Monuments & Melodies [Digipak] (CD - 2009)

Incubus: Ben Kenney (vocals, bass guitar); Mike Einziger (guitar, piano, Fender Rhodes piano); Chris Kilmore (Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond b-3 organ, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, Theremin, turntables); Jose Antonio Pasillas II (drums); Brandon Boyd.

Audio Remasterers: Stephen Marcussen; Bob Ludwig.

Arranger: Mike Einziger.

MONUMENTS & MELODIES is an elliptical allusion to the hits and highlights contained within this 2009 retrospective, a double-disc set that's separated into a CD of singles and a CD of rarities. The first disc does its job efficiently, running through all but two of Incubus' Billboard hits--the minor mainstream rock radio hits "Circles" and "Make a Move" are missing, but the non-charting single "Are You In?" is in its place--bookended by two strong new Brendan O'Brien productions, "Black Heart Inertia" and "Midnight Swim." The second disc is devoted primarily to B-sides and other stray non-LP tracks, including an acoustic version of "A Certain Shade of Green," a remix of "Pantomime," and a ham-fisted cover of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy," where they get the riff slightly wrong. For the devoted, this disc does provide a nice service of rounding up the tunes that got away, while the fair-weather travelers get a good disc of highlights. minimize