311

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311

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311 is in my opinion the overall most talented band on earth. 311 consists of Nick Hexum (vocals, plays 2nd guitar on some songs), Chad Sexton (one of the world's best drummers), SA (the first and best DJ in a rock band, and he also does awesome vocals, trading off with Nick in most songs), P-Nut (one of the best bass players in any rock band ever - Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers listens to him for inspiration), Tim Mahoney (fantastic guitarist, is unlimited in the styles he can play). Both Nick and SA can rap better than I've ever heard, and they can both sing beautiful melodies. When they harmonize there is a sense that they were meant to sing together - their voices match up perfectly.

On this album, their third major label release, they decided to keep it simple and straight-forward with their sound. Tim only used his guitar (a PRS), octave pedal (which he uses on nearly every song), and amp (Mesa Boogie) and no other effects or anything. When the band followed this album up with Transistor it threw a lot of people off because Transistor has a totally different sound. In my opinion Transistor is the best album anyone has ever made, although Evolver may be tied.

Back to the album I'm reviewing - it is self-titled, and often called 'The Blue Album' by the band and fans. Here is a description of each song as best as I can give:

(1) Down - This song rocks so hard it is unbelievable. This is the song that was released as a single and made it to #1 on the charts and is the only 311 song a lot of people know. Characteristic positive message with fierce guitar riffs and rapping by SA and a great catchy chorus sung by Nick.

(2) Random - Starts with a drum beat only Chad would play, the chorus is interesting because it has Nick singing with SA rapping at the same time. They only did this in one other song, Six from their album called Grassroots. The end of this song has a slow heavy riff that rocks hard.

(3) Jackolantern's Weather - A fantastic song written by Chad, they call this one their Halloween song. The last part with Nick rapping is definitely something to headbang to. Tim uses his octave pedal on almost the entire song.

(4) All Mixed Up - Another radio hit, this one went to #4 on the charts. A great song with a bouncy riff and more catchy melodies but softer than the previous three.

(5) Hive - This song is nonstop fierce guitar riffs and rapping by Nick and SA. Possibly the best rapping of any of their songs.

(6) Guns (are for *******) - No sooner does Hive end than another song with hard rockin' riffs begins with another onslaught of great rapping by Nick and SA. This song was also written by Chad.

(7) Misdirected Hostility - This song has a slow heavy riff with, once again, great rapping by both Nick and SA. I like the lyrics 'I can't handle all the negative vibe merchants - is that all you have in you perchance'

(8) Purpose - They take somewhat of a break from the heaviness of the three previous songs with this beautiful song. This song still rocks pretty hard though in the middle and at the end.

(9) Loco - 'Make an instrumental, add a little vocal, take it to the show and make the people go loco' is repeated plenty of times, and Nick's vocals at one point sound like he is doing something impossibly fast that I can't do if I try.

(10) Brodels - This song has a very heavy slow riff to it but speeds up at parts, and the riff at the end is the heavy slow riff played differently by Tim so it makes you want to headbang like crazy. SA's lyrics, as he is known for, make little to no sense 'I told a shark I was a dolphin...'

(11) Don't Stay Home - Another radio single, this is a fun song to sing along too although there is a part just before Chad does a brief drum solo that, like the part in Loco, I can't sing. Thanks Nick.

(12) DLMD - Don't Let Me Down is what it stands for, it is a song about guys who beat up their girlfriends. I love Nick's authoritative 'If you hurt her again I'll f*** you up!' at the end.

(13) Sweet - Definitely a 'sweet' song, the music to this one was written by Tim and it shows. The song ends with a great guitar solo that sounds effortless.

(14) T&P Combo - T&P means Tim & P-Nut who co-wrote the music for this song. This song rocks hard from beginning to end and is a great way to end the album.

So there's my review and if you are considering buying this album then I strongly urge you to do so. If you dislike the occasional swear words then there is an edited version of the CD available so there is no excuse not to buy one version or the other. If you have never purchased a 311 CD I suggest starting with Grassroots or From Chaos although you can't go wrong with any of their CDs - just be aware that each of their albums sound different.

this is actually two albums. two. i want to stress that.

one, penned by hexum, is brilliant and ground-breaking. perfect glorious, glorious guitar riffs, written with not only aggression but intelligence. hexum's songs are clearly well thought-out and have a varied, interesting contour to them. contrast that with drummer sexton's boring, repetitive, and unimaginative songwriting, salvaged only by the band's inventive delivery. the guitar riffs are shorter --usually about 4 beats long-- repeat over and over, and sound like bad 80's hair band riffs... whenever i hear sexton's songs i find myself unconsciously wondering why 311 are covering so many motley crue songs. listen carefully to 'dr feelgood' and you will hear what must be the ultimate 'good song' to sexton. for whatever reason, the songs credited to sexton are just awful... bad songs salvaged by a really brilliant, tight band. that is to say, it is still interesting to hear how brilliantly 311 can manage to play what are at best the songs of a truly unimaginative songwriter. the other members of the band MAKE the songs sound better than they are.

even so, this is by far my favorite album, and would be the first thing i would grab before leaving my house if there were a fire. if nothing else, think of it as a hexum ep and program sexton's songs out of the playlist.

the last track on the album, written by the other members of the band, is absolutely brilliant... sort of what the result would be if james brown and rage against the machine were in a train wreck together, absolutely great.

if 311 ever wants to be not just a fashionable band, but a great band, they are going to have to bite the bullet and stop indulging themselves by allowing half their songs to be written by sexton. as a songwriter, he is holding them back, and while it must be nice to get along with all your bandmates, they need hexum to step up to the plate and write an entire album, whatever friction that will entail. i think if they did, it would be one of those classic timeless albums that would be likely to stay in print forever. if you average everything out, they are a mediocre band, but their high points are very VERY high, and i have never regretted buying this album.