8 (Incubus album)

8 is the eighth studio album by American rock band Incubus.[1] It was released on April 21, 2017, through Island Records.[2] The album takes its name from being the band's eighth LP. The release of 8 in 2017 saw the longest time between full-length albums for Incubus. The album was previously produced by Dave Sardy, and later re-produced and mixed by Skrillex, a close friend of the band.[3] The album's first single, "Nimble Bastard", peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in April 2017.[4]

8
Studio album by Incubus
Released	April 21, 2017
Recorded	2016–2017
Genre	Alternative rock indie rock electronic rock pop rock
Length	40:12
Label	Island
Producer	Incubus Dave Sardy (uncredited) Leandro Dusso Jr. Sonny Moore
Incubus chronology
Trust Fall (Side A) (2015) 8 (2017) Trust Fall (Side B) (2020)
Singles from 8
"Nimble Bastard" Released: February 16, 2017 "Loneliest" Released: December 12, 2017 "No Fun" Released: January 31, 2018

Background

The writing for 8 began at the end of 2015, when the band was putting together Side B of their Trust Fall EP. However, with the amount of quality content they were producing, they decided to release an LP instead.[5] Recording took place throughout 2016 and 2017, with production and remixing occurring throughout the cycle, including a few weeks before the final release. This was due to Skrillex's late involvement with the project.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	45/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
The A.V. Club	C[8]
Consequence of Sound	C[9]
The Guardian	[10]
Newsday	B+[11]
Sputnikmusic	[12]

8 received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 45 based on 7 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[6]

Many listeners praised the band's return to rock with tracks like "Throw Out the Map" and "No Fun", the overall quality of production, as well as Brandon Boyd's vocal range,[7] while others criticized the lack of personality within the album.[8]

Commercial performance

8 debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, moving 52,000 album-equivalent units; it sold 49,000 copies in its first week, with the remainder of its unit total reflecting the album's streaming activity and track sales.[13] In the second week, the album dropped at No.127, but re-surfaced within the top 100 at No.53 in the third week.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Incubus.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"No Fun"	3.21
2.	"Nimble Bastard"	3:39
3.	"State of the Art"	3:46
4.	"Glitterbomb"	4:45
5.	"Undefeated"	3:56
6.	"Loneliest"	3:37
7.	"When I Became a Man"	0:56
8.	"Familiar Faces"	3:26
9.	"Love in a Time of Surveillance"	4:55
10.	"Make No Sound in the Digital Forest" (instrumental)	3:23
11.	"Throw Out the Map"	4:28
Total length:		40:12

Japan edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Nimble Bastard" (acoustic)	3:20
Total length:		43:32

Personnel

Personnel as listed in the album's liner notes are:[14]

Incubus

• Brandon Boyd – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, percussion, additional production (tracks 1, 3, 6-8, 10), art direction
• Michael Einziger – lead guitar, piano, backing vocals, string orchestration and arrangements, conducting, additional production (tracks 1, 3, 6-8, 10), additional engineering
• Jose Pasillas II – drums
• Chris Kilmore – piano, keyboards, mellotron, organ, turntables
• Ben Kenney – bass, backing vocals

Recording

• Dave Sardy – production (uncredited)
• Skrillex – co-production (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7), electric guitar, additional production (11), mixing (1-6, 8-9, 11)
• James Monti – engineer
• Cameron Barton – assistant engineer
• Matt Tuggle – 2nd engineer
• Bryan Dimaio – 3rd engineer
• Gabe Sackier – additional engineering
• Todd Hurtt – additional engineering
• Gentry Studer – mastering

Artwork

• Brantley Gutierrez – art direction, band photography
• Alberto Erazo – design

Charts

Chart (2017)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15]	20
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16]	13
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[17]	100
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[18]	66
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[19]	15
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20]	97
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[21]	20
Italian Albums (FIMI)[22]	44
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[23]	3
Scottish Albums (OCC)[24]	43
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[25]	40
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26]	20
UK Albums (OCC)[27]	35
US Billboard 200[13]	4

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label	Ref.
Worldwide	April 21, 2017	Digital download streaming CD	Island	[28]

References

1. "Incubus Premiere New Song "Glitterbomb", Detail New Album "8"". March 16, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
2. "Incubus Release '8' Album Details + New Song 'Glitterbomb". Retrieved April 16, 2017.
3. "Incubus on Creative 'Recharging,' Skrillex Team-Up, 'S.C.I.E.N.C.E.' at 20".
4. "Incubus - Chart history - Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
5. "Mike Einziger on 26 Years of Incubus and How '8' Reenergized the Band".
6. "Reviews for 8 by Incubus". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
7. "8 - Incubus".
8. "Charly Bliss, The Black Angels, Incubus, and more in this week's music reviews".
9. Weiss, Dan (April 17, 2017). "Incubus – 8". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
10. Mumford, Gwilym (April 20, 2017). "Incubus: 8 review – middling return by the gentlest of the nu-metallers". The Guardian. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
11. "'8' review: Incubus ends hiatus with its most focused album".
12. "Review: Incubus 8".
13. Caulfield, Keith (April 30, 2017). "Kendrick Lamar's 'DAMN.' Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200, Incubus & 'Guardians 2' Debut in Top 10". Billboard. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
14. 8 (booklet). Island Records. 2017.
15. "Australiancharts.com – Incubus – 8". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
16. "Austriancharts.at – Incubus – 8" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
17. "Ultratop.be – Incubus – 8" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
18. "Ultratop.be – Incubus – 8" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
19. "On The Charts: May 1, 2017". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Incubus – 8" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
21. "Offiziellecharts.de – Incubus – 8" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
22. "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 17 (dal 2017-04-21 al 2017-04-27)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
23. "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. May 1, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
24. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
25. "Top 100 Albumes — Semana 17: del 21.04.2017 al 27.04.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
26. "Swisscharts.com – Incubus – 8". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
27. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
28. "Incubus 8 - Amazon.com". Amazon.com.