Blue [Clean] - Third Eye Blind

Sep 04, 2009 10:09 am

"Brain" is faithful to the grunge terrain Alice in Chains mapped out in 1995.

Sep 12, 2011 04:09 pm

New York rootsy collective Ollabelle returns to recording after a four-year hiatus, choosing to mine early-’70s musical styles.

Aug 25, 2009 03:08 pm

Creative plural notwithstanding, John Fogerty was the Blue Ridge Rangers on his 1973 solo debut, adopting the fictitious band moniker as a means of swinging back at writer's block and Creedence Clearwater Revival's flameout—but not so much on the sequel.

Oct 06, 2009 01:10 pm

Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley is gone but hardly forgotten—at least not as an integral component of the band's murky, melodic brand of hard rock.

Of all the second-wave post-grunge bands from 1997, Third Eye Blind cultivated the most dedicated fan base. Sure, Matchbox 20 sold more records, but for TEB devotees, the San Franciscan band carried the torch originally lit by such breakthrough alt-rock acts as U2 and INXS -- big, glossy bands that unabashedly celebrated both hooks and rock classicism. Under the direction of Stephan Jenkins, Third Eye Blind celebrated these same virtues, but since they arrived at a time when there were a lot of glossy, even slick, bands marketed as alternative rock, it's easy to see why many observers believed TEB were no different than the legions of post-grunge rockers who dominated the charts that year. By the 1999 release of Blue, the group's second album, many of their peers from 1997 had faded away. Jenkins must have been aware of the fleeting nature of fandom in the '90s, since he pushes his band hard throughout the album. It's as if he's trying to shake the ghost of "Semi-Charmed Life," the ingratiatingly hummable hit that gave TEB success but pegged them, in many observers' eyes, as a bubblegum one-hit wonder. Blue is certainly somber and serious, even with its moments of levity. Almost too much so. TEB sound a little strained when they earnestly try to rock, and the same problem occasionally plagues their slower songs, though they do sound more self-confident there. This problem surfaces because they sound natural when they're a little loose; at that point, they're not too self-conscious to avoid hooks, which they seem to do quite often on Blue. While this self-consciousness mars Blue, it doesn't ruin it, because it lifts often enough (on "Wounded," "An Ode to Maybe," "Anything," and "Never Let You Go," the album's highlight), and because it announces that they're stronger and more serious than many of their post-grunge peers. It also illustrates what TEB truly excel at -- big, glossy alt-pop in the tradition of U2 and INXS. There's not quite enough of it this time around to make Blue the equal of its predecessor, but it should be enough to please devoted fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide