| Third Eye Blind | 1997 |
| Blue | 1999 |
| Out Of The Vein | 2003 |
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(Kevin Baker's review)
You know, you have to love musical diversity. I'm listening to a Third Eye Blind cd right now. Just before that, I had in La Boheme by Puccini. Before that, it was Bitches Brew (look for a review soon, Nick permitting.) There's nothing better than being able to enjoy an abundance of different styles of music, don't you think? I think so. Well, I can certainly call Third Eye Blind's debut enjoyable. Our four favorite San Franciscans (I think---if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me) know HOOKS, dang it! These dudes know what catchiness is about. This is perhaps best demonstrated in the smash hit Semi-Charmed Life, which I actually hadn't heard until last summer because I don't listen to the radio very often. Also, when this song came out, I had no radio control in the car, so I was subjugated to listening to massive amounts of country music. Not one of my favorite things, to be fully honest. However, catchy modern rock certainly is one of my favorites, and Semi-Charmed Life more than fits the bill. Somehow, the excellent drumming, perfectly thumpy bassline, and crunchy guitars meet up well with one of the best melodies I've ever heard in my life. The words are a bit ponderous, but that only adds to the charm of the song.
But that's not the only song on here! How 'bout that opening ditty called Losing A Whole Year? It's almost as good as Semi-Charmed Life! Matter of fa..........ha ha ha! You thought I'd forgotten my promise to bore you with my love life in my next review, didn't you? NOT! Basically, Leah, like Tuesday and the Old South, is gone with the wind. Guess who's back? Ashley! Read my Sgt. Pepper's review and my MMT review to refresh your memory about Ashley. Well, I realized how horribly mistaken I'd been about her. She was just so confused (as was I) last month that we both did a lot of, for me at least, uncharacteristically rash things that hurt each other. After a month apart (after she chose some other <insert expletive here>head over me) during which she got her heart broken (again), I began to realize how much she meant to me. I mean, how many people do I know that I can talk to about anything and everything and still have tons of fun with as well? Nobody besides her! That's all I've ever wanted in a girlfriend, and she delivers. So, I told her how I felt. She started crying because she never knew anyone could care that much for her.
Ct, it may even be a superior song because it's lyrics are so.....affecting. You can sense the sincerity in the words, partially because of the absolutely stunning vocal delivery. Very powerful. But this is not even a two-song show! No, we also have Narcolepsy. They really use the theories of musicality (are there such things? There are now!) to full effect. The slow, lazy, sleepy opening sets a drowsy mood and pace which is rudely disturbed by the electric onslaught that comes in about a minute and a half into the song. We're not talking Metallica here, but we get some distortion and a more pounding rhythm. We also get an ultra-catchy melody, which is not at all uncommon on this album.
Yup, we have even more good songs to run down. The hits really keep on coming, and track 4 is Jumper, which is an excellent anti-drug cry out to a junkie friend of Stephan Jenkins ( I assume so anyways. He wrote the song.) Rather than repeat myself endlessly about how catchy all the melodies are, how great the crunchy guitars sound, etc., I shall do something else. I'll say this. This one's even. It's catchy. It has resonance. What the heck else do you need? The only thing marring it is a total lack of originality, and the occasional less catchy ditty. But trust me, the high point really outnumber the low points.
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Man, this band has written some HOOKS. Semi charmed life is probably the single catchiest pop song in existance. Dig that bassline! "Graduate" and "Jumper" are also great pop tunes. The rest of the album is kinda bland, and I've never understood how "How its Going to Be" got on the radio---rather predictible drivel if you ask me. But the band has more talent than most pop stars (Guitarist Kevin Cadogan studied under Satch for example), drums are nice crisp and powerful, and the basslines just rule.
(Kevin Baker's review)
Lord help me, but I love these guys. The only modern band whose fan club I want to join. Anyone who thinks that modern rock is totally devoid of goodness need only listen to these dudes....it made me believe that maybe rock's not dead. Sheese, that's a better closer than opener. FALSE START! OK, how does one follow up a deliciously catchy (but also deep and resonant) modern rock album? Simple; you go out and make another! That's what Third Eye Blind did with Blue. Now, I won't lie and say it's perfect; tis not. But it's a lot closer to perfection than whatever Blink 182 just released. OK, I will admit that the big hit from the album, Never Let You Go, IS a bit on the generic side. But, it's not too generic, and how could anyone resist the chorus? It's pop perfection! Heck, even the riff is hummable! It's a pretty cool song, actually.
But no man is an island, and no song is an album. Nopesters, we have a whole 'nother 12 songs, and most of 'em are good----dang good! Better than peaches. Better than starlit walks on the beach. Better than the movies with Ashley. OK, scratch the last one simply because of the person involved. She DOES have this annoying tendency to laugh way too loud at stupid parts of the movie, but I think it's kinda cute. The other moviegoers normally don't see it that way, though.
