Customer Reviews
"I wanna taste the salt of your skin..."
Lead singer Stephan Jenkins has an unusual but powerful voice and his songwriting is flawless. Third Eye Blind's self-titled album is a wonderful and exciting mix of rock and pop tunes. Standout tracks include: Motorcycle Drive By, How's It Gonna Be, Jumper, Losing a Whole Year, I Want You, and Semi-Charmed Life. This album is nearly perfect expect for a few tracks. Defintely an interesting and timeless album of the '90s!.
Groundbreaking debut (4.5/5)
This album is one of the finest from the post-grunge period, and put into motion the group that would win over thousands with their well-produced, inspired rock. Third Eye Blind's self-titled 1997 debut is one of my favorite 90s rock albums. "Third Eye Blind" is full of very well-written, catchy pop-rock songs, but it's far more artistic than your average mainstream rock. Stephan Jenkins' lyrics are passionate and emotional, expressing despair and depression over failed relationships and problems of life. His vocal delivery ranges from a soft singing to an almost rapped fast pace, and his signature shrieky falsetto is always welcome. The album as a tone has a fairly dark and depressed mood to it, but the upbeat songs emit a much more joyful air. Behind Kevin Cadogan and Arion Salazar's musicianship, the songs are built around catchy guitar riffs that match the vocals perfectly. The songs are extremely catchy and memorable, and the emotion in these songs makes them inspiring and appealing.
My only complaints I would ever have about this album are just towards the end of the tracklist. A few of the slower, sparser, and less memorable songs are grouped towards the end, and a few of these are skippable and similar. I'm not sure about this tan cover that Amazon displays, the only one I've ever been familiar with is the red one.
The tracklist begins with the fast and sad "Losing a Whole Year," about a lost love. The furious guitars are loud and thumping, but Jenkins' vocals and lyrics are soft. "Narcolepsy" is a nice, almost relaxing tune until the end. The #1 single, the unforgettable "Semi-Charmed Life," is without a doubt one of the very best songs of the 90s, a perfectly constructed pop tune. The memorable hook and almost rapped verses, to the bridge and guitar break, this song is a catchy, timeless classic. Just as good is its perfect follower, "Jumper. " The spinning, almost acoustic feeling song is an inspiring conversation to a suicidal friend, and the hook and verses are enough to make anyone sing along. "Graduate" is a pounding, heavy song that I like. The slower "How's It Going to Be" was another successful single, a well-written tune. "Thanks a Lot" and "Burning Man" are both very well-produced, they're upbeat and catchy rock songs with meaningful lyrics. "Good for You" and "London" are also enjoyable, exhibiting raw emotion. "I Want You" is one of my favorites, musically laidback and lyrically yearning. The album closes with three slow yet very fulfilling songs, "The Background," "Motorcycle Drive By," and "God of Wine. "
"Third Eye Blind" is one of the finest rock albums of the nineties, and it has something that will appeal to everybody. From the catchy, well-written pop tunes, to the emotional lyrics or the musical artistry, there's a lot to love about this debut. I also highly recommend its follow up, 1999's [[ASIN:B00002Z88G Blue]].
one of the finest albums of all time
5 or ten years after the fact, I can still be driving on I-95, heading towards BeanTown at 8am with bumper to bumper traffic, and close my eyes and belt out "God Of Wine" or "Motorcycle Drive By" and I feel alive. there is something magical about Third Eye Blind, regardless of what most of their songs are referring to, they seep into your psyche and sit there awhile, just playing with your senses. I feel this album was made for me, and I feel infinite. I am glad that my favorite, most poetic songs from this album, hardly, if ever got radio play. It would have, in this reviewers opinion, taken the purity and eloquence away from the magic of what those songs are about if it were layed out to the masses and critics at that pathetic, sophmoric Spin magazine.
'The Background' is one of my favorite songs of all time, and 'God of Wine' is a song that should be legendary, like Hotel California. I am just so sorry I missed them on both their shows in this area. I have waited so long to see them live.
Arguably, Third Eye Blind's debut self-titled album, can be layed on pace with Radiohead's "Ok Computer" and The Beatles "The White Album" as some of the finest music to grace our ears. I thank them.
One of my favorite musical experiences of my life; sheer brilliant.
Ken.
. You can see a complete list of all Third Eye Blind discography, or go back to the Third Eye Blind tabs
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