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+--- Thread: 311 - Stereolithic (/showthread.php?tid=10276)
311 - Stereolithic - Music Head - 22-03-2014
enters the Billboard chart this week at #6
Spotify online listen
3.5 of 5.0 from allmusic
11 albums yet this is my first listen for this band
couldn't come up with a sounds like which is good
nothing caught my fancy
artist website - http://www.311.com/
Bio - from allmusic
![[Image: MI0003686579.jpg?partner=allrovi.com]](http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/686/MI0003686579.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
311's fusion of reggae and rap-metal was created in Omaha, Nebraska, where singer/guitarist Nick Hexum, DJ/singer S.A. Martinez, guitarist Tim
Mahoney, drummer Chad Sexton, and the bassist known only as P-Nut launched the group in 1990. Taking their name from the Omaha Police
Department's code for indecent exposure, the quintet began gigging locally and soon moved to Los Angeles, signing with Capricorn Records in
1991. 311 then translated their regional success into national recognition with several key albums, including 1992's Music, 1993's Grassroots,
and 1995's eponymous 311 (aka The Blue Album), the latter of which reached number 12 on the album chart, sold three million copies in the U.S.,
and sported the hit tracks "All Mixed Up" and "Down."
In 1996, following a nonstop year of touring in support of 311, the band released Enlarged to Show Detail, a home video of live performances
taken from amphitheater shows in Kansas City and Denver. Transistor, a double album of new songs sandwiched onto one CD, arrived one year later
and prompted the group's most ambitious tour yet. The album soon achieved platinum status, and the resulting show dates provided ample material
for Live, which was released in 1998 and captured the band's strength in concert. A year later, 311 returned with Soundsystem before jumping to
the Volcano label for the release of From Chaos, which appeared in summer 2001. Evolver appeared two years later; unlike its predecessors,
however, the album failed to go gold or platinum.
By now, 311 had been together over ten years, and the band celebrated its decade-plus existence with the Greatest Hits compilation. Released in
July 2004, the album included all of 311's hit singles, several new tracks, and the band's reggae-tinged cover of the Cure's "Love Song," which
had originally appeared on the soundtrack to the Adam Sandler film 50 First Dates. 311 presented new material in August 2005 with the Don't
Tread on Me LP, followed by an additional round of touring. Upon its completion, the road-weary musicians took a hiatus, their first break in
nearly ten years. 311 soon returned to the studio, however, this time partnering with mega-producer Bob Rock. Heralded by frontman Nick Hexum as
"the heaviest 311 has ever been," the resulting Uplifter arrived in 2009. Rock returned in 2011 for the band's tenth studio album, Universal
Pulse. In 2014, 311 released their 11th studio effort, the Scott "Scotch" Ralston-produced and independently released Stereolithic.
Album Review - from allmusic
![[Image: MI0003697069.jpg?partner=allrovi.com]](http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_400/MI0003/697/MI0003697069.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
311's eleventh studio-album, 2014's Stereolithic, finds the long-running rap-rock ensemble sticking to their time-tested sound, while displaying
a more mature lyrical sense and a deepened sense of their musical influences. The band's first completely independent release since their 1993
debut, Stereolithic reunites 311 with producer Scott "Scotch" Ralston, who previously helmed the band's 1997 album Transistor and 1998's
Soundsystem. The pairing clearly works, and in a lot of ways, Stereolithic sounds like a classic 311 album. Still present are lead singer Nick
Hexum's laid-back croon, Doug "SA" Martinez's positive-minded raps, guitarist Tim Mahoney's slick yet fuzz-heavy rock sound, and bassist Aaron
"P-Nut" Willis and drummer Chad Sexton's funky, dance-oriented rhythms. Stereolithic is a longer album at 15 tracks, with a heavy emphasis on
songs built around the rub between Mahoney's deep sonic guitar slabs and Hexum's sweet-toned vocals. Tracks like "Ebb and Flow," "Revelation of
the Year," and "The Great Divide" are old-school, funk-infused jams rooted in '90s grunge and alternative hip-hop aesthetic. Their maturity
comes through in the band's use of harmonies, subtle melodic devices, and lyrics that find Hexum and the rest of 311 contemplating their harried
adult lives as aging rock stars. On "Ebb and Flow," Martinez raps, "Always on the go and you're thirty thirty/ Gotta make the ends and get dirty
dirty/Will it ever end?/Is it worthy?" Ultimately, this increased sense of self-reflection pays off, as we find that on Stereolithic, 311 have
crafted a mature, sophisticated album thatâs made the group more than worthy of our time than ever before.
