Heres my personal rundown:

"Creatures(for a while)" : first single, great opener for the album. A little misleading, as this is probably the heaviest song on the album. Most energetic rockin' song i've heard from ANY band in a long time. 10/10

"Reconsider Everything" : straight up rocker, with some great guitar and a great message telling people to think for themselves. 7/10

"Crack the Code" : reggae-flavored love song, without being cheesy. "crack the code" being a metaphor for finding someone who's got you figured out (or "cracked your code"). Great song, likely to be a favorite if you get this album. Its definitely one of my favorites. 10/10

"Same Mistake Twice" : straight-forward rocker, probably the most forgettable song on the album, although it's still good. Some people may like it as it resembles music by "the Clash". 6/10

"Beyond the Gray Sky" : Seems to be the song getting the most attention off this album. Some people diss it saying its too depressing, as the subject of the song is suicide. I disagree and say its the exact opposite, it couldn't be a more positive, uplifting song. After the first chorus, i have tingles running up and down my spine for the rest of the song. Still, after hearing the song a hundred times. Beautiful, melodic, meaningful, and very personal to Nick Hexum himself, as it is about his best high school friend, who committed suicide in 2002. Probably the most beautiful, meaningful 311 song to date.
10/10 ( only because i cant give it any more stars than that)

"Seems uncertain" : soft, melodic, acoustic song. hard to grasp the first few listens, but it'll grow on you, and you'll be singing along before you know it. 8/10

"Still Dreaming" : rocker, for some reason reminds me of older 311, like from transistor or soundsystem. Good song, but not one my favorites on the album. 7/10

"Give Me a Call" : this song just feels good. its a very upbeat, happy song. Very catchy and fun to sing along to. This song grew on me and became a favorite. 9/10

"Dont Dwell" : i love this song so much that i wish it were a few minutes longer. Thats my only gripe about this song, its pretty short. Starts out with a rippin' bass-line from p-nut, turns into a great, fun, bouncy song. A favorite for sure. 9/10

"Other Side of Things" : The heaviest song on the album besides "Creatures". Probably the only song on the album that could be considered rap-rock, but its barely that. The chorus is melodic and pretty catchy, while the verses are rapped, first by SA and then by Hexum. Essential to this album, because without it, "Creatures" would be really out of place because, generally, the rest of the album is kinda 'happy'/soft. 7/10

"Sometimes Jacks Rule the Realm" : This song embodies the title of the album, "Evolver". This song starts one way, and slowly (but surely) evolves. Starts out quietly, just Nick singing and a guitar. Kicks into a beautiful acoustic song with great arrangement and melody. And just when you think its over, it kicks back in with a great chorus and some cool electric guitar solos. Beautiful, melodic ending to 311's most beautiful and melodic album yet. 10/10

True 311 fans as well as people who know 311 for "Amber","I'll Be Here Awhile","Come Original", and/or "You Wouldn't Believe", pick this album up... right now. Get up and go get it now, it will not disappoint. If you know 311 for their albums "Grassroots" or the blue album, you might want to borrow it first or wait to hear the next single.

ALBUM OVERALL ::: 20 stars, out of 10. i love this album.

Upon hearing the first single, "Creatures(For Awhile)", I couldn't help but scratch my head and wonder where 311 were headed with "Evolver". After an initial listening, and a second, and a third, my head progessively nodded harder and harder as my appreciation for their current musical direction, well, just evolved. My following of all things 311 runs 8 years deep, hence making me somewhat biased and a bit of a harder sell to new ideas, but I think "Evolver" contains a good mix of old school flavor as well as the new ideas to give it a fresh taste on my musical palate.
The album contains everything you'd expect from the signature blend of 311, but in a different way - for example, "Same Mistake Twice" and "Reconsider Everything" are straight 311 rockers, but in between there's "Crack the Code", which is a mixture of a melodic jam and a rock riff with a dancehall beat. With "Beyond the Grey Sky" you get a nice laid back verse followed by a heavy chorus, and thankfully a beautiful guitar solo from Tim Mahoney that literally brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard it.
The use of the acoustic guitar, which has not emerged since "Use of Time" on "Transistor", makes an appearance on the tracks "It Seems Uncertain" and "Sometimes Jacks Rule The Realm", a couple of downtempo songs that will stir your emotions. These two songs along with "Give Me A Call" may sound pop-heavy on an old school listener's ears, but they can still impress. It's almost impossible to ignore SA's unique vocal line in "Give Me A Call" despite the catchy chorus, and "It Seems Uncertain" contains too important a message to be overlooked. I don't think 311 could never forget their positive tip, but their ability to present it in different ways is a feat well accomplished, made most quite apparent with the songs "Other Side of Things" and "Beyond the Grey Sky."
311's ability to push forward their own limitations has never failed to amaze me. The way in which they present the material in a new way makes this album a 311 masterpiece.

