YMMV / Incubus

• Adorkable: Brandon Boyd. Despite being used to interviews and performing, he's generally reserved, well-read, artsy and sweet.
  • Jose Pasillas is prone to being klutzy and the butt of pranks within the group.
• Awesome Music: A fair amount. All of Make Yourself, for one- it was somewhat odd at the time to hear an uplifting Nu Metal album that encouraged people to be themselves (many of their contemporaries favored Angst, as far as subject matter goes). Also Morning View, for its diversity, atmosphere and great sequencing.
  • Some individual songs that count are "New Skin", "Deep Inside", "Privilege", "Stellar", "Drive", "Pardon Me", "Nice To Know You", "Warning", "Are You In?", "Blood On The Ground", "Aqueous Transmission" (not often you hear pipa in a mainstream Rock song, is it?), "Megalomaniac", "Pistola", "Sick Sad Little World", "Love Hurts", "Anna Molly"...
  • "Wish You Were Here", such a beautiful song.
• Black Sheep Hit: "Drive" and to a lesser extent "Wish You Were Here" are softer than much of their material- and were the band's biggest hits.
• Canon Discontinuity: Fungus Amongus is very hard to find (it seems to be out of print), and at any rate the band rarely plays anything from it. Many fans are unaware that it exists, in fact- to many, either S.C.I.E.N.C.E. or, more likely, Make Yourself is their debut. Fungus Amongus is often considered to be derivative and So Okay, It's Average anyways, so to many, it's not a big loss. Enjoy Incubus is out of print as well, but is generally somewhat better regarded.
• Chorus-Only Song: "Are You In?" is pretty darn close.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: One of the better-respected Nu Metal bands, as well as one of the most commercially-successful. Though only their early work really counts as the genre anyways.
• Funny Moments: Numerous from the home movie segments of the "When Incubus Attacks" DVD. The guys are total goofballs off-stage.
• Growing the Beard: 1999's Make Yourself was not just a commercial breakthrough, but it was the point where they really got the hang of balancing out the heavy rock with strong melodies. It's the template for much of what came later.
• Harsher in Hindsight: S.C.I.E.N.C.E. ends with some Studio Chatter of Brandon Boyd admonishing DJ Lyfe (referring to him as "Gavin", his real name) for almost deleting an entire song in Pro Tools. The band would later fire DJ Lyfe when he sabotaged a show on purpose, cranking up the feedback on his turntables and refusing to turn it down.
• Ho Yay:
  • In the Celebrity Undercover episode where the band meets a fan, Jose is pretty enthusiastic when he and Brandon have to kiss for Spin The Bottle.
  • Mike and Brandon are super close and have moments where they're cuddling, wrapping their arms around each other...and moments like this pic.
• Nightmare Fuel: Part 1 of "Earth to Bella" goes innocently enough, using water motifs to talk about truly enjoying life by accepting the inevitability of death ("Before you swim you have to be okay to sink.") Then a more somber Part 2 comes along talking about "Sensing a quiet emergency" and about how there's "so much more to get than wronged."
  Earth to Bella
  You're treading water successfully
  Or are you really?
  Don't you want to see the deep?
  It's not so hard.
  Just forgive yourself and feel the water open in.
• Sequel Displacement: Fungus Amongus and, to a lesser extent, the Enjoy Incubus EP and S.C.I.E.N.C.E. are victims of this- Many people, including some fans, are unaware that they did anything before Make Yourself.
• Signature Song: "Drive", as that was their biggest hit. "Wish You Were Here", "Megalomaniac", and "Anna Molly" are also rather well-known amongst fans.
• Song Association: "Light Grenades" appeared in Project Gotham Racing 4 in the metal playlist, with the likes of Disturbed, Kittie and Wolfmother.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: "Aqueous Transmission," and intentionally so. Word of God says that the band wanted the listener to "pee their pants with relaxation," which is why the track ends with an ambient sound of frogs croaking.
• Tear Jerker: "I Miss You" can be this for anyone who's been in a long-distance relationship.
  I see your picture, I smell your skin on the empty pillow next to mine
  You have only been gone ten days, but already I am wasting away
  I know I'll see you again whether far or soon
  But I need you to know that I care, and I miss you

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