Rating:  -
I listened to this album again after Out of Vein came out to see if I had prematurely cooled on it, but found that it was still lacking. The arrogant guitar wanking of Kevin Cadogan is just obnoxious in comparison to the subtle and flavorful riffs of TEB's 1st and Out of Vein with Fredianelli. The first 5 songs are solid, Wounded being probably the best song Jenkins has written, but I can't listen after that. Darwin is one of the more annoying songs ever written and Slow Motion sans lyrics is empty. I'll give it 3 stars since I'm a huge fan, but it's definitly my least favorite.
Rating:  -
Following the release of Third Eye Blind's 3rd album, Out of the Vein, I overplayed it to the point of getting a little sick of it, and then took a step back, and began playing Blue again. After song by song examination, I released it was deffinately my favorite 3eb album, an possibly my favorite album of all time. A lot of parallels can be drawn between this and their other two albums, the overall difference being Blue's deep, dark feel. Here is a song by song breakdown.
01) Anything - Starts out acoustic, then explodes. A nice way to open the album, although the song is rather short. It gets 8/10.
02) Wounded - The best song on the album? Quite possibly. In fact, most definately. A powerful, rocking ballad, that seems to be about a girl who got raped. "Back down the bully to the back of the bus, cos it's time for him to be scared of us!" says Jenkins. A definate 10/10
03) 10 Days Late - The song is lacking something, although I can't quite put my fingers on it. I love the bridge though. A boys choir is brought in. Overall, one of the weaker songs, but still a fun one. 7/10
04) Never Let You Go - Say what you want about this song. Call it a rip off of "Jesse's Girl" by Rick Springfield. Call it poppy.. but if it wasn't for this song, the album wouldn't have sold have as many copies as it did. I personally think this is a very underrated song, a fun one, that has this way of lifting you. I give it a 9/10.
05) Deep Inside Of You - The other song that drove the album's sales. This one has a bit more of a rock edge, with another classic bridge "I breathe by your looks, and you looks straight through me". 8/10
06) 1000 Julys - A sex crazed rocker, with another killer bridge. Heavy guitars, good bass, and moving lyrics make this song one of the albums heaviest hitters. 9/10
07) An Ode To Maybe - An Ode To Maybe is certainly poppy, and is also rather short (just over 2 minutes). I still enjoy it, but not quite as much as the others. 6/10
08) The Red Summer Sun - This song is a grower, believe it. When I first heard it, I was hesitant to say I like it. Jenkins yells the chorus, which is not exactly his cup of tea, but the instrumentals of the song are amazing to say the least. I'll give it a solid 8/10.
09) Camouflage - GREAT song. Reverb, echoes, and a driving bass. Plus some haunting lines such as "In the geometry of, prism of my eye will flow, I ask the question and wonder why, only to roll into a big orange ball, that floats in the summer sky". 10/10.
10) Farther - I'm still not completely sure whether I like the production of this song or not, but the bass is awesome. It has one of my favorite lines on the album: "Though I'm not the type who begs, I'm thinking how you'd open up your legs". I'll give it a 7/10.
11) Slow Motion - Controversial lyrics made this one have to be an instrumental on the album. The lyrical version is one of my favorite songs, a slow moving piece that has to do with violence, urban decay, etc. 10/10, right up there with Wounded and Camouflage.
12) Darkness - A rather slow ballad, with an AMAZING breakdown "Bring me the sun, cause I slide off the moon... yeeeeaaaahhhhh" Powerful lyrics, though the music isn't perfect. 9/10
13) Darwin - I love this song, and I really can't figure out why. It could be the emotion parts of the song are sung with. That said, it's not the most musical friendly song on the album. I'll give it an 8/10
14) Hidden Track (End of Red Summer Sun) - Beautiful. Purely beautiful. A haunting melody, with an amazing guitar solo at the end. Adds tons of value to The Red Summer Sun. 10/10.
In my opinion, Blue is one of the most underrated rock albums around. It deserves much more recognition than it's recieved. Do the band a favor, and purchase Blue. If you enjoyed either or both other albums, you're almost guaranteed to love Blue. Mark my words.
Rating: -
The first Third-Eye Blind album is nothing short of spectacular. I liked it instantly, and liked every single song. "Blue" needed many listens to become a favorite but one day it just clicked. The first five tracks everyone has heard about, "Anything", "Wounded", "10 Days Late", "Never Let You Go", and "Deep Inside Of You" are all great tracks, but the album's mood changes dramatically starting on track 6. "1000 Julys" is a transition song, loud guitars, very nice Jenkins vocals. "An Ode To Maybe" starts slow, and then erupts, gotta hear it to believe it. "The Red Summer Sun" tempo changes back and forth, the entire band's talents are on display here. "Camouflage" sounds like something that could have been popular in the 80's, but the sound is still fresh, "OKAY! OKAY!" (you'll know when you hear it!), fabulous song regardless. "Farther" is popsy, bluesey, definitely shoulda been a single, one of the faster tracks. "Darkness" is slow and atmospheric, very cool tune. "Darwin" is one of my favorites on the album, best Jenkins vocals on the entire album. "Slow Motion" is an instrumental, it's an edited song because the first one was too violent, download it on some mp3 program if you get a chance. Overall, one of my favorites in my collection, I recently ordered the new album "Out of the Vein" and can't wait to hear it. "Blue" is an exploration of music, and its boundaries, a lot of different styles and tempos are reached and comes together as a solid album beginning to the very end. Highly recommended.
Rating: -
This is yet another fine work of Third Eye Blind. It is different than the first because of the way Stephan likes to go into the harmonics. Great songs on this Cd are "Wounded," "10 Days Late," "Never Let You Go," "Deep Inside Of You," and "1000 Julys." More copies of 3eb's first album were sold than the second. Mainly becuase people had only heard "Never Let You Go," on the radio and misjudged newer 3eb's music. I'm telling you this Cd is Great. It is a great change. This shows us Stephan Jenkins ability to write different songs and still have great music. Be sure to check out Third Eye Blind's "Out of the Vein." It is by far their greatest work yet.
Rating: -
I'm not going to lie to you, the second half of this CD isn't all that great the first time you hear it. But it grew on me, and now I have so much emotional attachment to those songs I have to listen to it by myself because I know on two or three of the songs someone would say "What was that?" It's worth it, this CD is worth your time. Now that I've got all that "It isn't the first album" crap out of the way, I can tell you about "Wounded." It's a song, I feel, that's from the perspective of the friend of someone who just got the life sucked out of them. I have cried to this song so many times for so many different reasons. The pain that you feel from a friend who has shut down because of something they won't talk to you about, I know that pain and I know that this song is by far the best song ever written about it. It is my favorite song ever put out there, I had never even expressed that pain, then Stephan Jenkins put it in better words than I ever could and I could just FEEL every word. I would buy this CD for just this one song. I recommend you buy this CD for this one song and all the others. It's a beautiful CD, and it's too bad not very many people gave it a chance. I don't think there's enough music out there that makes a connection with the listener, and if you feel the same way then I know you will love this album.
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