Rambling on and on Pretty awesome… some of the time

311 – Universal Pulse(A review)

311 - Universal Pulse

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I have listened to the album through a few times and here are my thoughts as to why you may or may not like it. I am not a musical expert, but i do have some knowledge, and am writing my review to the best of my ability. If I can characterize the entire album in one word, it would be STACCATO. The music written in this album many of the melodies and rhythms Jump up and down within their beat. The result for me was a constant head nod, as the rhythm was always there and on point.  This was achieved by often syncing the guitar parts with the Bass and the drum. In rock music,  the guitar can work independently of the rhythm section. Not for this album. The guitar and Bass where in sync most of the time. And often, the bass part drowned out the guitar part. I feel like this is similar to some Red Hot Chili Pepper songs, where the bass drives and the guitar is in the background. In Addition, P-Nut uses a lot of new distortions and flange effects that were uncommon before.

In regards to the singing, Nick and SA have created more harmonies in this album than I can recall in others. In the past, they split more with the singing done primarily by Nick, and the Rap/Poetic style by SA. This trend was broken in "Don't Tread on Me", with them often reversing those roles. Many fans were not as high on that album as the previous. They did this role switching in "Universal Pulse" also, but not as much and in DToM. They also included a few "Crowd Participation" parts that they introduced in "Uplifter". Places specifically set for the audience to clap along, things like that.

I really like this album. I think the band is doing some real experimentation, but staying true to their sound. That's hard to do. Lots of bands expand their musical and song writing ability then depart from what the fans liked in the first place. 311 has not done that. I believe they are progressing along with their fans. They are now less gritty, yes, but they are progressing into a deeper more cerebral type of music. As we get older and change from the recklessness of youth, 311 is right there with us in a musical lockstep.