Third eye Blind - Dopamine

*****

Very modern... and brilliant!!!

Third eye Blind formed over twenty two years ago and have really moved with the times. Coming out of San Francisco this Alternative Rock band have received massive hits in the Billboard chart. 'Dopamine' is the band fifth studio album... yes they have taken their time in making them. The line-up on the new album is the two key core members Stephen Jenkins (Lead Vocals / Rhythm Guitar), Brad Hargreaves (Drums) and newer editions Kryz Reid (Lead Guitar / Backing Vocals) who joined in 2010, Alex Kopp (Keyboards Piano) (2011) and Alez LeCavalier (Bass) (2013).

The album starts of with a song that should be a massive chart hit for them 'Everything is Easy', which strangely sounds like a mix of Lawson and The Killers with a Peter Hook bass line. The song is really catchy and well put together, making it sink into your memory straight away. Also I love the U2 / 30 Seconds to Mars sounding segment near the end of the track, but maybe that is because I love both though's bands. The songs ends with that great bass line coming in, which has been given a hint of The Cure to it. You can view the music video for this song at the bottom of the page, and is one of the lead singles for the album.

They slow things down with 'Shipboard Cook' which builds up as it goes on, into an atmospheric but lively Pop Rock number, again this is a song that really kicks in. The chorus sounds like it was written by Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio), and the lyrical content is very modern. 'All the Souls' is a really catchy song that you can imagine hearing on the radio, it has a little touch of the band Never shout Never... but Stephen Jenkins high pitch vocals on this track make it unique.

The title track 'Dopamine' is again has a very current sound and well produced, with the vocals being really clean and the guitars really coming out as the clash through a Funky rhythm. This is a Rock but a Pop song at the same time and I can think a lot of people would really love this track. 'Rites of Passage' is a really good summer song, you can imagine being out in the sun listening to this... or cruising in your car with the top down.

'Back to Zero' is one of my personal favourites on the album, again it has that U2 and Lawson feel to it and has a feel good attitude to it. That could have come from modern Pop or Rock, it's similar to some of the recent work of Young Guns. I also think what makes this track sound out for me, is the strong main and backing vocals that harmonize really well together. I like how Third eye Blind can change the tempo of their songs throughout each song or when they flip to the next, with none feeling out of place.

Like on the romantic beautiful song 'Something in You', where again these great vocals lead and backing work well together. The end of this song is fantastic... it has this brilliant build that just explodes. I would to hear this done on the live stage, because I think the crowd would just go crazy for it. Do listen to the whole song as well because the guitar at the end is stunning.

'Get me out of Here' is a little subdued and is a little bit of an album filler for me, but it's Queen / The Darkness Esq. sound is worth taking a second listen to. So maybe this is a song I will like more in time, and listen to more in the future. They get a bit atmospheric and chilled with 'Blade', which for me wasn't a standout track on the album... but for anyone else would be one of their best tracks, 'All these Things'  really sounds like it has been lifted from a Lawson album, and I like this band so I enjoyed that.

They end the album off with 'Exiles' and 'Say It' which are a bit more up tempo, and as they end the album off with a Dance beat. You really realise that Third eye Blind are a band that have really come to form with 'Dopamine', I think maybe 2015 is their finest hour and you will see them getting bigger and bigger. I really do hope so and I think they deserve it. Because 'Dopamine' is a brilliant album that I am really happy to have in my collection... so I think you should get it too.

Review by Dan Devour

Check Out! the Video for 'Everything is Easy' Below...