Out of the Vein [Bonus DVD] [PA] [Limited]

Performer: Third Eye Blind
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browswer. OUT OF THE VEIN [LIMITED] contains a bonus DVD disc. Third Eye Blind: Arion Salazar (vocals, guitar, bass); Stephan Jenkins, Tony Fredianelli (vocals, guitar); Brad Hargreaves (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Hrund V Bakshi, Sam Bass, Vanessa Carlton, Kimya Dawson, DJ Flair, Kim Shattuck. Producers: Stephan Jenkins, Arion Salazar, Jason Carmer. Recorded at Mourningwood Studios and Skywalker Sound, San Francisco, California. This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browswer. Third Eye Blind: Arion Salazar (vocals, guitar, bass); Stephan Jenkins, Tony Fredianelli (vocals, guitar); Brad Hargreaves (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Hrund V Bakshi, Sam Bass, Vanessa Carlton, Kimya Dawson, DJ Flair, Kim Shattuck. Producers: Stephan Jenkins, Arion Salazar, Jason Carmer. Recorded at Mourningwood Studios and Skywalker Sound, San Francisco, California. This is a Hyper CD, which contains regular audio tracks and also provides a link to the artist's website with the help of a web browser. It wouldn't be difficult to make a case for Third Eye Blind as the archetypal '90s-spawned pop/rock band. On their third album (and their first of the 21st century) they continue down the path that started with their 1997 smash "Semi-Charmed Life." Throughout OUT OF THE VEIN, the band employs lessons learned from the early-'90s Seattle crowd in equal measure with the amiable accessibility of amped-up mid-'90s folk-rockers like Counting Crows and Hootie & the Blowfish. That is to say, they know how to pour on the radio-ready pop hooks while keeping the guitar riffs appropriately taut and the rhythms on the right side of mid-tempo. While there are a couple of stylistic off-ramps, such as the reggae lilt of "Wake For Young Souls" or the lazy, slow-mo vibe of "Self Righteous," the balance of this disc is one slice of bright, mainstream pop manna after another, with melodic smarts to spare. Third Eye Blind don't get much respect from rock critics or fans, but they do have their own weird kind of integrity. Under the direction of Stephan Jenkins -- who, after the departure of guitarist Kevin Cadogan, is not just the leader, but the major musical force -- they are an unabashedly mainstream post-alternative band, but they have the fervor and righteous belief of U2, only delivered on a smaller scale and with a distinctively American bent. They believe in big-scale music, so they can't help but deliver music that sounds commercial (which in other hands would sound like a sellout), but since they believe it, man, and because Jenkins sings passionately, it doesn't sound that way in their hands. That's especially true of their third album, Out of the Vein, where the bandmembers sound like they have something to prove -- which, in a way, they do. While Jenkins was undeniably the band's jet-setting frontman -- a heartthrob once linked to actress Charlize Theron -- Cadogan was generally acknowledged as the band's secret weapon, crafting the songs and playing the hooks that kept TEB in the charts where other post-grungers fell behind. Without Cadogan, they have to prove that they can still deliver, and the band responds by rocking harder than ever -- a move that coincidentally happens to emphasize the aforementioned inadvertently mainstream integrity, since the harder sound gives this a harder sheen (not a harder edge), even to the handful of mid-tempo songs and ballads. Sonically, it's not a bad move, but the record is hurt by the absence of hooks, which unfortunately did disappear with Cadogan. Though earnest and bearing the hallmarks of being carefully crafted, none of the songs have hooks, which leaves the band and their good intentions stranded. They strive for great heights -- something that is tougher than Blue, something that is anthemic and sweeping -- but they're weighed down by their lack of memorable songs. If they can keep this sound and get back the hooks, they'd have something as good as their first two records, but, as it stands, this is their first stumble. [The album was also available in clean and Bonus DVD versions.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Entertainment Weekly (5/16/03, p.69) - "...Those who've been waiting for these fellas to fulfill the promise of their first album won't be disappointed by VEIN....Give it half a chance and it'll do wonders for your pleasure chakra..." - Grade: B

Along with such peers as Tonic and Matchbox Twenty, San Francisco's Third Eye Blind broke through at a crucial juncture in the '90s music scene. In between the twilight of grunge (from which they took some influence) and the ascendancy of nu-metal, Third Eye Blind championed the values of straight-ahead pop-rock with sparkling hooks and vocal harmonies featured alongside hard-hitting guitars and drums in equal measure. They hit it big straight out of the gate, with the infectious single "Semi-Charmed Life" from their self-titled 1997 debut album, and kept going strong past the turn of the century.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25