Toronto Sun
BLIND MELON
Nico (EMI)
4 (out of five)
The fatal cocaine overdose of Blind Melon lead singer Shannon Hoon over a year
ago barely caused a ripple in newspaper terms. (He actually made bigger headlines
when he urinated on stage during a Vancouver concert.) Maybe because, to put
it crassly, Hoon was no Kurt Cobain.
But in human terms, he left behind a young daughter who was all of 13 weeks
old when her father died. So it seems right that her namesake graces the title
of Blind Melon's last, and possibly best, album, which hits record stores Tuesday
as an enhanced CD with lyrics, previously unreleased photos, interviews, concert
footage and videos.
The remaining group members, under a new band name, have already said they are
looking for a new singer, so this collection of live tracks, demo versions and
unreleased songs is Blind Melon's poignant swan song.
The first single, a cover of Steppenwolf's The Pusher, is actually a pretty
decent version, if you can make it past Hoon (sounding like a cross between
Perry Farrell and Robert Plant) singing: "You know I've smoked a lot of grass
and I've popped a lot of pills but I've never done nothing that my spirit couldn't
kill, and I walk around with these tombstones in my eyes but I know the pusher
don't care if you live or if you die." There's also similarly prophetic lyrics
in the Hoon-penned tracks Pull, Swallowed and the self-explanatory Hell, so
be prepared to feel uncomfortable.
It certainly helps knowing that a percentage of the sales from Nico will go
to the Musician's Assistance Program for musicians who can't afford drug treatment.
Hoon also takes on a cover of John Lennon's John Sinclair, which was originally
destined for a Lennon tribute album, plus All That I Need, which Hoon wrote
after reading the Albert Goldman book, Lives Of John Lennon.
Fans of the band's biggest hit, No Rain, can look forward to a slowed-down,
stripped-away version that was recorded during a performance for Holland TV,
while the final track, Letters From A Porcupine, is actually Hoon singing on
bandmate Christopher Thorn's answering machine with his acoustic guitar, before
he is spookily cut off.