3EB At Long Last
Third Eye Blind is a great band that has had a long absence from the scene, at least as far as creating anything new is concerned. Their last major album, Out Of The Vein was a work of genius that mostly fell on deaf ears, largely because it had little or no marketing or publicity behind it. Three songs from that album in particular, “Crystal Baller”, “My Hit and Run” and the wonderfully unique “Palm Reader” merit special attention, but the album is consistently good throughout, and is another reason for devotion to this trend-setting bay area band that, after three studio albums, can still lay claim to being one of the best bands out there.
Now they are back with a new album entitled Ursa Major which will be released in August. A single is available now on iTunes. Check it out and let me know what you think.
[...] Please see my post on Third Eye Blind here. [...]
Pingback by 3EB At Long Last « MCQESQ — June 30, 2009 @ 5:21 pm
I like the songwriting but the lisp drives me crazy.
Comment by Geoff J — June 30, 2009 @ 5:50 pm
Geoff, Stephan will have you killed for saying that.
Comment by MCQ — June 30, 2009 @ 6:32 pm
Just yesterday I was thinking how lame I was for purchasing their first album 11 or so years ago.
Comment by a random John — June 30, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
Why arJ? That’s a great album that I still listen to a lot.
Comment by MCQ — June 30, 2009 @ 7:59 pm
You mean Thtephan will have me killed right?
Comment by Geoff J — June 30, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
Geoff, I think you’re just jealous of the women he dates. Maybe you should try sounding like he does, you might have better luck yourself.
Comment by MCQ — June 30, 2009 @ 9:20 pm
MCQ, that’s why nobody likes talking with you. Just hurtful, and mean. And mean.
Comment by Supergenius — July 1, 2009 @ 9:35 am
I just listened to half of Out of the Vein. It’s hooky and tuneful enough. I like the guitar sound. Overall, it’s not the kind of thing that I prefer to listen to, but I don’t begrudge anyone their love of 3EB. However, I must register my objection to the phrase, “work of genius,” being applied to generic guitar pop/rock. That is all.
Comment by Tom — July 1, 2009 @ 10:08 am
OK, Tom, and I’ll just register my objection to your calling them “generic” and we’ll call it even.
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 10:27 am
SG, I thought it was you that nobody liked talking to.
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 10:28 am
MCQ, keep proving me right, Mr. Mean.
BTW 3EB really is generic pop/rock, albeit with some occasional glimmers that make them superior. They have a fine sound I suppose, but I don’t hear anything in them that makes them rise above their genre.
Comment by Supergenius — July 1, 2009 @ 10:37 am
SG, they invented their genre. That whole rap/rock thing was done first by them. Call them generic if you like, but they are, in reality, trend setters who have outlasted most of the other bands who started with them or who imitated them.
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
I had thought that Rap/Rock was unfortunately invented by Wham and degraded further by Rush. What am I missing?
Comment by a random John — July 1, 2009 @ 1:24 pm
That whole rap/rock thing was done first by them.
What the…??? Have these guys been around a lot longer than I thought?
Comment by Geoff J — July 1, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
Wham???
I have never listened to Wham, but if they ever did rap or rock let alone both together, I would be surprised. My dim recollection of Wham is that they were purveyors of 80s electronic gay pop. But maybe that’s just a complete misapprehension on my part.
I will admit that Rush may have done some limited things like what I am talking about (“Tom Sawyer” springs to mind) but nothing like what 3EB did.
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 2:32 pm
If my memory serves there were two Wham Raps that were awful.
The Rush stuff came out in the 90s, I’m not talking about Tom Sawyer. I didn’t like it enough to remember the name. Maybe it was on Roll the Bones?
I suppose there is also the Aerosmith/RunDMC collaboration on Walk This Way which is definitely much better than Wham or the Rush stuff.
Comment by a random John — July 1, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
You’ve never listened to Wham? That’s a shame…
Comment by gabby — July 1, 2009 @ 3:12 pm
Hmmm…did 3EB come before Faith No More, Red Hot CHili Peppers, or Rage Against the Machine?
Comment by Tim J — July 1, 2009 @ 4:11 pm
No Tim, but those bands are in a slightly different category. 3EB was doing the same thing in a much more pop influenced genre than those bands.
Here’s what I’m talking about:
And of course, the obvious:
Third Eye Blind ~ Semi~Charmed Life
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 4:27 pm
311 had its major label debut four years prior to the debut from Third Eye Blind. And 311 didn’t invent the “rap/rock thing” either.
Blondie did it in the early 80s as one example.
Comment by Geoff J — July 1, 2009 @ 4:46 pm
Well, now we’re just going to get into a debate about musical genres, which is one of my pet peeves.
I’ll just say that you can’t compare what Blondie was doing (and yes, that was groundbreaking) to what 3EB did in the 90s. Blondie was essentially a dance band.
311 and 3EB are both rock bands, but they are contemporaries and came out with their sound at approximately the same time. 3EB’s first album was much more of a mainstream success than 311′s was, however.
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 5:11 pm
MCQ, remember when you were defending Stranger Than Fiction? This kind of feels like that. It’s ok to love stuff that most people find middling. But you probably won’t succeed in convincing the rest of us.
Comment by Supergenius — July 1, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
I just listened to both those songs and I don’t hear any rapping.
And I always thought that last song was Blind Melon. Or Sublime. Or Cake. Honest.
Comment by Susan M — July 1, 2009 @ 8:12 pm
Once again, Steve, I don’t know why you think you know what “most people” think. Most people I know love 3EB.
There is a common feeling between the two threads, and here is why: Once again, I’m right and you’re wrong. That’s the familiar feeling you’re having. You must be getting used to that feeling by now.
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 8:48 pm
Hehe. I think the common thread is that you seem to think your tastes should be universal and the rest of the universe doesn’t agree.
Don’t get me wrong. TEB was a decent 90′s alt band. A bit bland and forgettable for my tastes but certainly not bad.
Also, that Semi-Charmed Kind of Life song is nigh impossible to sing on a karaoke machine. That is something important we should not forget in this discussion…
(BTW — Thanks for shrinking the picture. It was starting to creep me out when it was giant)
Comment by Geoff J — July 1, 2009 @ 9:03 pm
Geoff, I don’t know how to shrink the picture, but I would have done it if I had known. It must have been Steve.
There seems to be a misunderstanding that I am trying to impose my views on others. That’s not at all my intention and I apologize if it seems that way. I like defending my point of view, but I’m really not trying to convince anyone else, just let you know why I feel the way I do.
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 9:08 pm
So Wham’s rapping is too gay pop, other rapping isn’t pop enough, and 3EB is just right in its lispy popness?
Comment by a random John — July 1, 2009 @ 9:39 pm
See arJ, I knew you’d get it!
Comment by MCQ — July 1, 2009 @ 9:44 pm