311 - Transistor

[INF]

"Transistor" (Music: Sexton; Lyrics: Hexum/Martinez) -

awesome.

the rhythms here are all over the place. Theres about 3 tempos. Breaking an album off like this is how you do it. This is also a good showcase of how good a combo nick and SA make. I remember when this came out how a lot of ppl were pissed cuz they came like this in the single. For its time and place they came innovative with this track. I loved to bang this then AND now.

5/5



"Prisoner" (Hexum; Hexum/Martinez) -

Classic 311 sound.

If I woulda had the chance to hear this album when it came out and didn't know the single I would have guessed that this would be their first go for a single off this album. Transistor was the first single though. PRisoner was the last go at a single. In my opinion they coulda pushed 2 more and sold the shit outta this record.

5/5




"Galaxy" (Sexton; Martinez) -


The Reverb on that crunchy ass guit is BADASS! Straight up sounds live. I bought the Live album they put out and though all the songs are performed faster this is one that shines live because of that guit. Its sounds the same in and out of the studio and thats ill.

As far as SA on this track goes.......he comes thru. There are times when SA can be straight generic. I dont know how else to call it that that. On this though there is an effect over his Voice that makes it dope cuz its gritty and doubled and clear at the same time.


I keep saying the EQ on this album is outrageous. They went all out. SA dont just come thru on this track he straight went off on some real shit. The BIGGER picture. other Galaxies and shit. Purpose to life and all that.


the outro is tight too with the cpu noises in the feedback.


5/5






"Beautiful Disaster" (Hexum) -


This is the second single.Its yet another joint that keeps to the 311 blueprint. They got this formula thats like their own version of reggae. It works cuz its hard.


Listen to the drums on this at the end of the Chorus.....good grief. The riff is on some killer shit too. This has the hardness of the Grassroots album but its so spaced out. They mutated on this album.


I love how the riff is built. Total use of the guitar.

5/5





"Inner Light Spectrum" (Sexton/Martinez; Martinez) -



Great ambiance over this. Great Dub effects. You cant fight the Melodie. Great vibe and great lyrics equals a great track. The solo is the cherry on top.CHERRY GARCIA! lmao real heads know.







5/5




"Electricity" (Hexum) -


This track shows you they really thought out the arrangement. Look how they pick it back up with this one.

The guits have some "hired Gun"(bad brains) type of tone or feel to them in my opinion and I like how the drum line fucks with you when they dig back into the main riff.


only thing I could say is P-Nut get Loose already but then here comes the next track.



5/5












"What Was I Thinking" (Hexum) -



If it was a bass off between P-nut and Les(primus) Claypool , I think P could hang for a minute before he got ate up. Flea Vs Les is a thread in itself though.


This track kinda sounds like it mighta been a throwback throwaway. Its tight that they bring in P like that but Hexum dominates this track a lil too strong.

SA coulda saved them Scratches at the end too.


3/5





"Jupiter" (Sexton; Hexum/Martinez) -


The track is so ILL that if SA couldnt have came better then he shoulda stayed off.

SA almost ruins this with that wack generic flow and horrible vocal. Shit aint even in key. Its a better track then "what was I thinking" though. and it probably sounds dope live all the way through.


3/5




"Use of Time" (Hexum) -



This one is kinda Cheesy. The highlight is the soloing and the way the song shifts into its change. If the bass part woulda been poppin better it coulda saved this track more. The bass was so simple and the guit strumming was campfire-ish.

The track as a whole isnt so bad though and like I said the soloing is top notch.


4/5








"The Continuous Life" (Sexton; Martinez) -


This is supposed to be about an out of body experience.

I love the way the track starts out. You got that good echo ambient vibe going and then the change is on some complete random shit. I can understand having Dynamics but at least have the notes match.The changes just dont make sense till the end but even still it seems random.


maybe thats what an out of body experience is like....

I really cant call the highlight of this track.


2/5





"No Control" (Hexum; Hexum/Martinez) -


Here is another random track. It sounds like 2 other older songs and then them fuckin CHANGES ....damn. Its like when its time for a change in the riff then it just came outta somebodys ass.

You can tell that the one that wrote the first 5 or 6 song's changes didnt write the shit in the middle of the album. Its obvious.


This track is just generic 311 getting by on the track (FILLER)


1/5







"Running" (Mahoney; Martinez) -


Tim Mahoney probably wrote the first 5 songs cuz this is where we get right back into that experimental shit. That good shit.

This track is straight FUNKY. It coulda been a single. The 4th single.

SA comes through with a tight Melodie and handles his biz. the changes here are all fantastic. Its like a new day funky ass Greatful Dead.


Good stuff.


5/5




"Color" (Sexton) -

Tight Instrumental.


Look at the Credits- Chad wrote this shit. The Drummer. The Rudiments are fresh against this riff. I cant think of any instrumentals off of the previous albums and so this is something like a treat.

They show you a wide variety on this album.


5/5





"Light Years" (Hexum) -


5th single right here.


This coulda been a single instead of Prisoner.


The sound on this is AMAZING.There so many sounds in this. Its crazy.


Listen at the duel drums. There is a track under the live drums. Shit is tight. This is another track that bangs LIve. I've had this track on mixtapes since it came out and ppl that straight hate 311 give them props for this track when they hear it.


I dont need to even say anymore.


