Third Eye Blind тобының тарихы мен дискографиясы

American rock band
the album

Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid 1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major label recording contract with Elektra Records in 1996. The band released their self titled debut album in 1997, with the band largely consisting of Jenkins (vocals, rhythm guitar), Cadogan (lead guitar), Arion Salazar (bass guitar), and Brad Hargreaves (drums). Shortly after the release of the band's second album in 1999, Blue, with the same line up, Cadogan was released from the band under controversial circumstances. The band continued, but with many line up changes and long gaps between album releases for the next 15 years. The band released Out of the Vein in 2003 and Ursa Major in 2009 with guitarist Tony Fredianelli, but parted ways with him shortly afterwards, leaving only Jenkins and Hargreaves as the remaining core members. The band's lineup stabilized again in the mid 2010s, adding Kryz Reid (lead guitar), Alex Kopp (keyboards), and Alex LeCavalier (bass guitar). The new lineup led to increased output with less time between releases Dopamine (2015), and a string of EPs, We Are Drugs (2016) and Thanks for Everything (2018). After Kopp was replaced by Colin Creev, sixth and seventh studio albums Screamer (2019) and Our Bande Apart (2021) were released. The band found commercial success in the late 1990s, with Third Eye Blind and Blue certified platinum six times and single platinum in the United States, respectively. Several songs were commercial successes as well, with "Semi Charmed Life", "Jumper", and "How's It Going to Be", all reaching the Top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100, and "Never Let You Go" reaching the Top 20. Third Eye Blind has sold around 12 million records worldwide.

The band's origins trace back to the early 1990s, with frontman Stephan Jenkins writing music, but struggling to hold together a consistent musical lineup. Originally, Jenkins started his music career as one half of an interracial rap duo "Puck and Natty" with musician Herman Anthony Chunn, who went by the stage name "Zen". The two managed to attract some attention from record labels enough to get one of their few recorded songs "Just Wanna Be Your Friend" on a soundtrack for the television drama Beverly Hills, 90210. and the two recorded the band's first demo together in 1993. The band toured locally during 1994 and early 1995, building up a following. However, in July 1995, the band hit a significant setback with a disastrous "Battle of the Bands" performance that would see the winner be offered a record deal. Urbano (the drummer at the time) quit shortly before the show, Jenkins was sick and unable to perform well, and Cadogan blew out his guitar amp two songs into the show. During Third Eye Blind concerts at the time, it was customary for the band to have a piñata release candy above their mosh pits, yet at the showcase for the record executives, lead singer Jenkins released live crickets from the piñata instead. and was paid double by the concert promoter. In addition, Jenkins' production of hip hop duo The Braids' cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" gained major label attention. Afterwards, the band found themselves in a bidding war among record labels, and after another showcase in June 1996 in Los Angeles, the band signed a contract with Sylvia Rhone of Elektra Records because they believed that contract offered the most artistic freedom.

While the band had finally accomplished their goal of getting signed, troubles persisted with the band. Jenkins and Valentine clashed; Valentine was hired as a sound engineer, but felt he was tasked with duties that a full fledged music producer would do, without the pay that would normally come with the role. Additionally, unbeknownst to the rest of the band until years later, even though both Cadogan and Jenkins were signed to the deal from the record label, days prior to the signing, Jenkins secretly set up a Third Eye Blind Inc" as a corporation, and named himself the sole owner and shareholder, giving him complete control over all legal and financial matters in the band. As a new artist, the album did not particularly debut high in the US all format Billboard 200 album's chart, and only ever peaked at number 25 on the chart, but consistently sold each week, staying on the chart for over a year straight. Sales approached 1 million in the US by the end of 1997. It not only performed well on rock radio, topping the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 8 weeks, but also found crossover success, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Four subsequent singles "Graduate", "How's It Going to Be", "Losing a Whole Year", and "Jumper" kept the album selling well into 1998. Meanwhile, Billboard named it the number one modern rock track of the year. The band toured extensively in support of the album, including opening for large acts such as U2 and The Rolling Stones in late 1997, and a larger venue amphitheater tour mid year, and a college tour with Eve 6. The touring was seen as a success, as the band continued to book increasingly higher profile shows Salazar missing some 1997 shows because he was hospitalized by a viral infection,

