#49 - Third Eye Blind

#49
Artist: Third Eye Blind
Album: Third Eye Blind
Year of Release: 1997
Label: Elektra

If I'm starting this with my favorite album from my youth, then I'll continue it with my second-favorite.  That may seem out of order, but I think Third Eye Blind's debut holds up just slightly better.  The San Francisco quartet's sound is less unique (and downright cloying at times), and the lyrics and vocalization are all over the place, but I'll be damned if these songs still don't come together perfectly.  "Semi-Charmed Life" would be a nineties punchline if it weren't so well constructed, and most tracks (including "Jumper" and "Graduate") work towards conclusions that pull every previous element together towards songwriting ecstasy.  Perhaps the epitome of what late-nineties pop-oriented rock could be.