the single but it wouldn't be my pick:
[video=youtube;DSGtm-vzfpw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSGtm-vzfpw[/video]
Track Listing
1. Ebb and Flow
2. Five of Everything
3. Showdown
4. Revelation of the Year
5. Sand Dollars
6. Boom Shanka
7. Make It Rough
8. The Great Divide
9. Friday Afternoon
10. Simple True
11. First Dimension
12. Made in the Shade
13. Existential Hero
14. The Call
15. Tranquility
311 - Stereolithic - SteveO - 22-03-2014
Quite like the single, but nothing great here!
311 - Stereolithic - donttalktostrangers - 23-03-2014
I think they make bad music. Way too contrived. I've listen to a couple of albums by them, not terrible but not a great experience. One time flipping the channels I caught a live special and it was hilariously pathetic. I don't like musical performance that is completely rote, it lacks passion. The sign of bad musicianship.
311 - Stereolithic - SavvyNomad - 21-05-2014
donttalktostrangers Wrote:I think they make bad music. Way too contrived. I've listen to a couple of albums by them, not terrible but not a great experience. One time flipping the channels I caught a live special and it was hilariously pathetic. I don't like musical performance that is completely rote, it lacks passion. The sign of bad musicianship.
Haha, nice one man. You listened to a few albums? Which albums? Contrived? LOL, huh? Rote? What? LOL, your "review" kills me. It simply says, "I'm jealous of the band 311, because of something in my life, so I'll spend some time generating a high level bash of non sense about their music." It's all good, 311 knows your type and calls them out in the lyrics of Transistor, see below. As for musicianship, until you're playing guitar like Tim Mahoney, Bass like P-Nut, or Drums like Chad... or until you can flow like the one S.A. Martinez, your opinion has little merit! Take it easy, stay positive and love your life!
"Music critics, music critics
Not afraid of a guy who'll tell you he's never been in a mix
Been in a mix, been in a mix
We're from the grassroots, so big up to our friends
Every crew, every click and every posse
Big up to all the heads not of hypocrisy"
311 - Stereolithic - jazzboCR - 21-05-2014
Yo, SavvyNomad--not looking to start a war but your first post is a trashing of a member--not his opinion (which I find valid) but the member himself. Might give another thought to why you are here and the value of other's personas. I detest Michael Bolton and have said so here but would never talk sh!t about those who like him. Capisce?
311 - Stereolithic - SavvyNomad - 21-05-2014
Yo Jazzbo, validate your opinion, and help donttalktostrangers validate his. My post, not unlike yours, was calling out his opinion...not sure where you perceived me attacking, but anywho...please provide more than some high level flame on a band's body of work if you're going to criticize their performances. Provide more details please. Thanks.
311 - Stereolithic - jazzboCR - 26-05-2014
SavvyNomad Wrote:Yo Jazzbo, validate your opinion, and help donttalktostrangers validate his. My post, not unlike yours, was calling out his opinion...not sure where you perceived me attacking, but anywho...please provide more than some high level flame on a band's body of work if you're going to criticize their performances. Provide more details please. Thanks.No. I'm done on this Thread so I can free myself to talk about the important, and, more importantly, the positive. Have a nice day.
311 - Stereolithic - SavvyNomad - 02-06-2014
Haha, jazz, it's because you can't. 311 is unique, very talented, and completely opposite of either contrived or rote. Bottom line. Lol, though, sorry to have incarcerated you...go free butterfly, go free... Peace.
311 - Stereolithic - SteveO - 02-06-2014
Music is subjective ...to each his own...case closed!
311 - Stereolithic - Banafrith - 02-06-2014
I've always had kind of a mixed soft spot and dislike for 311. One of my first ever favorite songs when I was little was Amber by them. Almost all of their stuff that I've heard usually sounds good until the silly rapping parts come in. Not really a huge fan, but I've always felt like they had potential at some point, and they do have a couple good songs here and there.