Thanks to the funky-ish metal on their early albums and tours with the likes of Korn and 311 in the late Nineties, Incubus have always carried a faint whiff of new metal — despite the fact that they abandoned any traces of that sound long ago. On its sixth long-player, the California quintet reteams with producer Brendan O'Brien and comes ever closer to becoming active-rock radio's most sensitive, romantic and adventurous marquee act. The title track bursts from the gates at breakneck speed, turning Incubus into a less-psychotic version of Butthole Surfers: Razor-sharp riffage and singer Brandon Boyd's incoherent shrieks smack against a rhythmic tidal wave that swells but never breaks. Then there's "Oil and Water" and "Love Hurts," a pair of mammoth ballads the Chili Peppers might have authored. At its worst, Light Grenades is a little scattered, but when it's good, Incubus sound only like their hard-rocking sentimental selves — ten years after being written off as a rap-rock band, that's no small achievement.

“Tonight's the Night”

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."