311: From Chaos : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Stakes in the rock-rap world have risen since 311 hatched a decade ago. But on their sixth album, From Chaos, the Nebraska-bred noisemakers take little notice, sticking faithfully to their frenzied swirl of styles: funky bass lines, headbang riffs, earnest rhymes and peppy ska. The songs that take a break from the band's signature mish-mash work best - the bright lounge pop of "Champagne" and the breezy backyard-barbecue jam "Amber" are welcome respites. Mostly, though, 311 sling melodramatic metal riffs and whiny verses every which way, and their once-novel fusion seems unfocused and flat. In one of his more eloquent mike moments, leadman S.A. boasts, "Makin' that hybrid music in the Nineties, now it's on ya/I hear we were the model for your band you front/We spawned ya." 311's no-boundaries approach and goofy energy did influence some of today's genre-bending groups. But any importance the band may hold in rock rap's family tree is offset by the unremitting corniness of lyrics such as "All of the sudden, ah, I usurp you/Look it up in the dictionary to find out what I do." This messy mix needs a new-millennium overhaul.

KATHRYN MCGUIRE
(RS 874 - August 2, 2001)