That important thing having been said, what are some winners on here? Ten Days Late is a winner, though I do wish the guys had taken the time to, uh uh make some of the lines a bit deeper than "uh uh oh no baby oh no no." However, the song does manage to marry a rather deep subject matter (an unplanned pregnancy) with pop sensibility with only the aforementioned couple of lines suffering. That's impressive. Serious subject matter in the 3:00 song format that's instantly listenable is a rare thing, and one without banality is even rarer. This one comes close, but doesn't quite fall into banality, so I'm happy. I'm indeed happy. I'm so happy I whistle it walking down the street and in the car, until I cut some moron in an F-250 off who then gives me the finger while honking AND slamming on his brakes, casuing the little old lady in the gigantic Oldsmobile to go from her top speed of 25 mph to a mere 15 to avoid ramming him because as usual she was following too closely trying to get home to her cats. Whew! Good song, though.
What else is good? Anything, the opening song, is good. It goes from a gentle acoustic opening to loud, crunchy git-fiddles with 'lectricity coursin' through 'em beating out a rawkin' ditty, that as usual maintains 3eb's impeccable ability to craft hooks. The next song's purty good, too. Elsewhere, Deep Inside You is a pretty ditty with lotsa acoustic playing, 1000 Julys is a bit gruffer than it's preceding songs but goes well, and heck, everything's for the most part good. There's been some growth since the first album, and growth is good. What's best is that they haven't lost their edge or their hookiness. I'm hooked! I'm hooked! Like a frickin' mackeral, I'm hooked! I oughta write a song about that.
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(reviewed by Kevin Baker)
I waited over a year for this one to come out - it would've been a bit less time, except that the release date kept getting moved....from October to December to February to April, and finally, in May 2003, it got released. I bought it the DAY it hit the Hastings down here in Shangri-La - same day as my senior prom. My date, Amanda, and I listened to it for part of the evening.
I have to confess a degree of emotional attachment to the band and to this particular outing of theirs. I don't know just why I like Third Eye Blind the way I do. Sure, they make catchy, intelligently written music that keeps the good parts of modern alt-rock without drowning up in the usual sea of crap and problems that claims bands like Fuel. But, for whatever reason, Stephan Jenkins' lyrics appeal to me - he's a man who writes good, solid songs with above-average lyrics married to fabulous hooks. OK, so maybe I DO know why I like Third Eye Blind then.
As for why this one has such emotional attachment, it has been (as corny as this seems) a source of strength and encouragement for me over the past several months. To condense the events of my life over the past several months into a few sentences....Since I graduated from high school (valedictorian!) in May, my life has been OUT OF CONTROL. Over the summer, I had a major (though now patched up) falling out with my friend Leah, who has been memorialized in so many of my friggin' reviews that ANYONE who used to read my old reviews knows who I'm talking about. Then, I moved off to Texas Lutheran University in August, and less than a week later, my father drove the 3 hours to Seguin just to tell me he'd decided to divorce my mom. What he didn't tell me was that he walked out because he's a hedonistic pig who wants to be 20 again. But through all of this, two things have been there for me - God (we all know my religious convictions; no comments needed from the peanut gallery - if you disagree, it's your business) and this CD.
But why? Why has this one been a source of comfort? Because of the emotional undercurrents of the music and the lyrics. Jenkins wrote all but a few of the songs on here after a very nasty break-up with Charlize Thieron - lucky bugger; I can only dream of the opportunity to break up with Charlize Thieron. And speaking of fine Hollywood celebrities, does anyone else out there think Reese Witherspoon looked way finer with long hair like in Legally Blonde and Little Nicky??? I'm definitely a long hair fancier, though this one sophomore I know named Jenna has short hair and it looks.....but I digress, as usual. What was I saying? Oh yeah, emotional impact. Jenkins obviously knows what it's like to hurt, to spend days and nights aching and wondering just what the hell is going on in this life - he's felt that sickening feeling of having the rug of your life whipped out from under you, and he knows how hard it can be to stay on your feet. And it's here, it's all over Out Of The Vein.
It starts with a story of a relationship souring - one partner desperate for happiness, the other content to fool around and never truly commit so that they can stay happy - "she's got the nerve to say she wants to f*ck that boy so badly" speaks volumes about the dynamics of the relationship. The next song, the hit single Blinded, rolls around, and the ride's over - but Jenkins can't let go. He goes to her apartment and lets himself in, just so he can pretend things haven't changed. Forget Myself rolls around, and he is remembering to forget himself and his problems - dwell in the sweet past to extinguish the pain of the present.
We get a breather in the next song, a rocker more-or-less mocking the protest-everything crowd as a bunch of self-absorbed young adults more concerned with the social side of a march than the issues. However, Crystal Baller picks up the romantic fallout theme again. It's a stomping, driving plea to trying again and again - trying to take the high road, but never making it. The rest of the cd continues these themes - the hurt of the present and the anesthetic memories of the past, but even they become melancholy by the end (Wake For Young Souls and Palm Reader).
The only genuine misfire out of the thirteen songs (plus a hidden track) is Self-Righteous, which might as well be titled Self-Indulgent - I don't think it has much of a musical leg to stand on. The lyrics seem preachy, the melody is nonexistent, and Jenkins has some chick who simply cannot sing on the track. Fortunately, the last two official songs are good - a rocker about (again) trying to find some way to go on, and the closing Good Man has a hint of final resignation to it, but one marred by the bittersweet memories of the past.
Maybe it's just me, but this is one of the most vibrant, emotional products of the modern rock scene. You're welcome to disagree, and I don't expect many (if any) to have quite the same feel for this one that I do. However, give it a chance - let Jenkins' lyrical skill speak to you, or if nothing else, sing along to the catchy melodies.
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