What's the deal with Blind Melon?

LONGRD

I don't get the overly obsession over this band on the board here.

I don't hate them but I also don't see anything that special about them. Nico and Soup were above average albums but the self-titled was pretty bad I thought and the negative feedback they got from the music media was deserving. I place them in the same category as other mediocre 90's bands like Soul Asylum, Collective Soul, and Live. Pretty good collections but I wouldn't consider Blind Melon to be legends as they seemed to be praised.

They had great potentials but Hoon self-destructed and does his death, like Kurt, revitalized the band's status somewhat OR were they a really good band that I'm just missing out on?

HushBull

Same with Candlebox... wtf?

LONGRD

HushBull wrote:

Same with Candlebox... wtf?

They're hardly ever talked about around here but I'm sure if Kevin Martin drops dead, Candlebox will be considered legends.

HushBull

LongRd. wrote:

They're hardly ever talked about around here but I'm sure if Kevin Martin drops dead, Candlebox will be considered legends.

In general, I think, they are spoken of in much higher regards than I ever would. They are just so boringly drab to me.

Shawn Smith Collective

when melon first hit the scene, i assumed they were "just another band," until i had a chance to hear the entire lp...wow was i wrong. they incorporate so many styles of rock into their music...great riffs, song structure and musicianship, great heartfelt lyrics and passionate performances from a dynamic singer. the songs hold up all these years later, which is the mark of great music. the projects that have followed hoon's death have been superb, further reinforcing just how good this band is. i cant speak for others, but hoon's death had no effect on how i felt about the band...i was a fan anyway

Shawn Smith Collective

HushBull wrote:

In general, I think, they are spoken of in much higher regards than I ever would. They are just so boringly drab to me.

this is news to me...i've never heard people really talk about candlebox at all (good or bad)

clark_kent

Shawn Smith Collective wrote:

this is news to me...i've never heard people really talk about candlebox at all (good or bad)

i'll second that. never hear anyone mention candlebox.

i think the thing with blind melon is that people dismiss them as a one-hit wonder. that first album came out at the height of grunge, but it was very un-grunge. their loose, feel-good jams weren't going to go over well with the grunge crowd, so the album only had the one hit and maybe becos of the goofy video. their second album was a huge departure, but instead of going grunge, they made one of the most bizarre, experimental, and interesting albums they could. the fans who jumped on board with no rain were completeley turned off. critics savaged it. nobody liked soup.

then shannon died. even then, i don't recall anyone praising them instantly. i hated sublime for years becos i didn't get why everybody was all broken up about brad nowell and didn't seem to care about shannon.

the love for blind melon came years later and the momentum built slowly. it came when people who had been too into a certain sound to like soup went back and realized it was actually a fantastic album. it was much more an indie album than anything else, and it should have been treated as such. then people rediscovered their catalogue and realized there was a lot of passion in their music. and it spread purely by word of mouth. i was the only guy in high school rocking blind melon a lot, but by the end, all of my friends loved them. not becos of the hype, or the bee girl video, or anything else. just becos the passion of the music.

and i think the reason they are touted so highly now is that so many people still think of them only as that band that did no rain. they're not going to blow everyone away. but i know that they have blown away a lot of people who had totally forgotten they existed until stumbling upon a copy of soup. it was exciting for me, and it's exciting for them to stumble upon a band you had totally forgotten and be so impressed. so these people spread the word with a lot of enthusiasm. i would never argue that they are legends, but i do think they were an excellent band and it's a shame that they didn't enjoy more success while shannon was alive. people just werent ready to hear what they were playing.

Drowned Out

I was into the first album...but mostly for the three most memorable, anthemic songs on the album: no rain, I wonder and Sleepyhouse....I listened to the whole album, but only considered those three 'great'. I was still diggin the darker Seattle vibe at the time.

When Soup came out, I was instantly blown away. It made the first album look juvenille. I was disappointed by the reception it got, but wrote it off as bee-girl backlash....I thought people would come around. Then Shannon died and it killed the momentum they were building...

