Apartment 26 have had an interesting, if not turbulent career so far. Originally coming to prominence in the late 90's, the group, whose vocalist Biff Butler is the son of Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, saw their first introduction to the masses through a slot on the Ozzfest 99 trek - a position no doubt helped out by such a relation. A debut album entitled "Hallucinating" saw a release soon after through Hollywood and aside from a few subsequent tours, little has been heard from them since.

Now returning with a new label and a new attitude, the band appear to be intent on reinventing themselves as they have foregone their derivative brand of electronically augmented nu-metal to instead latch onto a veritable mish-mash of musical genre's to express themselves. As such, what is presented on "Music For The Massive" is an eclectic and often colorful dose of jazz, lounge, alt rock, swing, funk, and more ala I Mother Earth; anchored by a streamlined modern alternative metal approach that recalls the slickness of Linkin Park. From horns and piano to brash guitars and the occasional electronica oriented passage, the band are generally quite creative and points must be given to them for undertaking such an adventurous direction.

However, while it is somewhat refreshing to hear such early to mid-90's reminiscent experimentalism, their reliance on commercially sensible elements and structuring does somewhat limit just how far they can go. By tethering themselves as such, they often wind up feeling a bit conflicted and it would be much more enjoyable to hear them fully cut loose rather than continually try for universal appeal. In fact, as interesting as their material can be at times, it still feels a bit too tame and polished, ultimately preventing it from becoming anything substantially different. With this being the case, the album presented is a still a solid listen that may catch more than a few listeners off guard, yet still seems a bit lacking in the face of what it could be as opposed to what it is.