The world of alternative rock is wide and varied, but the vast majority of the albums and singles tend not to stray too far from the rock charts – preferring to stay in the safe confines of the alternative community’s repertoire. Of course, there are many exceptions to that rule, one of the many being Third Eye Blind and their Eponymous début album which, upon its release in 1997, propelled the band to major chart success, owed in part to the chart successes of the singles Semi-Charmed Life, Jumper, and How’s It Going to Be, all of which enjoyed time within the Top 10. the success of these singles led to the album selling over 12 million copies.
Spanning the genres of alt rock and post grunge with just enough pop rock catchiness, this is an album steeped in pain, elation and hidden meaning. As this was the debut of the San Francisco rockers, it is them at their absolute rawest. And if the chart positioning is anything to go by, the fans loved it – as did the critics. The fact that it’s much catchier and playful than your average post-grunge band meant it went down a storm, allowing a fairly difficult genre to become that little bit more accessible.
Why do you need this LP?
As entry-level post-grunge goes, you can’t get much better. It can be easily appreciated by fans of grunge, but opens it up just enough that pretty much anyone can get drawn in and sing along. But looking beneath the surface of engaging hooks and melodies, there are great depths to be plunged. This was their first album, and by far the most successful, both commercially and critically. It came before the band was mired in various controversies, line-up changes, record label disputes and numerous other issues which clouded their career from then on. Although they have since come back into the fold, this remains a slice of post grunge and rock history, as Third Eye Blind before the problems – Third Eye Blind at their absolute best, long before the music industry could get to them.