Evolver is the most surprising 311 CD considering that it is so harmonic. The Beatles really rubbed off on them while recording this CD and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. 311 seems to be more in harmony then they have ever been and everything just sounds so crisp that it all flows together. This has been the best CD I've gotten this year and it hasn't left my CD player yet. This is definitely another rock album for 311, but so was Soundsystem and that was probably their best CD before this one. While From Chaos was good, Evolver gets the pieces of the puzzle that From Chaos left out. The first half of the CD is typical 311, but songs 6 through 11 are completely different and may surprise you. Sometimes Jacks Rule the Realm almost seems like a) two different songs or b) one song with a three minute intro. Bottom line is Evolver is the best 311 CD to date and if you don't pick it up, you may be putting off one of the best CD's you'll ever hear.

As impressed as I was with "Creatures" before the release of the album, I was happy to hear it did not define the album. Evolver as a whole spans a wide aural spectrum which should not disappoint. "Creatures" and "Reconsider Everything" are great slightly catchy rock tunes, which give the album a great start. "Crack the Code" shows the bands ability to craft beautiful melodic tracks without the cheese. "Beyond the Gray Sky" is probably the star of the show. Lyrically it is a very emotional tack set to equally powerful music. "Seems Uncertain" is a very interesting trippy acoustic number with some catchy lyrics, all in all a very unique track. "Give me a Call" is a great mix of rock and dancehall showcasing a bit of SA's vocal talents. "Sometimes Jacks Rule the Realm" is a nice mellow and thoughtful song, a great way to end this album. Overall Evolver is an impressive effort. 311 once again do not disappoint their fans by repeating themselves. Each track has a very unique feel and overall covers a very broad musical spectrum, making this album a great choice for just about anyone.

Evolver is a solid 311 effort. The jabbing rap-rock has definitely given way to some milder, more lyrical tunes, but 311 can still hit hard. On this album, they seem to pull out the stops at just the right time in each cut. This album is indeed an evolution of their musical style, and we 311 fans are sitting back with Don't Tread on Me -- their latest pop-infested release -- waiting for another more experimental album that will expand on Evolver in 2007. All in all, it looks like 311 have contented themselves to release some really innovative stuff every other album, and just have fun in between.

Having said that, I am tired of writers comparing bands saying that one is trying to be just like another. 311 has gotten a lot of bad publicity in reviews when writers can't see past the bandwagon music business favorites like the Chili Peppers, and make such ridiculous remarks about 311 trying to be as innovative as those "gods" the Peppers.

Now, in a head to head comparison, I have to give a lot of credit to the Peppers, especially in raw musical talent. But, 311 is a band I have listened to for years, and not just occasionally.

When I feel like good music, I put in 311. I don't listen to the Peppers more than once in a while. After all, 311 use their powers for good instead of evil, as it were; their message is always positive and their music shows it. 311 just makes me feel better as a soundtrack to my day in - day out activity than bands like No Doubt, the Peppers, and a handful of others.

As for this effort, and 311's oeuvre in general, I quote countless musicians and music critics when I say: nothing ventured, nothing gained. 311 is not worried about critics, or it would have tried to make a couple of duplicates of their Grassroots and Blue Albums and garner the same kind of commercial success. Instead, we have a body of work and a powerful touring band that has developed a loyal fan base and continues to experiment, inspire, and have a lot of fun.

Too many listeners, and not a few critics hear 311 radio hits, give one or two tracks a go on any one album, and then make sweeping judgements about how 311 are repeating themselves. My response is: I own the entire 311 catalog, and when I listen to any one of their albums, I always find a new and surprising twist or bit of musical invention or uplifting lyric that I overlooked before.

And that, in my opinion, makes 311 a great band.

One last word of advice to any readers that are scoping out bands - don't listen to critics. They have to listen to way too many albums to enjoy any of them.