The 311 Albums Ranked

I’ve found 311 to be one of those bands that many people either love or hate. Then there’s me, who has an enduring nostalgia tied to a certain era of the rap/funk/reggae rock outfit from Omaha, Nebraska and who can appreciate some great songs as often as I wince at the cringe the group embodies. In the balance, I may be wincing more often than not. But the earnestness and real musicianship exhibited on certain key 311 releases still positively strike me in a good mood. Omitting early demo albums and EPs, the band fronted by vocalist Nick Hexum has released 14 records in the 31 years since 1993.

#14 — VOYAGER (2019)

Favorite track: “Lucid Dreams”

Like many bands in their third decade of existence, 311 has gotten quite bad lately. Like many bands today specifically, they have been chasing the godawful anthemic pop sound of smoothness incarnate; “shopping music” is a great term to describe it. VOYAGER is the ultimate example of this in 311’s discography, a mass of shallow vapidity that hurts to listen to. “Lucid Dreams” is only a slight alleviation. Its chorus has a plaintiveness that’s a bit sweet, but it still turns into a terrible “woah oh oh woah” section of today’s jangling production. VOYAGER unfortunately has some competition as 311’s worst album but it ultimately takes the cake with its lack of real sonic texture.

#13 — MOSAIC (2017)

Favorite track: “Inside Our Home”

MOSAIC started a real bad run (which is still ongoing) defined by the aforementioned tameness of sound. It’s not that I need 311 to be on the “harder” side of rock at all times, as we shall see, but these most recent albums hew too close to an identity the band has never really had. To be reductive, 311 is “trying too hard” to fit into a recent pop framework. The production of MOSAIC sinks all the bass-end down, which is kind of a sin for this band and bassist P-Nut especially. “Inside Our Home” is another “favorite track” that just doesn’t rankle as much as the tracks that surround it. It’s not a marked improvement over any of the 16, yes 16, other tracks. At about an hour, MOSAIC is one of 311’s longest albums and that makes it all the more insufferable.

#12 — FULL BLOOM (2024)

Favorite track: “Need Somebody”

311’s latest album at the time of this writing and the ender of their biggest gap between releases, at over five years since VOYAGER, is only a modest improvement over their previous two records. I saw somewhere that Hexum described FULL BLOOM as 311 “on steroids” or something, which is so goofy. I concede that the band’s rocking is amped up after the limpness of MOSAIC and VOYAGER, but it’s still not exactly electrifying. “Need Somebody” has a decent chunky riff at its center. SA Martinez also has more of a rapping presence on FULL BLOOM, which is kind of welcome. But it’s not like this is some kind of return to form. FULL BLOOM is a very, very relative step away from chart-chasing pop rock.

#11 — UPLIFTER (2009)

Favorite track: “It’s Alright”

UPLIFTER is a poppier record both like and unlike the previous ones mentioned on this list. It operates in a lighter mode, but the approach is closer to the “Amber” days than a stab at the 2010s electronic ballad style. This results in the decent track “It’s Alright,” which soars into something catchy for the chorus and operates at a lowkey groove otherwise. Nevertheless, this is one of only a couple highlights. UPLIFTER isn’t as gratingly annoying as 311’s other failures, but it at least settles into a bland malaise, once again enabled by a flattening production style.

#10 — DON’T TREAD ON ME (2005)

Favorite track: “Whiskey and Wine”

DON’T TREAD ON ME has some uncomfy associations for me because of its title and the record itself doesn’t exactly dispel negative feelings. It’s not terrible, exactly, but it feels so scattered on what it wants to be. 311’s best work has a diversity of tones and energies, but DON’T TREAD ON ME’s “eclecticism,” if one wants to be gracious, feels confused rather than bold. It doesn’t help that there aren’t really any singular tracks that stand out on their own. “Whiskey and Wine’s” laid back groove isn’t unpleasant and Martinez’s lead on the chorus of lyrics that are somewhat effecting is admirable. But the song’s bridge of Hexum’s yodel-esque delivery is a reminder that there aren’t any unqualified successes on DON’T TREAD ON ME.

#9 — UNIVERSAL PULSE (2011)

Favorite track: “Sunset in July”

Although there’s a deeper-rooted nostalgia and enjoyment of 311’s music, the era of UPLIFTER and UNIVERSAL PULSE coincided with my newfound investment in new music. Therefore, their releases are perhaps the first time I was fully aware of a 311 album coming out. There’s a bit of appreciation I still have for that sensation in evaluating the somewhat blessedly short UNIVERSAL PULSE. “Sunset in July” is an upbeat tune with a good pop rock energy, but the whole record certainly isn’t an awesome jaunt through vague positivity, as I feel was intended. But its pop inclinations don’t overwhelm the good crunch and fuzz of 311’s past, even if they are reduced in power somewhat. UNIVERSAL PULSE is indicative of where the band would end up in recent years, but it’s not boring or rankling like what would come.

#8 — SOUNDSYSTEM (1999)

Favorite track: “Come Original”

311 closed out the ’90s with SOUNDSYSTEM, a record some may be inclined to rate higher because of its closeness to the original aural ambitions of the band. I was inclined to rate it higher before I revisited the whole discography for this piece, but I was a bit disappointed with what I found when I returned to this record. “Come Original” is one of my favorite 311 songs because of its overly repetitive yet extremely catchy chorus, even for all its goofy white boy reggae emulation on Hexum’s accent. But that’s a big standout amid a swath of tracks that are just…forgettable. SOUNDSYSTEM does have the trappings of the band’s initial fusion of genres, but they don’t cohere into truly satisfying song structures.

