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Third Eye Blind

On their 1997 debut, the Blindsters apparently decided they wanted to make an album totally and slavishly devoted to giving me everything I want in a modern rock album and nothing that I don't want. Even if they didn't consciously decide that, they did it anyways. This is one of my favorite cds and is literally in my list of Most Prized Possessions. Not bad for a piece of.......whatever they make cds out of that I got for $7 at a used cd store in Maryland, eh? This bad boy is loaded to the max with catchy melodies, crunchy guitars, some actual sincerity, and it even avoids banality most of the time! All of the above come together in the album's biggest hit (well, I think it was at least) Semi-Charmed Life. One of FOUR hit singles from the album, Semi-Charmed Life is a catchy, bouncy, poppy ditty about (drum roll please) SEX AND DRUGS. I was actually surprised that such a rollicking, friendly sounding song featured lines like "she comes round and she goes down on me." And an insanely catchy bunch of "doo doo doo"s for your listening pleasure.

Elsewhere, one can find the anguish filled but catchy Losing A Whole Year, the cry to a junkie friend Jumper, the really angry Graduate (which I'll be doing in less than a year!), the punkish London, the truly awesome and indescribable Motorcycle Drive By, the weird guitar line in Burning Man, and in general something to like about every song. There are lesser moments, such as the cliches in The Background and, to a lesser extent, Good For You and I Want You, but still.....it's all catchy! Modern pop-rock with a heck of an edge. I find myself feeling rather torn here.......I COULD be nitpicky and give this a 9, but I can't. I just can't. The great material on here really outweights the lesser material, and even the lesser material is pretty good.

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Readers Comments Kake hayleyatthestar@blueyonder.co.uk This used to be my favorite CD at one point in the space-time continuum. Of course, I have grown a lot since then and realized the beauty of Classic Rock. Still this is a thoroughly enjoyable album, and very under-rated (I remember that one of the Rock Magazines rated this abysmally low when it first came out). My favorite is the feedback filled "God of Wine". And like Kevin says, there are a few average songs (Good For You, anyone), but they are ALL hook-laden. I'd give this a 8, pretty good for an opening salvo by any band.

A lot (and I mean a lot) of people seem to see this one as being a great leap ahead from the debut, but I am NOT one of them. I hate to cry "OVERPRODUCED" but that really is the case. The beauty in the debut was in how fresh and real and alive it all sounded. Not here......Blue is loaded with so many extra "touches" that it really distracts from the songs. However, the first 8 songs are a glorious octect with at least one song better than the best on the debut. That song is Wounded, and it is Stephan Jenkins's child. I mean it. He must have literally had to sleep with a sheet of paper, a pen, and a guitar to have combined all the said elements into such a work. It is deep, beautiful, moving, sincere, and it is a masterwork of dynamics. I love the song in case you missed out on that :P However, one song does not make an album, unless you're Jethro Tull. Nope, we have 12 others, and as I said, the first 8 (which includes Wounded) are all faboo. Opening rocker Anything is compact and crunchy, 10 Days Late merges catchy pop-rock with the serious idea of having a baby out of wedlock, Never Let You Go is rather shallow but possibly the catchiest song of the '90s, Deep Inside Of You is a nice ballad, 1000 Julys is rawkin' anthem to being a freak, An Ode To Maybe has a line about "star crossed pimps" thus it's cool.....ok, it's also catchier than a burr on my sock when I actually wear socks, and The Red Summer Sun is really an interesting multi-part song though it doesn't seem to have any discernable meaning in my eyes.

Everything else.......ehhh. This is when the production really starts bothering me. It renders it all unmemorable and uncatchy, and that is NOT a good thing when you're dealing with a band whose schtick IS being memorable and catchy if a tad unoriginal. However, over half the album is top-notch, and that half includes at least one masterpiece.

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Readers Comments Kake hayleyatthestar@blueyonder.co.uk I still hold a soft corner for these guys, since they introduced me to Rock music. "Blue" was therefore an eagerly anticipated release for me and I was not disappointed at all initially. We all know about the two hits "Never let you go" and the brilliant "Deep Inside of you", but the real highlight to me is the start-stop, Led Zeppelinsque, "The Red Summer Sun". And no, I am not annoyed by the Stephan Jenkins falsetto on it. You have the brilliant "Slow Motion", which stirred quiet a controversy in the aftermath of the Columbine shootings, but here in India, I had the opportunity to hear the original ballad. Needless, to say its brilliant. And then you have the punkish "Anything" (whose lyrics mean jack, but well, it still rocks), the electronica influenced "Walking with the Wounded" and the torrid "10 days late" (with crappy lyrics, but ignore them and the song rocks). Despite these, the other songs are kinda iffy. "1000 Julys" is boring, "An ode to maybe" is cut! but no more, "Camouflage" is electronica with no brain and the last three songs (don't even remember their names) define filler with a capital F. So all in all a solid 7 from me, enjoyable, but too weak to be remembered by anybody but the fans of the band(like me).

Picked this bad boy up the same day as my senior prom, and my lovely date Amanda and I listened to it in my truck. Her opinion? She liked it. Mine? Well, mine's a bit more involved than "ooh, I like it." Otherwise, I wouldn't be writing this. I've been looking forward to hearing this since I found out they were going into the studio to make it. After Blue, I was very curious as to what direction the Blindsters would be taking. While good, Blue didn't hit me in the right spots, and worse, it sounded like Stephen Jenkins and the boys had gone overboard with the productions. Suffice it to say, I was a little afraid that this one would be more of the same - catchy, but ultimately overproduced pop rock.

Thank God, I was wrong. True, this baby isn't as raw sounding as the debut, BUT it ditches the stupid little electronic noises that marred Blue. Best yet, the guys manage to throw together the catchy hooks of the best moments on the debut with the thought-filled, introspective lyrics of Blue. Take lead single Blinded, for instance. It's hookier than a bass lure, but it's not just a simple little "we're not together and it's breaking my heart" song. It tells a story, tells it well, and it makes you FEEL what Stephen Jenkins felt when he wrote it. Most of the songs deal with his break-up with actress Charlize Theron, by the way. The exceptions are Danger, which deals with the protest culture, and My Hit And Run, whose title says it all. Both those songs are catchy with very nonpedestrian lyrics. My nod for best goes to Crystal Baller, which stomps and rides its way into your conscience with a million hooks without ever crossing the line into "just catchy rock" territory. Also noteworthy are the songs mentioned above, Forget Myself, the boppin' Wake For Young Souls, the opening Faster, Misfits, and the very interesting musically Palm Reader. The last few songs are a little weaker, but hey---you can always switch the thing off early. My verdict---a really, really great album from a band who is going to keep going places.

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Readers Comments Mike ssmikex5@ameritech.net Third eye blinds latest release was by far a more back to basics rock album and for that i loved it. Blue was much more of a experimental album and sound for the group which i find a great middle album when listening to all three. I fully agree with your rating of 9.5 and unfortunately for the group this album was never commercially promoted on the radio as the first two. Though it is arguably the best of the three. Hope to hear much more from these guys in the future.