Since every other late \u201890s band decided to regroup and put out an album between 2008 and 2010, Third Eye Blind wasn\u2019t about to be left behind. So six years after Out Of The Vein <\/i>came Ursa Major<\/i>. As expected, it\u2019s a more mature, sophisticated album than previous efforts, with only a few of the flourishes \u2013 both good and bad \u2013 that characterized 3EB\u2019s first two albums.<\/p>\n
No, there\u2019s nothing as naggingly catchy as \u201cSemi-Charmed Life\u201d or \u201cNever Let You Go,\u201d as the sweet bouncy hit single part of the band has been subsumed (fitting, given their ages). But neither are there hidden drug and sex references among the sweet-sounding music, one of the more annoying facets of the band and something that Stephan Jenkins used to smirk about (hence Jason Warburg\u2019s criticism of the debut).<\/p>\n
Jenkins has grown up, peppering his lyrics now with references to relationships good and bad, a yearning for something more out of life and government and a look back at how things used to be. There\u2019s nothing truly deep or thought-provoking; rather, Jenkins echoes sentiments that most of us feel at some time or another in our 30s and early 40s, and for the first time it feels like he\u2019s being honest.<\/p>\n
Granted, the debut was a pretty darn good mainstream rock album, and even if \u201cLife\u201d does no more now than transport you back to the rollerblading arena and Lisa Frank posters of 1997, songs like \u201cLosing A Whole Year,\u201d \u201cJumper\u201d and \u201cHow\u2019s It Going To Be\u201d remain highlights of the post-alt-rock movement. Regrettably, Ursa Major <\/i>mostly plays it safe, going very heavy on the ballads and midtempo numbers, which is the direction these guys needed to go but one they just can\u2019t turn into anything truly exciting or vital. <\/p>\n
The first two tracks are misleading. \u201cCan You Take Me\u201d is a very catchy pop-rocker, proof that Jenkins can still write these things, and of all the songs here it\u2019s the one that will stick with you. \u201cDon\u2019t Believe A Word\u201d is loud and punkish in spirit, calling out the pro-war government and \u201cKing George\u201d (although this was in 2009, so who knows how old the song is?), but the song itself is awkward and never quite lands. <\/p>\n
\u201cAbout To Break\u201d is pretty good, with Jenkins finding solidarity among the marginalized and overworked in society, while the solitary Russian actor consumed with a depressing past and his thoughts on an empty stage in \u201cMolotov\u2019s Private Opera\u201d shows depth that I didn\u2019t know this band was capable of. \u201cEvery moment of your life is a chance to get it right,\u201d Jenkins sings, which seems like pop psychology but hints at how our every decision, even small ones, makes some impact and requires some level of thought. <\/p>\n
If more moments were like \u201cMolotov\u2019s Private Opera\u201d and \u201cCan You Take Me,\u201d this would have been a winning return to form, but the bulk of this disc is serious, mature, mundane adult acoustic pop-rock that blends together in a warm beige blanket. That may hold an appeal for those who love Sensitive White Guys With Acoustic Guitars and despised the band and \u201cSemi-Charmed Life,\u201d but it\u2019s kind of a letdown for everyone else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":32661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6067],"rating":[11204],"class_list":["post-44430","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-third-eye-blind","rating-rating-c-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/44430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=44430"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=44430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}