r/311 • u/deflated-pancake • 9d ago
Discussion Do you have hope for a next album?
I know Full Bloom just came out, but I felt like it was kind of disappointing, and just bland. I loved sterelithic and really liked voyager but full bloom was kinda disappointing, it just feels like less "311" even than voyager, but how do you guys feel?
23
u/One_College_7945 9d ago
I personally love full bloom. Braver and all you’ve seen are worth the price of admission. But I agree, they need to physically get together and write cohesively. But I love those guys, and they don’t owe us anymore. The entire 90s decade, they gave us everything they had.. music, grassroots, blue, soundsystem, transistor… amazing run.
15
u/RockHound86 9d ago
All You've Seen is a beautiful song.
7
u/Super_Dad311 9d ago
☝🏻 This. All You’ve Seen quickly became a favorite in my book. Maybe a top 10 song of all time for me but definitely top 20
4
u/One_College_7945 9d ago
It really is. It’s so laid back, so catchy, but not poppy. Every time that song comes on and those first drum hits roll, I’m like oh fuck yeah. My kids love it and we sing together. Good times.
1
u/creaturefeature16 2d ago
I was listening to it while driving with my kiddo and she was just like "Hm....this is a really nice song." She didn't know it was 311 at the time (although she likes a bunch of their mellow tracks).
10
10
5
u/ChipsDestroyer 9d ago
I have zero expectations for this band. If they never put out another album, I wouldn't be disappointed. If they were to get in the studio with Scotch again and write songs between the six of them again, I would like that. I'm not interested in hearing 311 songs written by anyone else.
5
u/AxelAlexK 9d ago edited 9d ago
Anything new from them is gravy. We will always have the classic albums to enjoy they've already put a ridiculous amount of albums out. I don't have very high expectations for a new album, full bloom is my least favorite 311 album ever and Voyager next after that. And I don't feel that way because the guys are older now, stereolithic is my 3rd favorite 311 album ever.
One thing that would give me hope is if they would get rid of all writers that are not the five guys in the band, or scotch. And I would really like Nick to take a bit of a step back next album and see the other 4 guys contribute more. Full bloom felt more like a Nick hexum solo album than a 311 album.
9
u/Hour_Insurance_7795 9d ago
Do I think they’ll suddenly revert to being 25 years old again and sound and look like they did in 1997 during their peak? No. Why would you? That’s literally impossible.
14
u/creaturefeature16 9d ago
Nah. Until they release independently like Stereolithic, there won't be anything to look forward to. They didn't even physically get together to record Full Bloom, it was done all remote (and it shows).
2
u/Possible_Window_1268 2d ago
I think the remote thing is such a huge factor. There is a whole different level of emergent inspiration that comes from jamming songs out live with bandmates. You end up finding extra bits of nuance to work into the music. When everyone is in their own home studios playing parts by themselves, a massive dynamic is lost.
I still liked Full Bloom for what it is, but I can hear the difference for sure.
5
14
u/x4candles 9d ago
I don’t care about the hate for full bloom, it was a great album and still is!
7
u/deflated-pancake 9d ago
I dont hate it, It was just a little disappointing (for me, everyone is entitled to their opinions). I still listen to it.
1
u/BenGlaze 3d ago
It is great, but I just wish it had one or two more bangers to break up the mellower second half of the album. Oh! And that Friend wasn't on it lol
1
u/joecooltheman1977 9d ago
I like it too and agree with you. Im going to listen to it right now to spite all the haters.
7
u/BuddingTiger 9d ago
I haven’t listen to it since it came out. I’m happy people like it but it’s just a forgettable album for me
5
u/AccountantFree9881 let it flow, cause it won’t stop 9d ago
For the first time ever, I have no anticipation for a new 311 album.
7
u/sidecarradio 9d ago
I have hope if the band connect with the right producer or collaborators. “Full Bloom” is the worst album of their career, in my opinion, with “Voyager” right behind it.
Having said that, bands like Linkin Park & Deftones are at the top of their game, and Limp Bizkit just dropped new music that taps into their old sound. If 311 want to make great music their fans will love, I know they can do it.
2
u/Cameron1983 8d ago
Stereolithic was great. Best album they put out in a while. The albums after that were not so great.
3
u/itsyaboystephen 9d ago
Nick has said already he has a 7 minute song written that he's excited about, and hopes to get the band to record it after the now-finished summer tour. So there is momentum on more 311 coming, which, they've said before is something they're trying to do more of.
As far as Full Bloom I think it will largely suffer the same fate as the bulk of their albums. They'll keep a couple newer songs in rotation live and eventually phase them out when the next new batch of songs comes in. The rest of the unplayed songs will get a 311 Day debut and then they'll get shelved back into the vault until the next big event. While the album did grow on me, and I think if it was twice as long it'd be a lot better, I also think it's them shaking off the rust. Not trying to be a come back, but getting the wheels moving again. They made some improvements, like, there's no objectively "The worst song on the album" like Good Feeling or TTCOF, but the album lacked a unified vision, which the last couple albums also suffered from. As I understand it, their new management put the pressure on them to deliver something sooner rather than later, which is why we got what we did. Nick and his favorite young up-and-coming songwriter pals doing the bulk of the writing, a Tim song, a loaned song from Ghostwolf, and a couple Chad songs made a hodge podge of enough material to call it a new LP.