#7 — GRASSROOTS (1994)

Favorite track: “Grassroots”

Even though I feel 311 hadn’t nailed the great combo of heavy sounds with pop inflections by the time of their sophomore album GRASSROOTS, the record is still charming and a good listen. It’s funny how much the band was compared to the Beastie Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers at the time because I don’t really think they sound like either, and certainly not the former. But I suppose I can see how 311 was so involved with the rap rock revolution of the mid-90s and a new wave of “plastic soul” in the practice of traditionally “Black music” by white guys. Regardless of all those very real considerations, I think the scrappiness of GRASSROOTS is admirable and ultimately fun, bouncy, and driving.

#6 — MUSIC (1993)

Favorite track: “Visit”

The awfully titled MUSIC was the “debut” 311 album, but it was the culmination of a few self-produced and -distributed efforts, with tracks that were re-recorded for this record supported by an actual label. It’s even rawer than GRASSROOTS, with drummer Chad Sexton’s snare hits smacking out. As opposed to the band’s recent production style, which subsumes the more extreme sounds of the instruments, MUSIC’s biggest problem in that realm is how it obscures the legibility of Hexum and Martinez’s voices. It doesn’t exactly bother me very much, but this is certainly when 311 was putting the “rap” in “rap rock.” But my standout track “Visit” is such because of how its chorus soars into a more pleasant harmony between the two vocalists, which I really associate with much later efforts. MUSIC isn’t the most incredible of debuts, but the energy of the new band is relatively exciting.

#5 — EVOLVER (2003)

Favorite track: “Don’t Dwell”

I’m kind of surprised by how much I liked EVOLVER upon revisiting it. It’s not some great masterpiece, but this effort advanced all the threads of 311’s previous work and influences into something rocking and chill at the same time. It’s not like there was suddenly some Steely Dan-level production going on, but the band sounds good and high-fidelity on this record without being facile. Those aforementioned snares come through and P-Nut and guitarist Tim Mahoney’s interplay is dynamic, all of this best heard on the short and sweet “Don’t Dwell.” EVOLVER is a top-tier 311 record not necessarily because it has a great number of individual songs, but the way the album proceeds and synthesizes is a delightful full-length experience.

#4 — STEREOLITHIC (2014)

Favorite track: “Friday Afternoon”

STEREOLITHIC is kind of the quintessential comeback album; it’s not better than the band’s best, but it returned them to a much higher level of quality over 20 years since their debut. Like a lot of comeback albums, however, that hasn’t led to a new halcyon period. Regardless of my negativity, on its own merits, STEREOLITHIC is an example, albeit a reduced one, of what 311 does best. Full of spacey reverb, tropical brightness, gritty riffs, and banging drums, the record is an ambitious odyssey. Unlike an album like, say, DON’T TREAD ON ME, however, it mostly works. “Friday Afternoon” is one of my favorite 311 songs, full stop. The way it soars into atmospheric instrumental portions is both like vintage eras of the band and something new. STEREOLITHIC is as much a return to form as it is full of surprising experiments.

#3–311 (1995)

Favorite track: “Down”

311’s self-titled record was actually their third. And yeah, it’s real good! I have a feeling this is in contention with the most common fan favorite and I suppose it is for me as well. 311 totally refined the tone of the band’s first two records without losing their rawness and fuzz. Hexum and Martinez had become much better vocalists, in both the singing and rapping approaches. “Down” is such a song of its era (especially if you watch the music video) but it will always be a mood-improver for me. And thankfully, it’s not the only song on 311 that does that. The record does falter somewhat in the middle portion of its run; the band’s greatest weakness, even in their strongest era, was their smash-and-grab approach to so many genres and inspirations. But 311 is still freshly upbeat while being full of pounding energy.

#2 — FROM CHAOS (2001)

Favorite track: “Amber”

I’m an unapologetic “Amber” lover. That bassline starts the song and I go nostalgically feral. I guess I’m not alone since it’s 311's biggest hit. The lyrics are ridiculous and it’s kind of cheese incarnate but it’s just good vibes, man. FROM CHAOS is the album that single was sourced from and it’s quite good too, but in quite different ways. “Amber’s” laidback groove is essentially an outlier on the record, as much of its quality is actually defined by its overbearing rock energy. FROM CHAOS isn’t especially unique in the 311 catalog for its genre fusion, but it seems put to better use here because of its integration into tight song structures as well as spacier, looser ramblings.

#1 — TRANSISTOR (1997)

Favorite track: “Prisoner”

You know, even though 311 has always been present in my music life, I don’t know I’d go so far as to say they have multiple great albums; there is a decent number of their songs I like but they’re more spread out across their prolific lifetime. TRANSISTOR gets the closest to greatness, however. This lengthy exploration and advancement of all the 311 “tropes” of their first three records is a bit dizzying in how much it hops around from styles, energies, and tones. Even within my favorite song on TRANSISTOR, “Prisoner,” the band swerves from straight ahead rap rock with pounding riffs and those damn (positive) snares to a crooning “bloopy” chorus. It’s not that the album is perfect; with 21 tracks, I could never give it my coveted “all killer no filler” designation. But collectively, and for good and bad, TRANSISTOR is the ultimate 311 album.