311's Greatest Hits 'Greatest Hits 93-03' album

When we last saw 311, the Nebraska-bred quintet was roaming the planet in support of its acclaimed sixth album From Chaos.

As smash hit single "Amber" blanketed radio and MTV, the band went on a year-long trek, headlining several U.S. tours, canvassing Europe with Incubus and returning to the States to co-headline the Sprite Liquid Mix Tour, a multi-flavored road show with Jay-Z, Hoobastank, N.E.R.D. and Nappy Roots.

"The Liquid Mix Tour brought us back to the early days, when we had to win over new crowds almost every night. But over the years, we've played with everyone from Public Enemy and Kiss to Lenny Kravitz and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, so we've become pretty fearless about approaching diverse crowds. Besides, once you see us live, we've got you," says bassist P-Nut.

311 truly has developed a reputation as one of America's great live acts. In fact, bands such as No Doubt, Korn, Sugar Ray, Incubus and Deftones all opened for 311 on their own way to headlining status.

"At one point during the Liquid Mix tour, Jay-Z came over to me and said, `Wow, you guys drew more people than I did," says vocalist Nick Hexum. "It was cool to get props from him and win over new audiences. We were on a mission every night and I think we succeeded more often than not."

When all was said and done, From Chaos, which entered the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at No. 10, spawned two Top 10 hits ("You Wouldn't Believe" and "Amber") and one that made the Top 15 ("I'll Be Here Awhile"), while selling more than a half-million copies (overall 311's seven album catalog has sold almost seven million copies).

So what will the influential hip-hop and reggae-fied rock band do for an encore?

"Something a little different," smiles Hexum, who began plotting 311's next step long before the tour ended. "The goal was to move forward with the same spirit of adventure that we had in the old days," he says. "So we went into the studio with the freedom to do whatever we wanted. It was incredibly liberating and resulted in our most ambitious record to date."

Appropriately titled Evolver, the new disc broadens any preconceived notions of what a 311 album is supposed to sound like. The band stretches out here with an intoxicatingly tuneful album that's everything modern rock should be: hard and hooky and full of sonic surprises. "It's more of a rock record than anything we've done in the past," says Hexum. "We kept the key elements of our signature sound while experimenting with tempo changes and incorporating different instruments into the mix."

To get it right, the band spent nine months in The Hive, a recording studio they purchased in 2000 and named after their loyal fan club. "Having your own studio can be both a blessing and a curse," says P-Nut. "The good part is that you can work on a song for as long as you want without worrying about the clock and the dollars that tick away. The bad part is that you can work on a song for as long as you want without worrying about the clock and the dollars that tick away." To keep them on track, the band brought back longtime collaborator Ron Saint Germain (Bad Brains, Tool, Creed), who worked with them on both the last record and 1995's Triple-Platinum "Blue" album.

About Germain, Hexum says, "We've wanted to work with Saint ever since our college days in Lincoln, Nebraska, when we were listening to his work on Bad Brains' Quickness and thinking it was the most incredible-sounding record we'd ever heard. We've had great success with him in the past, so we wanted to bring him back into the fold. He gets really excited and animated and rocks out when we play, which is a great confidence booster. Plus, he's a full-service guy who produces, engineers and mixes and does all three extremely well."

With Evolver, 311 move onto a whole new plane, propelled by tracks such as "Crack the Code," an easy-flowing dancehall love song of focused, soulful restraint, and "Don't Dwell," which floats an irresistibly sunny melody over a thick slap-bass rhythm. On the "think for yourself"-inspired "Reconsider Everything," which Hexum penned after reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, reggae vocals and deuling guitar leads are combined with Bad Brains-like punk riffage. The band slams out one of its heaviest songs to date in lead single "Creatures (For A While)," an amphetamine-paced track inspired by Hexum's call to "forget about the stress of modern life and just become animals for a while. Just live and breathe and do whatever comes instinctually without worrying about how you might be perceived by society."

Among Evolver's many highlights is the warm, Mellotron-driven "Seems Uncertain," the epic "Sometimes Jacks Rule The Realm" and the beautiful, harmony-filled "Beyond The Gray Sky," which Hexum wrote after learning of a friend's suicide. "It happened while we were on tour and was very tough for me to deal with," he says. "Our friendship goes back to high school, where we were inseparable. I really felt helpless and tried to think about how he was feeling and what would push him that far. The song is me basically asking, why couldn't you see beyond the gray sky? Why couldn't you see that things will get better?"

Evolver is an enhanced CD featuring interviews with the band along with a documentary on the making of the album cover. About the latter, Hexum says, "We wanted a design that had a real `60s vibe. So we rented out the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles (where RFK was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in '68) and constructed an elaborate set in the lobby. We appear on the cover, which is a first for us, surrounded by surreal characters and images. The clerk at the checkout counter has a fishbowl on his head. There's a boy lighting a bonfire while sitting on a patch of grass in the middle of the room. There's an old man reaching through a mirror. It's very Salvador Dali-esque and perfectly matches the sounds on the album. We wanted to re-create that experience of listening to a record while poring over the album art and finding something new each time you look at it."

Remarkably, Evolver comes a decade after the release of 311's major label debut Music. "Back then, we dreamt about having a career that would last this long," says Hexum. "We always believed it was possible because there was a certain chemistry between us. We all started as friends in Omaha and went on to experience a new life together. Along the way, we've stayed dedicated to the music and the fans and ten years later, we're still here. Now we're spreading our wings again with Evolver and hoping the fans like it enough to come along with us for another ten years."

Nick Hexum ? Vocals, Guitars
S.A. Martinez ? Vocals
Tim Mahoney ? Guitars
P-Nut ? Bass
Chad Sexton - Drums

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311's Greatest Hits - Greatest Hits 93-03