The band began work on a second album in January 1999, directly after finishing their 1998 tour with Eve 6. By March, Jenkins reported that there were already 30 songs in contention for the follow up album, and that recording would start in April. The band were given a tight deadline of six months to submit a completely recorded album by October 1999. Cadogan and Jenkins were already not getting along while touring in support of their self titled album, and Cadogan was outraged to finally find out that Jenkins had secretly legally and financially put himself in charge of the band, and of Salazar and Hargreaves' indifference to it. While Jenkins insisted that the song was satirical parody, and actually anti violence, Elektra disapproved of the track being on the album, feeling it could cause controversy because of the proximity of the Columbine High School massacre, which had just happened in April of that year. The band and the label fought over the song's inclusion for four months, with the label proposing a compromise that would allow only the instrumental to be on the album, and in return, the label would finance an EP to be released after the album, where the band could release the song in its entirety and have complete creative freedom, without restriction. On November 23, 1999, the band released their second album, Blue. It sold 75,000 copies in the week it was released, and by 2003 had sold 1.25 million in the U. S. Four singles were released from the album: "Anything", "Never Let You Go", "10 Days Late", and "Deep Inside of You". "Never Let You Go" came close to replicating the success of the singles from the bands first album, peaking at number 14 on the Billboard all format US singles chart. Blue would be certified platinum by the RIAA, indicating over a million sold in the US; a strong achievement, but well below their first album's six time platinum achievement. Two months after the album release, on January 26, 2000, it was announced that Cadogan had been fired after playing a show at the Sundance Film Festival. No reason for the termination was given at the time, just a message from Godtland that Jenkins, Salazar, Hargreaves wished him well. In June 2000, Cadogan filed a multi million dollar federal lawsuit against Jenkins. Cadogan filed suit, alleging wrongful termination, adding that his production, recording, and songwriting royalties had been withheld since being kicked out of the band. The band pushed forward with touring in the meantime, continuing to play large venues, but felt pressure from the burgeoning teen pop and nu metal musical movements of the time, which they fell in between without being part of either. In this time period, Jenkins considered working with Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst, doing some early work on collaborating on material for both of their respective bands, though none of this material ever ended up being released by either party.

After four straight years of recording music and touring in support of it, the next couple years were quieter for the band. Originally, the band had planned on starting work on the EP they had agreed upon making as a vehicle to release the controversial "Slow Motion" song kept off of Blue by the label. The EP was originally titled Black, as a companion piece to Blue. Recording plans were delayed from late 2000, The band only played a handful of live performances, largely one off benefit shows. Progress on the album would be slow. The third album was originally scheduled to be released in early 2002, but was delayed several times before its release in May 2003. According to Jenkins, some of the reasons for the delay stemmed from a self imposed pressure to live up to Third Eye Blind's previous successes, leading him to rewrite lyrics. On May 13, 2003, the band released their third studio album, Out of the Vein. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 12; while the charting placement was higher than Blue's debut at 40, sales were actually substantially down, selling only 62,000 copies, compared to Blue's 74,000 copies. Two singles were released from the album: "Blinded" and "Crystal Baller". Neither songs performed to the level of prior singles; neither placed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and only "Blinded" charted at rock radio, peaking at 35 on the Billboard Modern Rock songs chart. Elektra Records was being absorbed into Atlantic Records at the time, and because of the merger, the band found themselves without label support; as Jenkins said, "Our record company ceased to exist. The month the record was released, Elektra Records imploded." However, it was repeatedly delayed, and Hargreaves indicated that its release became difficult after their departure from Elektra, and the idea was eventually dropped altogether. The full lyrics version of "Slow Motion" would instead finally see a vehicle of release through a greatest hits collection, A Collection in 2006.

With promotional efforts for Out of the Vein fizzling out in 2004, the band would again be quieter for the next few years. Jenkins would help with producing then girlfriend Vanessa Carlton's album Harmonium; the experience motivated Jenkins to start writing a solo album of his own. At the same time, Fredianelli, Salazar, and Hargreaves had also been working on music together, and upon hearing it, Jenkins scrapped his solo plan in favor of working on a fourth studio album with the band. Salazar wasn't immediately replaced as a member; in the coming years, Abe Millet and Leo Kramer played bass while touring, while a variety of bass players filled in while recording in the studio. In 2007, Jenkins announced that the fourth studio album had a tentative title of The Hideous Strength, had around 35 songs written for it, and that some of the lyrics had become political in nature. Despite it being years since the band released an album, the band still maintained a strong following in live performances, and the band continued to tour while Jenkins struggled with writer's block. Fredianelli noted that lyrics were continually being rewritten, and as a result, songs often needed to be re recorded to accommodate the changes, which continued to delay an album release. When it was released, it ended up being an 11 song and 1 instrumental album released on August 18, 2009. Ursa Major debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 49,000 copies. This made it the band's highest charting album, albeit with sales figures that were the lowest since their debut album. The band toured in support of Ursa Major throughout 2009, but in early 2010, Fredianelli was fired from the band. Irish musician Kryz Reid replaced Fredianelli on guitar, while Third Eye Blind continued to tour in support the album in 2010, most notably co headlining The Bamboozle Roadshow between May and June 2010. Both Jenkins and Hargreaves would continue to mention an Ursa Minor release, but the focus remained on touring, and the release would eventually be cancelled by Jenkins because of the involvement and subsequent departure of Fredianelli. Fredianelli would go on to sue Jenkins for over 8 million dollars based on many claims of breach of contract and missing writing credits and money and royalties owed from it.

