When Third Eye Blind emerged in 1997 on the strength of their everywhere it could possibly be hit Semi-Charmed Life, corporate rock was in the midst of a huge resurgance. Along with Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind spearheaded the movement towards faceless rock bands who wrote catchy songs, most times hiding their post Seattle depression under peppy hooks.

Needless to say, times have changed. Just as Matchbox 20's sales have decreased, so have Third Eye Blind's. While their self titled debut moved more than four million copies, their 1999 follow up, Blue, barely went platinum. The lack of promotion for Blue was especially puzzling, as it was a solid rock album, a definitive move away from the jangly guitar pop anthems that infested the band's debut. Perhaps the best description of Blue is as follows: "it's one of the best albums ever put out by a really sh*tty band."

It took three and a half years (and the booting of guitarist Kevin Cadogan), but the follow up to Blue finally appeared on store shelves a couple months back. Out of the Vein is the band's attempt at reclaiming the mainstream success they enjoyed with their debut. It is also a huge step back artistically from Blue, and is nowhere near as good as the band wants to lead you to believe in the songs themselves.

I've never liked lead singer Stephan Jenkins. I've always thought he comes across as someone who is way too cocky for someone with such limited abilities. I always had the feeling that the man blew his wad on Blue, and this disc is the first bit of true proof I have to that theory.

Gone is the experimentation and variety that colored Blue. Instead, the band has gone back towards the cheesy guitar pop, and by the end of this disc, you'll feel like tearing your hair out with how much of the disc feels and sounds alike.

If the first song on the record, Faster, is the band's attempt at being "edgy", with the refrain of "she wants to f*ck that boy so badly," then it's a miserable attempt. In fact, sex comes up a lot over the first three numbers, which makes one wonder if Stephan Jenkins has actually gotten laid in the past three and a half years or if he just can't write anything remotely decent without some sort of overt sexual reference. Blinded (When I See You) is the catchiest song on the record, but that's not saying a whole lot. So few of these songs have hooks that are actually any good.

Meanwhile, Misfits is the best example of Jenkins' overconfident delivery. He sounds bored singing this song, like it's already a huge hit in the making. The music isn't so bad, it's one of the better songs musically on the entire album. But lyrically, it's awful. "Tick tick, tell me where the time goes, oh life you know it moves much too slow." What? I guess it could move slow when it takes you over three years to put out a new record.

Jenkins does manage to write one great song on this record, Wake for Young Souls. It's the one time on the record where the band manages to reign in their overblown production and just let the song be. They'd do well to learn this lesson for their next release: sometimes less is more.

Fans of the first album might find something to like here. Personally, most of the supposed hooks didn't do much for me, and as I said before, an awful lot of the album began blending together after a few listens. The production is crisp but entirely overblown, not unlike said debut. As for the people who gravitated towards the band because of Blue, meanwhile, would do well to stay away. It just isn't worth your time.

Out of the Vein isn't quite the corporate rock album that I'm sure the band and their label, Elektra, was hoping it would be. This album did nothing but confirm the above: Blue is one of the best albums ever done by a sh*tty band.




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