This one didn’t leave my CD player for a long while. I think
\nI’ve become a bald faced craven fan of 311’s music. When I went to
\nthe concert promoting this album I realized I’m also one of the
\nmost aged 311 fans. Jeez, how many clone-like frat boys and overly
\nmade up girls can you pack into Nissan Pavilion? I’m only 27, for
\nGod’s sake! I felt as though the fact I graduated college and was
\nno longer living a ramen filled life was looked upon with hearty
\nsuspicion by the MTV styled denizens. If I see one more tongue
\nring…<\/p>\n
The concert was astounding. It somehow impressed me despite the
\nincredible hangover I acquired through my bachelor party the night
\nbefore. But the show was not as cool as the album itself. After 10
\nyears, five albums, tons of touring, and scads of puzzled (if not
\nangry) music critics, 311 has garnered itself quite the rock
\nacumen. This album sounds great.<\/p>\n
\nSoundsystem<\/i> is only the latest encapsulation of the 311
\nsound. This sound is ever-shifting, something especially apparent
\nif you compare
\nSoundsystem<\/i> to
\nTransistor<\/i>, their 1997 release. Not all the songs are great,
\nbut most are good and contain the requisite heaviness I respect. As
\nwith any 311 release, you must be in it for the music since the
\nlyrics are a bit silly; however, 311 are far more potent musically,
\nand at least less lame lyrically, than any of the current so-called
\nrap-metal bands.<\/p>\n
Featuring a m\u00e9lange of grooves, guitar tones, styles, and
\nexclamation points,
\nSoundsystem<\/i> is the second best rock album I’ve heard this
\nyear. First place goes to Rage Against The Machine and
\nThe Battle Of Los Angeles<\/i> – a stunning tribute to innovation
\nin rock, even if they are a bunch of elitist, pinko-commie
\nscumbags.<\/p>\n
311 songs like “Large In The Margin”, “Sever”, and “Mindspin”
\ncapitalize on the band’s flowing metallic grooves. I love the way
\nguitar player Tim Mahoney pulls off this proto-glam shit and makes
\nit sound new. I think what moves me is the octave divider (a guitar
\neffect that divides the guitar note in two, with the second tone an
\noctave lower than the original note) creating that bottomless
\ncrunch. Couple this effect with a seven string guitar and you have
\nsome heavy doo-doo.<\/p>\n
While “Strong All Along” contains elements of afterschool
\nspecial music, it’s a really positive tune about stone cold
\nchillin’ on a nice day. I think. Anyway, 311 stretches out and uses
\na nice two guitar harmony attack to mimic reggae horns and such
\n(though a lot of times, as on
\nTransistor<\/i>‘s “Beautiful Disaster”, this method ends up with
\nmore of a Judas Priest thing going on).<\/p>\n
“Flowing” is the one track on the album I’m not fond of. Sounds
\nlike 311 copped the verse from Green Day and the bridge from their
\nearlier album
\nGrassroots<\/i>. Additionally, I’m guessing most listeners will
\nbe turned off by the dub fantasy of the Bad Brains’ “Leaving
\nBabylon”, but I find it to be a nice culmination of the dub sound
\nthey experimented with on
\nTransistor<\/i>. And “Life’s Not A Race”, while throwing some
\ngreat guitar tidbits our way, is too much of a lick ass Santana
\ntribute.<\/p>\n
And when it gets to the sweet “Black Magic Woman” breakdown, a
\ngreat groove that gives a slobbery nod to Carlos Santana, the band
\ncuts it far too short. Oh well. Haven’t we had enough Santana for a
\nwhile? When a rock star starts a new shoe line in the name of
\nactivism, I think the love affair is over. He’s just another red if
\nyou ask me.<\/p>\n
If you have a subwoofer tied to your soundsystem, this album is
\na great way to hear that puppy. I’m not kidding when I say
\nSoundsystem<\/i> is an exquisite recording. It kicks ass. 311 is
\none of the few rock bands out there doing it out of love. You may
\nnot dig the sound, but they mean it. Plus, it’s great to listen to
\nguys so uncynical. Maybe it’s their midwest founding, but I can’t
\nthink of another band this side of CCM so positive, yet
\nuncheesy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":25521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5896],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-36727","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-5896","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36727","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\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36727"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36727"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}