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July 2011 News Archive

311 - Universal Pulse

Today, 311 released Universal Pulse, their tenth studio album. It's a short album with only eight songs, but each of them is pretty solid. This album, I think, benefits from its brevity. While 311's last effort, Uplifter, was similarly solid, it suffered from having too many weak tracks. Aside from perhaps "Trouble," there really are no weak tracks or repitition in styles on Universal Pulse. The fact that there are so few weak tracks makes this album most suitable as an example of what 311 do best.

Here are my brief reviews of the songs:

  1. Time Bomb - A song about their fans and their live show. It's a good song, but nothing special.
  2. Wild Nights - A great up-tempo song about their younger days as a band. Great guitar solo. It think it would make a good radio single.
  3. Sunset in July - Their first radio single from the album, which, to me, was a confusing choice because there is nothing special about this song. It's a song about playing live shows in the summer while the sun is setting.
  4. Trouble - The weakest track on the album, in my opinion.
  5. Count Me In - Infectious and funky, with a reggae groove throughout and a great rap by Nick at ~1:55. Currently my favorite song on the album.
  6. Rock On - A heavy song with strong guitars, hip-hop vocals, and a cool guitar solo close the song.
  7. Weightless - A song with great guitar work, a good message, and, for better or worse, an unforgettable chorus. The only weak part is Nick's disjointed vocals to start the bridge.
  8. And a Ways to Go - One of 311's most unique songs. Spacey vocals from Nick with slow raps from SA in between. Closes with a finger-tapping bass solo that morphs into an atmospheric and decidedly cheery repeated chant from SA.

Purchase Universal Pulse: CD or mp3 download

Moab!

Mindy's friend, Devon, was in town visiting, so we decided to bring her to Moab, UT to see what southern Utah has to offer. It turned out to be a great weekend. We did some hiking, some sightseeing and photography, and we capped off the weekend with a short whitewater rafting trip down the Colorado River.