Search - Third Eye Blind :: Out of the Vein

Out of the Mainstream

Andrew Estes | Maine | 08/25/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the release of "Blue" in 1999 and the subsequent departure (read: firing) of guitarist Kevin Cadogan, San Francisco alt-rock outfit Third Eye Blind laid low for a few years before returning in 2003 with "Out of the Vein". Unfortunately, it failed to make the same impression as its predecessors, and the band was released from their recording contract with little to no promotion for the record, resulting in a lengthy hiatus that would put the band out of commission for the better part of a decade. What was once considered a powerhouse act capable of packing arenas and providing hit after hit was reduced to rubble, and in the end, their third effort went by mostly unnoticed by audiences everywhere.



While the album lacks the punch of the first two albums (Cadogan's absence being a likely factor), it's certainly a worthy notch in the belt for the band. A more focused effort than the flamboyant and experimental "Blue," "Out of the Vein" is a more stripped down and straight-forward affair, where the band settles for simple compositions in favor of studio trickery. Nowhere is this more evident than on "Crystal Baller." Easily the album's strongest track, this one song manages to show off the band at their rawest and most emotional, without (for better or worse) a lot of the big production that permeated their earlier, more well-known work. Likewise, "Forget Myself" -- a love-letter to frontman Stephen Jenkins' former flame Charlize Theron -- is built off an infectious bassline by Arion Salazar and is all about the personal lyrics and passionate themes that the Third Eye Blind trademark was built on. On the other side of the coin, "Misfits" -- a track which originally featured Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst (?!) -- is unlike anything recorded by the band before. Dark and moody, the song is a slow-burning yet melodic feast that only serves to broaden the band's repertoire.



Hardly perfect, though, the album tends to trip over itself from time to time, keeping itself from achieving true greatness. Clumsy lyrical turns aside ("Still wishing that I had some tater-tots") the production (as handled by the band itself) is muddy at best, with the vocals sometimes fighting for air (see: "Company"). The album is rocking enough, but fails to pack a punch, with songs like "Faster" and "Danger" sounding a lot more underwhelming than they would in a live setting or simply given a new and better mix. In turn, it's an effort that is good but can't compare to the albums before it, which as far as late 90's alternative rock goes, are untouchable. Even still, it shows a different side to the band and at the very least, deserved a better fate than it originally fared."