Album Review: Blue by Third Eye Blind

Admit it. You heard "Semi-Charmed Life" so many times that you memorized all the words, and you still didn't "want something else." Then you bought the album and found out that Third Eye Blind's songs were fantastic. "Graduate," "Narcolepsy," "I Want You"--for me, they were the songs that made my senior summer; for my brother, they were the hits of eighth grade; for everyone, they formed the soundtrack to a small part of our lives. And the new album, Blue, while perhaps not living up to the popularity of its predecessor, delivers a smattering of songs which showcase the band's tenacious solidarity and overwhelming talent. Third Eye Blind's pop feel is a little more subdued in this album, and the band seems more removed from the music, in part because of the introduction of new computerized effects, but the basic good stuff is still there. The band's best and perhaps most distinguishing feature--the surprising little vignettes of sound which switch you, with no attempt at subtlety, into a deliciously different musical genre for a few bars--makes itself felt in force: there's a '90s-style funk surprise in "Ode to Maybe" and even a hint of opera in "Red Summer Sun." Once again, the album demonstrates 3EB's versatility: the songs are funny and sad, hard and soft, discordant and, at times, quite beautiful. A- --BENJAMIN A. COWAN