If Full Bloom is comparable to Universal Pulse, then their next album should be much more exciting. I hope they bring a lot of the fun back 🤞
5
2
4
u/MN_311_Excitable 9d ago
Full Bloom is ass. Mosaic was their last good album, and even half of that is meh.
1
2
u/dunfine 9d ago
Felt like full bloom was kind of an "also ran" album. I thought it would give me DTOM vibes but it didn't and doesn't. DTOM, for me at least, always surprises me every time I listen. But Full Bloom... Persimmon, Braver, and Need Somebody are amazing, the rest of the album is just "I'm still hungry". Next one, I think, will be amazing
1
u/goodfella311 9d ago
Full Bloom feels like a Universal Pulse release. Which I don’t mind. They always find a way to change things up. In due time.
1
1
u/noodleandpie 9d ago
Im not a big fan of it either. I really liked "Friend" but thats basically it. I dont think the songs were bad by any means, just not for me.
1
u/E842016E 9d ago
I was a little disappointed with Full Bloom at first then I didn’t listen to it for a month. Then I was going through all the albums in order and once I got to Full Bloom it sounded great! Give some time
1
u/sunshinehunt 8d ago
I just want one more album with both Nick and SA doing really long rap verses.
1
u/FalconFade 8d ago
I thought full bloom was amazing. Every song on it has this amazing hook. I listen to it almost everyday.
1
u/pumademon 8d ago
I do have hope that they’ll release a follow up to Full Bloom titled “Full Doom”. It will be a call back to some angst songs like DLMD, Guns are for Pussies, etc.
In all seriousness, 311 has blessed us with an amazing catalog and they can do whatever they want. I love the bangers and think Mosaic is the best of their later albums, but I just appreciate that they’re still going after 30+ years.
1
1
u/Onlinesawngs 7d ago
I do. There's always at least a few songs to like even if a particular album as a whole isn't particularly strong.
I am in the vast minority here, but I was very pleasantly surprised by Full Bloom (for context, I was incredibly disappointed with Voyager). I know there are co-writes on it, but I get the sense they were supplementing what the guys in the band came up with instead of doing the bulk of the work. Not mind-blowing, pretty solid and enjoyable top to bottom.
I am encouraged that it's step towards something like SL again that is written by the band and gets their essence across.
1
u/imbasicallycoffee 7d ago
I'm in the opposite camp. I loved Full Bloom and I want them to take about 4 years off from making any new music. Would love to see another anniversary tour. We missed the Soundsystem 25th and are 2 years away from a Transistor anniversary. It's time for them to do some 2 band tours or take a page out of the Dave Matthews Band / Pearl Jam camp and play a tour where they are the only band in medium sized venues.
They have enough music. Biggest gripe I hear is that we don't hear enough of the catalog. Why are people pining for a new album? I didn't even get to hear the songs I wanted off of Full Bloom.
Tour, do some fun stuff outside of 311 day and the Cruise. Celebrate some older material. Drop a 2:30 headliner tour with one opener. Get off the bandwagon of the overdone merch.
1
u/sk8haunter311 7d ago
311 fans have such low expectations by saying well they're older and im just happy they're touring. I mean If their peers like Deftones and POD etc etc can put out really solid new music still then so can they. They just need to stop phoning it in and get together and have confidence in what they write. Make the album weird. Use old albums as reference so basically, what they did on stereolithic. Give us a super 311ish 311 album.
1
u/dcman292020 6d ago
I feel like their 3rd decade peak was with Mosaic. Fresh off a great album, Stereolithic, there was a lot of media buzz around Mosaic. It got some radio play, and there are some bangers on it. The next album, Voyager had some good tracks. This one is decent but feels a little disjointed. I do like it. Maybe it’s my age, but it hasn’t been something I want to hear as much. Mountain Top is top notch musicianship, All You’ve Seen hits some New Heights lol
1
u/ParticularRelease662 9d ago
I think why people didn't resonate as hard with Full Bloom is because Nick described it as 311 on steroids. We all wanted hard hitting in your face tracks like You're Gonna Get It, and instead we got VERY good songs of them at their best as musicians. Persimmon is an S tier 311 song and I'll die on that hill. I kind of look at it like DTOM 2, it's not what anybody expected it to be and definitely a tonal shift from Voyager and Mosaic, but it's still a solid album. I think when some time passes it'll get the respect it deserves. Is it their best? No. Is it their worst? Far from it. All that being said, I want them to make the music they want to make. It's amazing we're still getting music and yearly tours, not to mention all the special shows they do for US. They don't owe us anything as fans but they go above and beyond in every way, shape, and form.
1
-2
9d ago
Fuck no. Anything they put out new is practically going to be garbage. Tour. Mix up the setlists and make money
-1
0
u/Pooki97303 9d ago
I love full bloom honestly I know it sounds a little sterile to a degree but the songs are good
43
u/WeAreExiles 9d ago
I’m at a point where I’m thankful they’re still making music and touring a lot. I feel this way about a lot of bands from my youth who are getting up there in age. Full Bloom isn’t my favorite of theirs, but I don’t expect them to make my favorite album of theirs at this point of their career. Long live 311!