The band would again turn to extensive touring in the following years. In addition to Jenkins, Hargreaves, and newly recruited guitarist Reid, the band stopped relying on temporary studio and touring support for bass playing, and hiring a new permanent bassist, Alex LeCavalier. Additionally, for the first time, a fifth official member, Alex Kopp, was brought on as a dedicated keyboardist. Work on a fifth album continued, with earliest reports showing plans for a 2011 release, but writer's block continued to hamper Jenkins ability to complete lyrics for songs. Moving into 2012, with writer's block continuing to hinder the process, Jenkins would begin to advertise the album as the band's last, feeling that the volume and structure of the album format was what made the writing process difficult for him. However, the album's release continued to be delayed from 2013 to 2014 to 2015. Writers block continued to be cited as the reason by Jenkins, though Hargreaves also noted that their past successes had afforded them the luxury of taking their time on material without having to rush it because of financial matters. In May 2015, the band announced that their fifth studio album was finally completed, and on June 16, almost six years after their last album, the album, titled, Dopamine was released. The album debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard 200, selling just over 21,000 copies in its first week. Two singles were released "Everything Is Easy" and "Get Me Out of Here"

Following the release of Dopamine, the lineup of Jenkins, Hargreaves, Reid, LeCavelier, and Kopp experienced an increase in productivity not seen since the late 1990s. Jenkins announced plans for releasing an EP in 2016. On July 19, 2016, they played a benefit concert for "Musicians on Call", a charity organization, in close proximity to the Republican National Convention. The stunt received national coverage, and inspired the band to move forward with material. One single, the politically themed "Cop Vs. Phone Girl",
was released from the EP. Jenkins announced next plans to be releasing another EP titled Summer Gods in 2017 to coincide with a tour of the same name. With the EP not ready for release by the end of the tour, the idea was scrapped and the name was instead assigned to a live album release of performances from the tour. Some new music was still released in the year though, in the form of the 20th anniversary release of their debut album. Newly recorded versions of old songs from the sessions were released, including a finalized version of the 1993 song "Alright Caroline". In June 2018, another EP was released a collection of seven cover songs titled Thanks for Everything. Jenkins stated that the act of reinterpreting the cover songs of various genres inspired the band to create another full studio album in the process. Initially announced as another EP in late 2018, the project bloomed into the band's sixth studio album in 2019. The band continued to tour into 2019, including a major co headlining North American tour with Jimmy Eat World from June to August, called Summer Gods Tour 2019. Prior to the tour, Kopp announced he was leaving the band to pursue other projects, He was replaced by Colin Creev. On October 18, 2019, the band released their sixth studio album, Screamer.

After releasing their sixth studio album Screamer, in October 2019, the band was able to complete the first leg of the tour supporting it, but was forced to cancel the second leg of it in 2020 because of the COVID 19 pandemic—the first time the band had to cancel a tour in 22 years according to Jenkins. The band instead performed live online streaming performances, and largely turned to writing more new music instead. Jenkins began writing in solitude during the initial wave of lockdowns, and began recording with the rest of the band as soon as the lockdowns ended. On July 30, 2021, the band announced their seventh studio album, Our Bande Apart, would be released on September 24, 2021, and released the first single from it, "Box of Bones". A second song, "Again", was released ahead of the album on August 20, featuring Best Coast singer Bethany Cosentino. The band was able to tour again, in support of the album, in 2022, with a North American tour with Taking Back Sunday and Hockey Dad. They also released an acoustic album, Unplugged in June 2022. Jenkins described it as "just basically any song that [he] wanted another try at." The band put on another North American tour across March and April 2023 as well.

Third Eye Blind's musical style has been described as pop rock, alternative rock, post grunge, pop punk, and power pop. Jenkins noted that he was influenced by The Clash, Jane's Addiction, and Camper Van Beethoven. Hargreaves stated that his drumming style was influenced by the Ohio Players and James Brown.

1997 – The band won a Billboard Music Award for Best Modern Rock Track ("Semi Charmed Life"). 1998 – At the California Music Awards, known as the Bammies and formerly the Bay Area Music Awards, Third Eye Blind won 3 awards (including Best Album, Best Songwriting, and Best Debut Work). 1998 – Jenkins and Cadogan won a California Music Award for Outstanding Songwriters. 1999 – Third Eye Blind were nominated for 2 American Music Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Favorite Alternative Artist. 1999 – Third Eye Blind won 3 California Music Awards for Outstanding Group, Outstanding Single ("Jumper") and Outstanding Artist of the Year (Stephan Jenkins). 2000 – Third Eye Blind were nominated for 7 California Music Awards. 2000 – Jenkins and Cadogan won a California Music Award for Outstanding Songwriters.