My conclusion? This recording is like a very long joke with no punchline. The arrangements are absolutely atrocious and the quartet itself sounds terrible. It's inexcusable that there should be issues with INTONATION, let alone any semblance of musical nuance.

This album is the result of selecting *favorite* Incubus songs without giving any thought to which ones would be most viable arranged for string quartet. Simply put, NONE of these arrangements work. They're sparse, uncompelling, and barely recognizable.

The ONLY reason I'm giving this two stars is because I can appreciate the attempt at broadening the appeal of the string quartet. Unfortunately, it's an abject failure. Frankly, I'm embarrassed on behalf of the people whose names appear on the back of this CD.


Incubus as strings..... how do I put it?   September 25, 2002
Clint Karlinsey (Utah)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Being a fan of Incubus, and also being a fan of instrumental music, I was very interested in purchasing this cd. I bought the 3rd eye open, string tribute to tool, with which I was impressed. As I looked at the playlist, it seemed to generally be songs from Make Yourself. I enjoyed that album, but I would have liked to hear some of their older music (Anti-gravity love song, redefine) or some of the songs from Morning View I enjoyed (Warning, Echo) In any event, with the songs that were chosen, they did a very excelent job at putting it together in a way that captures the sound of incubus, and makes it a little lighter, prettier as it were. Only on Pardon Me and Wish you Were Here did I get the feeling that the violin may not be the best way to capture Brandons singing ablity. So in conclusion, a very good cd if you enjoy both the writing ablity of Incubus and the instrumentation of a string quartet.


Just because its a good idea doesn't make it a good album   May 16, 2003
Matt Ross (New Paltz, New York)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

So this disc has GREAT promise... and no follow through. The songs that a band such as Incubus creates beg to be redone by orhestras/quartets. However the musicians that have covered the songs truely do not deserve to be re-orchestrating the music of incubus. The product of these "musicians" is childish as far as the music goes. Incubus's infinite depth has been oversimpified and musically trashed. Check out the string quartet version of Led Zeppelin. There is a true set of quartet versions of classic songs.


it's an attempt...   March 9, 2003
a classical/alternative rock fan (Tx, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

to match classical music with the rock-driven tunes of Incubus, and i think it's a pretty good one, at that. Having been a classical music listener for most of my life, and having been an alternative-rock listener for a good 10+ years, i applaud Mr Gorfain's attempts to orchestrate electric guitars, basses, and drums, as well as incubus' melodies, into four instruments. overall, i'd rate this a 4, because on a couple of the songs (especially Pardon Me) the melodies are sharp or flat by a couple notes. but other than that, it's pretty good. i listen to the CD whenever i'm going to bed, or if i'm just lounging around, reading a book or something.


Hip-Hop violins just don't do it for me...   December 11, 2002
Don (Frigid Northern WI)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

There are two tracks that are worth listening to on this CD: Miss You and maybe Mexico. The Quartet tried really hard, but I didn't prefer their attempt at trying to copy the tempo and beat of the originals. The CD sounds like it's an attempt at a new hip-hop violin genre that makes me feel like I'm at a square dancing party. My 2 cents: slow the songs down, don't try hip-hop violin, copy the music and flow. My 2 cents to the buyers: Save your [money] and get another album instead; then search for Miss You and Mexico on a P2P like Kazaa!