Fungus Amongus

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Fungus Amongus
File:Fungus amongus.jpg
Studio album by
Incubus
ReleasedNovember 1, 1995 (1995-11-01)
RecordedSeptember 1995
Studio4th Street Recording, Santa Monica, California
Genre
Length38:13
LabelStopuglynailfungus, Epic/Immortal
ProducerJim Wirt
Incubus chronology
Fungus Amongus
(1995) 		S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
(1997)
Singles from Fungus Amongus
  1. "Take Me to Your Leader"
    Released: August 13, 1996
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]

Fungus Amongus is the debut studio album by American rock band Incubus, released November 1, 1995, on Stopuglynailfungus Music on Chillum, Incubus' own independent label. It was later re-released under Epic/Immortal on November 7, 2000, after popular demand.

Album information

Many of the names given under 'Personnel' are actually pseudonyms for the band members. 'Fabio' is guitarist Mike Einziger; 'Dirk Lance' is bassist Alex Katunich, who later adopted 'Dirk Lance' as his stage name; 'Brandy Flower' is an actual Sony employee; and 'Happy Knappy' is vocalist Brandon Boyd. 'Brett' and 'Brett Spivery' refer to Brett Spivey, longtime friend of the band, who went on to make their first two DVDs, and the videos for "I Miss You" and "Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)".

The album cover image is of a fly agaric mushroom.

Stylistically, the album shows strong influences by funk metal bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus, and Mr. Bungle, all of whom are mentioned in the liner notes of the album. Also, the group presents a quasi-rap style, which continued onto S.C.I.E.N.C.E., showing Brandon rapping on songs such as "Psychopsilocybin", "Trouble in 421", "Speak Free", and "Take Me to Your Leader".

Reception

Upon initial release, the album failed to chart; however, when re-released in 2000 by Epic/Immortal records, it managed to peak at number 116 on the Billboard 200.[7] The album received generally negative reviews from critics. Dean Carlson of AllMusic wrote, "Incubus' independent debut is an unremarkable take on suburban MTV funk." He also criticized frontman Brandon Boyd, writing, "there's much to dislike, notably frontman Brandon Boyd, who growls like he wants the voice of anybody but himself".[6] Tim Grierson of About.com observed, "At this early stage, Incubus just sounded like a tired rehash of Rage Against the Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers."[8]

When looking back on Incubus's discography in a 2017 interview with Kerrang!, Boyd observed, "[Fungus Amongus] was super-fun to make, but we didn't know what we were doing. I guess that's why a lot of our fans love that record, but for me when I hear it I truly cringe. I would just as soon bury it forever."[9]

In 2020, Ultimate Guitar included it on their list of the "Top 8 Iconic Funk Metal Albums".[10]

Chart

Chart (2000) Peak
Position
US Billboard 200[11] 116

Track listing

All tracks are written by Incubus.

No.TitleLength
1."You Will Be a Hot Dancer"3:47
2."Shaft!"3:14
3."Trouble in 421"4:41
4."Take Me to Your Leader"4:27
5."Medium"3:12
6."Speak Free"4:55
7."The Answer"3:02
8."Psychopsilocybin"4:20
9."Sink Beneath the Line"3:15
10."Hilikus"3:15
Total length:38:13

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Cush, Andy (April 25, 2017). "Incubus Talk 20 Years of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. and Collaborating with Skrillex on New Album 8". Spin. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  2. ^ Hlavaty, Craig (August 21, 2009). "Incubus' Brandon Boyd: "The Shit We've Been Screwing Around with Has Been Really Exciting"". Houston Press. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  3. ^ Tingen, Paul (November 2011). "Tom Syrowski: Recording Incubus' 'Adolescents'". Sound on Sound. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  4. ^ DiVita, Joe (September 18, 2020). "26 Bands Who Sound Nothing Like Their First Album". Loudwire. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  5. ^ Bland, Simon (October 26, 2020). ""Instead of Falling Into Some Subgenre of Rock, We Created Our Own": An Oral History of Incubus' Make Yourself". Kerrang. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Carlson, Dean. "Fungus Amongus - Incubus | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  7. ^ Fungus Amongus Chart History Billboard.com
  8. ^ Grierson, Tim. "Incubus Biography and Profile". About.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  9. ^ "The Soundtrack of My Life". Kerrang!. May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 24, 2021 – via PressReader.
  10. ^ "Top 8 Iconic 'Funk Metal' Albums".
  11. ^ "Incubus Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
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