I Can't Believe You Don't Own This F%#kin' Record - Blind Melon - Blind Melon

BLIND MELON - BLIND MELON (1992)

One thing I'm NOT going to do in talking about this record: mention the song or video "No Rain." I know, we all love it, hate it, think the Bee Girl was cute, were annoyed that it was on MTV like five times every half hour, etc. It was the song and video that brought Blind Melon to prominence during the early 90's. Like Forrest, that's all I have to say about that. Now can we talk about a really good record, or what?

I feel like Blind Melon was a bit of an underdog in the 90's. You had the behemoths of "grunge" kind of stomping all around them...you know, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, and all the rest. But there was something about this kind of spacey band with a flower child at the helm that caught my eye. This record was a ridin'-the-bus-to-school fave of mine because of its daring to be something a little different in the face of the earnest hard rockers at the time...a little flaky.



Though I kid, there was something a little light and Xeroxed about their country-fried sound. I remember even the band themselves joking that they were just a B-grade Pearl Jam, but hell, if Pearl Jam is the biggest band on the planet, there are worse things to be. Well said, especially considering that Rick Parashar produced both this album and PJ's "Ten" (1991). Actually, I rather appreciated their "jamband lite" quality. It was for folks like me who want to kick off their shoes and dance in the green grass every once in a while, as long as there was a patch of cement somewhere close by.

What I really appreciated about Blind Melon is that although the record was sun-soaked and happy-sounding, the lyrics were often rather dark and soul-searching. Shannon Hoon, as we all found out later upon his death by overdose in 1995, was a drug addict whose fraught emotional journey can be felt in the songs he created with his band. I especially loved the twofer of "Deserted" and "Sleepyhouse," songs which evoke to me the pain of time passing with no particular place for the soul to go:



Blind Melon - Deserted (1992)



Blind Melon - Sleepyhouse (1992)




I am just a big fan of all the songs on this record. "Tones of Home," "Dear Ol' Dad," "Seed to a Tree," these were all the jam. They had nice grooves, but also really pretty psychedelic breakdowns that I'm sure fueled many a first trip to nowhere, if you know what I mean. This is one of those albums that many will not admit to owning, but there's no shame in my game. Shannon Hoon was the tastiness, to boot. I am still bummed that he's gone. The video for "Tones of Home" should cheer us up, no?



Now, this hurts my heart a little bit, but Blind Melon has reformed with a new singer by the name of Travis Warren, and their album, "For My Friends," came out this past April 22 on Adrenaline Records. I know, I'm shaking my damn head as well, but make of this what you will. If you want to learn more about this blasphemy, please read about it here.