We have all heard the story before.

Everyone knows that person who had that favorite band who they used to go see in the tiny rock clubs all the time "back in the day," and then that tiny band became huge and sold millions of records world-wide--and now that fan has abandoned them for being "trendy."

I find myself wondering whether this person ever considers the music, or if they just do not want to like the same band a 12-year-old girl now considers her "favorite band."

Such is the case for me and the band Incubus. Sure, it's annoying that two million little girls --and annoying mindless ones our age --scream for singer Brandon Boyd's sexiness and ignore the music that his band makes. But I find myself immune to making rash decisions on what bands I can and cannot like on the bad taste that the rest of the band's fans leave in the pit of my stomach, or by how successful a band becomes.

That being said, Incubus stopped being "my little baby band" after the huge success of 1999's Make Yourself, which contains hits such as "Drive," "Stellar" and "Pardon Me."

But before that, there was S.C.I.E.N.C.E., Incubus' overlooked second album, released in 1997. Poor sales, however, do not in any way translate to a bad record. On the contrary, S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is the best Incubus record to date. Although it's not as focused of an effort as Make Yourself or 2001's Morning View, and it lacks the maturity of 2004's A Crow Left of the Murder, the appropriately titled S.C.I.E.N.C.E. contains the band's most unique work.

That being said, I am no way saying that Incubus has ever made a bad album. I enjoy Make Yourself and A Crow Left of the Murder very much, and although I'm not a big fan of Morning View, it has its moments as well and still proved to be a very strong effort.

If I had to put S.C.I.E.N.C.E. into a category, I would call it art metal, or if you must have a category that ends in core, let's call it apple core. Just kidding.

The album contains elements of hip-hop, funk and metal, calling on influences that range from Faith No More to Primus. From the beginning through the ridiculously long, but hilarious, hidden track Incubus takes listeners on a wild ride through it's wonderful twisted world of musical fusion. The album begins with "Redefine," featuring Boyd's rap-style vocal verses over a funk-rock track, which gives way to a heavier chorus. This song sets the mood of the album, as Boyd sings in the chorus, "I'm sick of limiting myself to fit your definition."

Songs such as "Vitamin" and "New Skin" are two of the heaviest songs on the record, but feature Boyd's bongo drums, something a little different for an act that was considered Ozzfest-material at the time.

The record was released in 1997, which means a million other rock bands had not yet added their DJs into the mix, but Incubus' DJ Lyfe (later replaced by DJ Kilmore) was adding many electronic elements to songs such as "Magic Medicine" and the tempo-changing "Nebula," which also features some insane drum work by Jose Pasillas.

The real story of this, and every Incubus album, is the guitar work by Mike Einziger. He experiments with tons of effects throughout S.C.I.E.N.C.E., but does not over do it. He shows depth as a musician throughout the album, whether it be with hard-rock riffs on the anti-procrastination anthem, "A Certain Shade of Green," crazy effects and tempo changes in "Calgone" or the great guitar solos on the stripped down hippie-rock tune "Deep Inside," my favorite song on the record. If you have ever grooved to A Crow Left of the Murder, then go get S.C.I.E.N.C.E., and then you will understand why the band turned its back on the droning boringness of Morning View, and went in a more experimental direction.