Third Eye Blind was the foreign band that I listened to the most back in high school. I remember just seeing a classmate carrying a casette tape of the band’s eponymous first album and for some reason, I felt the impulse to buy it the next time I go to the record store. Though I’ve never heard their music before, the band’s name and the grainy cover art made me believe that it was worth a hundred and ten bucks (the going price for tapes then). Though this not-so-dependable rule would cost me an untold amount of money years later, for this particular gamble it sure was a still.
The first Third Eye Blind album is a perfect mix of high school anthems with the oh-so-relatable adolescent themes of procrastination, substance abuse (whut!), suicide and sex. Of course Stephan Jenkins and company exercise a healthy dose of restraint in the angst and emotions so the concerns portrayed in the songs are not necessarily that juvenile. This album is one of the very few albums that I could listen to from the first track down the last one with hitting forward. The variety in the musical approach certainly does wonders as far as avoiding the trap of monotony is concerned. The fourteen ditties on this album range from light and easy like ‘I Want You’ to the relatively loud ‘Graduate’.
Most people would probably know the band through the excellent recall value of their singles. ‘Semi-charmed Life’ has this quality that makes it memorable even if a) you were hearing it for the first time or b) you didn’t know that it was actually a Third Eye Blind song. This aspect is greatly due to the infectious hook in the chorus - the genius behind the mindless doot-doot-doo-doot-doo-doot-doo could get anyone singing without necessarily knowing the lyrics. It also helps that this tune received considerable airplay back in the day - do you realize that IT HAS BEEN OVER A DECADE?!
‘Jumper’ is the band’s other big hit from the first album. Depression and paranoia is at its peak during the teenage years and unlike the approach that other artists have taken when writing about this touchy subject, 3eb chose a saner and more relatable angle by bringing in the context of friendship instead of merely glorifying self-mutilation and suicide. It’s easy-going videoke-friendly feel also ensure its lasting place in the pantheon of drinking session songs.
My favorite track in the entire album is the ode to psychosis secondary to sleep deprivation ‘Narcolepsy’. The feel of the entire song feels very manic and trippy making it the perfect soundtrack to any intense activity. This track feels different from the rest of the album because it explores the heavy melodic sensibilities of a band that sounded like a pop-rock machine on the radio.
Though the band never achieved iconic status like the heroes of the grunge era, the band surely produced one of the most solid pop-rock albums of the late 90s elevating them to an entity that can lay claim to a cult following despite the lukewarm success of their succeeding albums.
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Written with a passion and authority only a real fan could pull off with great ease. w00t, masterfully worded!
this is one of the most relevant albums of my growing up years hehehe
I’d love to watch their concert but I couldn’t go to oktoberfest. Hopefully they’ll come back and have a proper concert like in araneta or kung hindi kaya, eastwood man lang.
Also I agree about Narcolepsy and your reviews on their other songs
Has it really been ten years? Sigh. I remember Motorcyle Drive-By being the soundtrack to my one too many emo highschool and college nights.
Sayang di ako nakapunta. If you get news about something like this in the future, tell me sooner para maayos ko sked ko haha.
Jumper does have its place in the “pantheon of OUR drinking session songs”, along with Luha by Aegis, Ako’y sayo Ika’y akin by Iaxe, and Ang Huling el Bimbo by The Eraserheads. Basically, the only songs I know from start to finish. hehe
semi-charmed rocks!