posted 08/20/2005 (Sat) @ 11:18 pm
>>> Music Reviews
Third Eye Blind - Blue (1999)
On second thought…
- Anything
- Wounded
- 10 Days Late
- Never Let You Go
- Deep Inside Of You
- 1000 Julys
- An Ode To Maybe
- The Red Summer Sun
- Camouflage
- Farther
- Slow Motion (lyrical)
- Darkness
- Darwin
- The Red Summer Sunset (hidden track)
“I’d give them anything… if they could actually make a record that would stand the test of time. Well, okay, I probably still wouldn’t.”
The above is a snippet from my previous take on Third Eye Blind’s “Blue,” circa 2002. Some time later, I’m printing a big retraction — this review.
Proving that hindsight is 20/20, Blue is filled to the brim with beautiful, oozing pop-rock melody. There’s probably as much potential energy in this record as a stone sitting on a cliff on the moon. When it spirals out of control like a rocketship with a bum rocket, such as on the pounding crescendo that is “Wounded,” the results are stunning.
“Semi-Charmed Life” isn’t present on Blue, but the songs that are here showcase a versatility that few bands can manage. Several years after I’d forgotten about it, I pulled this record out and found that it had become exactly what I look for in my music.
At times, Stephan Jenkins’ voice is akin to what would happen if a few almost-postal Zippo employees visited medieval China — fireworks everywhere. As anyone who ever heard “Semi-Charmed Life” can attest, he has the vocal range to pull off a throaty purr one moment and a stratospheric falsetto that easily one-ups the emotional intensity of Chris Martin (of Coldplay fame) the next. Jenkins uses his voice like a hip-hop star, as a rhythmically-complex instrument of mass destruction, and out of the context of the musically-barren realm of rap, it works perfectly. Although his penchant for formulating sexual metaphor as the basis for his lyrics can grow tiresome to the discerning ear, it’s at least subtle and tactfully-executed, in stark contrast to idiots like Chad Kroeger from Nickelback. (”I like your pants around your feet,” anyone?)
To my ear, the first half of Blue is the side of Third Eye Blind the public wanted to hear — the radio-ready pop-rock band that gets shamefully mentioned in the same sentence as Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth. The truth is, even those songs that earned them their fame were special in a very unique way: they display consistent songwriting talent surpassing pretty much any pop band of the moment.
“Anything” sports the most obvious metaphor of the record in “I’d turn my balls to sand just to see you,” but its entire game is immediacy. The absolute last thing you expect upon the first few simple fingerpicked bars of “Anything” is for it to explode into a power chord onslaught, but lo and behold, that’s exactly what happens. The lead guitar line is simple but utterly effective, and before you completely realize what’s hit you, the song has reached the end of its short 2:00 duration.
“1000 Julys” rocks the hardest of any of the tracks on Blue, carrying the listener through a giant sexual innuendo by way of tidal waves of burning jet fuel guitar that end with a rollicking bridge/outro that is sure to induce headbanging of dangerous intensity.
The second half of the record finds the band experimenting more with aural overlay and harmony; I find it to be their better half.
“The Red Summer Sun” sails through an overture song format wrought with a mixture of high-flying, distorted guitar and electronic effects that infuse it with a weird magnetism, and “Camouflage” is a spacey, reverberating bit of near-shoegaze that drips with the emotion its extremely high fidelity production provided for.
The sonic soup is seasoned by finely-composed typhoons of guitar chaos adding to the overall sound in the background. This is flavored like my vision of perfect music — catchy melody surrounded by high fidelity guitar chaos. Pop-shoegaze for the new millenium.
Against the opinion of my former self, I give this near-perfect record my highest recommendation. It surely beats almost anything being released these days.
5/5
Tags: awesome, blue, pop rock, rock, third eye blind
