\nfavor of a bigger paycheck. Sugar Ray, Reel Big Fish and Smash
\nMouth are other offenders.
\nTransistor<\/i> is probably the most ambitious album of the
\nbunch, so it won’t get a F in my book. Still, after listening to
\nthe entire album, I am not filled with the pseudo-mystical images
\nthat the band tries to put in your head. Instead, I get this image
\nof Kathie Lee Gifford pumping this album into the PA systems in
\nsweatshops all over the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24627,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5896],"rating":[5616],"class_list":["post-35831","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-5896","rating-rating-d"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/35831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=35831"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=35831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}