Incubus is no longer a new band. This is the fact they had to come to terms with as they sifted through more than a decade´s worth of playing, six studio albums, 12 top 10 hits including four #1 spots on the Billboard charts and an abundance of pirated audio and visual candy, as they prepared to release their career marking greatest hits album, Monuments and Melodies.

In an interview with LiveDaily, frontman Brandon Boyd detailed the process of ¨dealing¨ with creating the difficult undergoing of what is greatest hits album. ¨I'm coming to terms with it daily,¨ Boyd said, expressing what seems a late coming realization that Incubus is no longer a new band. ¨It's slightly humbling. I allowed the humbling process to take place and then I decided to get excited about the fact that we've been a band for almost 20 years and none of us have tried to kill each other yet.¨

In the end, it seems Incubus decided to take advantage of the originally less than thrilling opportunity of fulfilling what guitarist Michael Einzinger described to Billboard as a ¨contractual obligation.¨ But, things change. ¨It was almost like we were trying to come up with an excuse to go on a tour for the summer,¨ Einzinger explains, ¨we started thinking about a the idea of putting out a greatest hits album and having that as the excuse to accompany the tour we were planning.¨

As difficult as it may be to face the fact that they´re nearly middle aged rockers with more than enough material under their belts to undertake such an effort, Boyd does realize the timing is right for this kind of album. ¨It's appropriate for us to create this benchmark, as it were, a way for us to signify that this is what we've done thus far.¨

Einzinger also talks about the band coming around after making the decision. ¨It became really obvious that greatest hits records are really important to the legacy of any band… so we began realizing that it's in fact really an honor to be able to put together a greatest hits package.¨

The 2 disc album´s name, Monuments and Melodies, was even affected by the bands general hesitance at creating an ¨Incubus: Greatest Hits,¨ and their desire of not having to ¨subscribe completely to the notion that it was a greatest hits record.¨ After going through a few ideas and digging through some older music, Boyd says, ¨Monuments and Melodies sort of arose and the lyric on it… that refers to where one has been and where one is going, and being sort of in praise of the process of growth. It just seemed like an appropriate title.¨

Monuments and Melodies, also available in a special 4 disc LP, is comprised of some of Incubus´ most well known hits including Pardon Me, Wish you were here and Drive. There are also some brand new goodies, including 2 singles, Black Heart Inertia which was released on April 16th, and Midnight Swim, not to mention some fun covers like Prince´s Let´s go crazy. Each CD will also contain a special code which fans can use to access The Vault, a new area on the enjoyincubus.com website, full of never seen or heard before treasures that are bound to be ripped off and spread all over the web soon enough.

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