Bullz-Eye.com - CD Reviews - Third Eye Blind: Out of the Vein

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CD Reviews: Third Eye Blind: Out of the Vein

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Something about Third Eye Blind is comforting. Lead singer Stephan Jenkins has one of those familiar voices/screams that sounds/feels like putting on your favorite pair of jeans. Sorry if you've heard that cliché before, but it's true in the case of this California band's third release, Out of the Vein. It's just more of the same formula from the first two efforts, only maybe a bit more refined and ready for the world of pop radio. Either that or new squeeze Vanessa Carlton has mellowed Jenkins just a bit.

"Faster" starts out with punchy guitars, spacey rhythm and Jenkins' familiar tenor, then launches into power chords and screams in the chorus. This was basically the stamp Third Eye Blind put on the rock world with their first album in 1997. "Blinded" and "Forget Myself" are more of the same, featuring Jenkins almost rapping in the verses in a style that has become completely his own. The riffs and melodies in this stuff are as memorable as anything dominating the airwaves. "Crystal Baller" is single material along the lines of the band's first hit "Semi-Charmed Life." "Misfits" is a dark, acoustic-driven piece and "Can't Get Away" is a loop-ridden sugary pop song. Carlton herself (who, I'm sorry, I find extremely annoying) has a guest appearance in "Self Righteous," where she almost sounds like a child kicking off this mood piece that somehow works and may actually be one of Jenkins' best. "Company" has a touch of early Replacements-like punk thrown in and "Good Man" is another awesome ballad to close out the set.

When I saw this band live a year ago, it seemed like they might have been losing a step. They may have as far as radio play so far, but Out of the Vein is the most polished of this band's records to date, and the more seasoned they become, the better the overall quality of their writing seems to get. Or is it the influence of Vanessa Carlton? Man, I hope not.

~Mike Farley
mfarley@bullz-eye.com

Other Third Eye Blind reviews:
ThirdEyeBlind (1997)

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