Album Review — Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind — Thanks For Everything
I’m still not sure why I love Third Eye Blind. They come from an era of music I don’t really like. And based on their latest cover record, I don’t like any of the bands they like. But for some reason I can’t get enough of them.
The band’s latest release is a seven song cover record with all proceeds going to the Andy Warhol Museum. I haven’t heard any of the songs before by the original artists, and I’ve heard next to nothing from these artists at all.
“10” is up first and it takes a bit get going but when it does it’s all guitar. It’s pretty hooky for an opening track, but it rocks. I’m getting the feeling from the start that fans of these bands may not dig this record.
“F*ck Forever” is up next. It’s another catchy tune with a punk rock vibe to it. Not my favorite song on the record but still good.
“This Isn’t Our Parade” starts with a piano/guitar part and slowly builds to a fairly poppy chorus. There are some cool guitar parts in the transitions. This song fits Jenkins’ voice well. The chorus isn’t my favorite but I like what they do with the song.
“Song of the Siren” is a Tim Buckley song and I’ve at least heard of him. It’s a folksy acoustic track that features Jenkins in fine form. It’s a pretty song. Jenkins’ voice and style are unique and he definitely puts his spin on these songs. I wouldn’t question this being a 3eb record if I didn’t know it was a covers album.
The guitar sound on “Joke” is pretty clean all the way through and never really gets to where it could go. Not a bad song but not my favorite.
“In The Fade” is a Queens of the Stone Age song. I don’t know too much about them, but this song is far more poppy than I expected. One of my favorite aspects of 3eb is the emotion they evoke. It could just be in a key change, in Jenkins’ voice, in a slow build or transition. There’s a lot of that going on here is this mid-tempo pop song.
“Blood Bank” closes it out. I know very little about Bon Iver other than I pronounce the name wrong and the songs are pretty depressing. This song fits the depressing bill. I really like this song and the band’s delivery. It’s a 5 minute slow build that’s a perfect ending to the album.
I’m quite sure that fans of these bands aren’t going to love this album. The band puts their own spin on these songs as it feels very much like a Third Eye Blind record. If you are looking for these covers to sound like the originals you will probably be disappointed. But if you are a fan of 3eb, I think you’ll dig it.
Overall — 90 out of 100
Track Listing
- “10” (Happy Diving)
- “F*ck Forever” (Babyshambles)
- “This Isn’t Our Parade” (Santigold)
- “Song of the Siren” (Tim Buckley)
- “Joke” (Chastity Belt)
- “In the Fade” (Queens of the Stone Age)
- “Blood Bank” (Bon Iver)