I say “this week’s issue” like there was an issue last week, or the week before that, or the- anyways… this is actually the second issue of “Jeff’s Vent” and this time we’re boldly going where a good number of reviewers have already gone- Third Eye Blind’s new album. I can honestly say I’ve probably listened to this album a good ten or so times through. I can also honestly say that I downloaded it- despite that I made myself listen to the album with an open mind, I still had to stick to my morals when it came to contributing my monetary resources towards Third Eye Blind Inc.

I don’t really like it.

That’s about the most professional and down to earth thing I can say about the album. I am a fan of rock/alternative music, and this album just doesn’t satisfy my needs as a rock/alternative music fan. I will admit that this album is full of ear candy that the people who only listened to the hits of 3eb will drool all over, but it’s just missing too much to fufill me. My biggest complaints about the album as a whole, are:

1) No real lead guitar.
I’m not saying this because of the whole ex-guitarist thing. I’m saying this because it’s true. Any critic could listen to this album and say that Third Eye Blind doesn’t need a lead guitarist to perform these songs live. When I hear an album, I like to hear a lead guitar playing right along side with the vocals of the song (as opposed to power chords and picking standard chords.) There are few points in this album where you can actually hear the shining of Third Eye Blind’s lead guitarist. In fact, there are no solos on the entire album. In my opinion, it’s not his fault. I don’t think he was given many opportunities to put in his ideas and stand out- of course being his first album, he was probably a little reluctant in contributing ideas. There are frequent occasions where a lead guitar line or two could have been added, but was outbid by a computer-enhanced, poppy loop, which leads to my next reason.

2) Too many loops/effects, too little gut.
There’s too many songs on this album with a loop of some sort resembling that of the LEAD LINE in “Faster” that “duh-nuh-duh-nuh-duh-nuh” repetition. There’s too many of those. Why do they suck? They go against all principals of rock music in my opinion. Supporting this opinion are the performances of Faster that I have seen/heard. You just CANNOT pull that sound off live, and they are all over the album.

3) Little variety.
One thing I always really liked about Third Eye Blind was the variety in their sound. On both of their first albums there was a nice smorgasbord of different sounds, vibes, feelings, emotions- you get it. Each song reminded you of a certain time you went through. I just don’t feel like this album has enough variety. I will admit that this fallacy is highly contributed to by the lack of variety in Stephan’s voice throughout the album. For instance, compare his voice on the s/t in the songs “Losing a Whole Year,” “Narcolepsy,” “Semi-Charmed Life,” “I Want You,” and “The Background.” (I could almost list every song.) And notice the differences in his voice that give each song its unique style and vibe (of course the music has the same variance.) Then look at Blue and compare the songs “Anything,” “Ten Days Late,” “Darkness,” “Camoflauge,” “Wounded,” and “Red Summer Sun.” I reccomend just remembering what the sound like as opposed to actually listening to each of those songs, but I think you will understand what I’m talking about here. “Faster,” “Blinded,” “Forget Myself,” and “Company” as four examples, all have the same voice to me, and it tends to bore me after a while. Finally, for about 70% of the songs on this album, I can find another song by another artist that sounds almost the same. Some of the music in them is just too unoriginal for me. One example is “Crystal Baller” and “Desperately Wanting” by Better Than Ezra. They both have that over-redundant F,C,G melody. Of course, a quality LEAD line usually helps these.

One of the reasons I chose “I don’t really like it” for my summation, is because it’s true. I don’t think this album completely sucks or anything, I just don’t really like it (which is of course a lot different than saying “I really don’t like it.”) I felt that Danger was a quality song. It needs a lead riff something like that in “Losing a Whole Year” but it was a well-written song in my opinion. Other songs that help save this album for the rock/alternative fan are “Misfits,” “Self-Rightous,” and “Good Man.” Those songs to me are like a nice long breather after listening to the more redundant songs in between. I like Wake For Young Souls, but I can’t help but wish that they would have produced the song more along the lines of the demo. The way Stephan sings the vocals extra-fast and off beat just irritates me. They did a good job with the bridge, although it would have been nice for that awesome guitar line to stand out a little more (instead of being shelled by Stephan’s vocals) and finally I wish they would have used an electric guitar (with the treble cranked up) instead of an acoustic, to give it that kind of “oceany” vibe. I still enjoy having a studio version of the song though. If I had to give this album a letter, I’d give it a C If I had to pick a number one-ten, I’d probably say a 6.9 (just under passing.) It’s one of those albums I’d listen to for a few weeks, take it out of my cd player, and never really get the urge to put it in again (unless I got roused up to hear a certain song.) I really don’t think this album was worth the 3 years “spent working on it.” Will this album be successful? I don’t think so. Third Eye Blind just isn’t what Clear Channel, I mean, the radio is looking for. Right now if you have guitars in your band, (and no girls) you have to be one of those carbon-copy punk/pop bands (God I’m getting sick of them.) I think 3eb should set their hopes on breaking 500,000. I would consider that would be an accomplishment with the way mainstream is today.

Until next time.
- Jethro