5/5




"Creature Feature" (Wills; Martinez) -



This is a weird one from SA. Its got that oddball feel of randomness but that goofy bassline keeps it going. I really cant say its a poor performance but its just one of them songs that you hear and know that you havent really heard anything like it before so ....there is a strangeness to it.

good track though.


4/5


"Rub a Dub" -


Ire! This track is like a Jamaican drive or some shit. Alright I never been to Jamaica but this track has that vibe to it. Its some "right near tha beach" type shit .....boyyyyyyyy.


5/5


"Tune In" -


FIller track

2/5




"Starshines" (Sexton; Hexum/Martinez) -


This track is FILLER too. There are 2 types of filler on this album though. Rehashed "they done it before and its cheesy" filler and "they tried to get experimental aand failed" Filler.

this here is "they tried to get experimental and failed" filler.

2/5







"Strangers" (Hexum) -

See "No COntrol". shit is wack.


1/5








"Borders" (Sexton; Hexum/Martinez) -


filler


1/5




"Stealing Happy Hours" (Hexum) -


This is a great ending. Its a surprise when you look at the last few joints but somehow they capture the essence here again and follow through.

This is the best Hexum track. The whole groove is solid.


5/5










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so over all this is a 21 track album and you got 11 Five star joints and 2 that were four outta five.

21 minus 13 leaves you with 8 joints that coulda been cut to make the best 311 album in the catalog.

even out of those 8 wack joints I'm sure that 3 of em could even still make it out the mud.



and with that I'll give this album an above average or 4/5 rating.

[crust]

awesome. pure awesome. ive always been a fan. takes me back to high school days, lol. beautiful disaster is my fav track from them. its an all around dope song. i wanted to go see em when they came into town with snoop but never made it out. wish i could of tho. that woulda been sweet!!!!




i bet the mixture of people in the crowd was amazing...hahaha!



"i dont care if you got a skateboard or a sixty four, we gunna blaze!"



peace

[INF]

yeah Snoop and 311 would be as boss as Snoop and Metallica (3rd or so Lollopalooza).

I remember hearing that and not giving a fuck cuz I gave up on 311 a long time ago.





I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID ABOUT 3 or maybe 4 of the songs in the REVIEW that I said was Wack and gave a 2/5.

This is a CLASSIC album.


lets talk about it. Does anybody need a DL link????? I'm gonna PM somebody cuz I was reading the "top 10 fav rock alt albums thread" and I seen somebody say they had ALL the 311 albums.



We'll be back...

[benzo]

This is an average album from 311 IMO. I can appreciate the experimental vibe but the end result is just way too scattered and random. The dub feel of the album gets repititious and the reverb-drenched vocals do too. I think they did a MUCH better job on the Soundsystem album as far as blending different styles while maintaining the classic 311 punch. I'd put this next to the self-tiltled joint...both are a step down from the first two major releases. "311" was too stripped down and simple while "Transistor" seems bloated and over-done.

[INF]

I can see what you are saying.


I felt like Soundsystem was a bit too commercial. I liked it though , I bought that album when it came out. I still love Flowing and Leaving is Babylon. Matter of fact I played the whole album last night and remembered the whole shit. It was fun.


I remember reading interviews in Guitar World during the recording of Transistor and they all talked on some outrageous shit more so than other times I had read about(other album sessions).

One thing I havent done is listen to the last 3 joints - From Chaos , Dont Tread on Me and Evolver. I DL'd them last night and heard em this morning. They was Solid albums.


This is a SOLID band.


My Favorite album is always gonna be Grassroots though. Transistor is trying to take that though...

[benzo]

Yeah man, I remember those articles you mention. Leading up to the album, I got the feeling that they were working on something pretty "out there". One article had a huge pic of dudes in the control room with a HUGE glass piece lol...I guess that kinda sums up the album. From Chaos is solid album, everything after that I'm not feeling at all. They chose to appeal to the same age group that was their base in the 95-96 heyday as opposed to catering to their older, die-hard fans. Just the way I see it though... Peace.

[blackstar311]

transistor and grassroots are my fav 311 albums. they might be my fav albums period lol. 311 used to be so sick man. their new ish is weak tho. they got a new album coming out next year. it better be good haha or im givin up on them...

[oDoUoSoKo]

i really dislike this album, just heard it a few times...its not doing it for me.

[INF]

i really dislike this album, just heard it a few times...its not doing it for me.

Any specific reasons? just curious what turned you off.

[oDoUoSoKo]

well, it was boring as hell for one, second..it seemed to me like they were trying really hard to not go for anything in particular, or they were trying to make an experimental album, as opposed to just getting one by chance. They cant do reggae very well IMO, it just seems like Reggae fans that wanted to try it, no one ever told them they couldnt do it...so they kept doing it...idk, my opinions.

[INF]

thats cool Dusk I can respect that. I heard that before about them imitating reggae distastefully. I heard that from cats that were deep off into Reggae so I always viewed it as bias but you aint all that deep off into reggae like that and beyond that , like I said , I respect ur opinion or whatever.







There is a story of how Sublime and 311 happened to be on the same bill at a festival or outside gathering somewhere and while 311 had their equipment out but not being used , the Sublime dudes wrecked their shit. They detuned shit and deleted SA's samples and shit.

I'll have to find that story.Its funny.

[oDoUoSoKo]

daammn^^ thats pretty fucked up.