They tried to grow on Soup, they didn't aim for a second coming... There are a million ways that a band can implode- ego, 'artistic differences' (ego ), drugs, personal problems, etc etc...who knows where they'd be if he was still around....
but I think we lost an amazing front man after two studio albums - and the fact that the first album was good,with a less commercial, and more solid follow-up, makes me think the best was yet to come :(


(LongRd. - Collective Soul? chrissake man, c'mon!)

bladworth116

for me it is just the way that "Soup" flows. it is a masterpiece in that you can tell this is a man in the midst of a horrible addiction but the way Shannon observes things is fascinating metaphorically. it is kind of special for what it is not. the arrangements are sparse, the guitars and bass complement Shannon but are not bombastic, and the whole thing totally gels over the course of the album.

one of the most difficult albums to explain but definitely will always be in my top 10

LONGRD

Drowned Out wrote:

...

(LongRd. - Collective Soul? chrissake man, c'mon!)

I said they were mediocre just like the other bands I mentioned. But I guess that hash for Blind Melon fans to hear, so I apologize.

audiodave

LongRd. wrote:

I said they were mediocre just like the other bands I mentioned. But I guess that hash for Blind Melon fans to hear, so I apologize.

When it comes down to it, it's all subjective, and while they may sound mediocre to your ears, they will sound fantastic to someone else's. Take another thread on the first page of other music about not "getting" Radiohead. I don't see the big deal, and for me, they are the definition of mediocrity, but obviously to a lot of other people they aren't. No great mystery, just differing opinions.

I love Blind Melon, partcilarly Soup. It isn't because Shannon is dead, because if you applied that logic to me, I would love Nirvana, and I don't. I like Shannon's voice, and I like the music, but ask me to explain further than that? I just can't do it. Sorry.

HushBull

Hmmm... maybe I live in some exclusive place in hell. I could swear on quite a few different occasions hearing someone say exemplary things about Candlebox.

audiodave

HushBull wrote:

Hmmm... maybe I live in some exclusive place in hell. I could swear on quite a few different occasions hearing someone say exemplary things about Candlebox.

Search function.

chime

audiodave wrote:

It isn't because Shannon is dead, because if you applied that logic to me, I would love Nirvana, and I don't. I like Shannon's voice, and I like the music, but ask me to explain further than that? I just can't do it. Sorry.

I'm the same. Like Blind Melon ... don't hate Nirvana just never liked them enough to buy any of there stuff.

Being slightly older :rolleyes: than Dave I got into Blind Melon when the s/t came out and always liked them. I think it was Shannon's voice and the bounciness upbeat music that first attracted me.

IAmMyself

I live less than an hour away from where Shannon lived, I went to college with friends of his, he sent the tape to us a 6 months before the album was released, that is when my "obsession" started; because the music IS, WAS, WILL ALWAYS BE amazing.

I agree with previous posts, of how the band intertwined so many styles of music together and then Shannon's voice and lyrics on top of it. Brilliant.

So to the OP, I would say; you missed out, give it another listen!

Brisk.

Candlebox - self title album is awesome.. if you dont know whats so special abotu them then listen again to it.

and Blind Melon... shessh, they are incredible......

i guess some people just dont get it

Trailer

I BrisK I wrote:

and Blind Melon... shessh, they are incredible......

i guess some people just dont get it

Some people just can't get past the "No Rain" image. Their first album is fucking unreal!! Change, Soak the Sin, Dear Ol' Dad, I Wonder, Holyman, Time... the list goes on and on, not a bad song on it. The same thing can be said for Soup.

Brisk.

Trailer wrote:

Some people just can't get past the "No Rain" image. Their first album is fucking unreal!! Change, Soak the Sin, Dear Ol' Dad, I Wonder, Holyman, Time... the list goes on and on, not a bad song on it. The same thing can be said for Soup.

INDEED SOUP AND SELF TITLE ARE JUST AMAZING.

Shannon had such a great voice, their music is still totally original to me, dont listen to anything like it these days.

Blind Melon

I like the name and love Soup.

reggie500

Trailer wrote:

Some people just can't get past the "No Rain" image. Their first album is fucking unreal!! Change, Soak the Sin, Dear Ol' Dad, I Wonder, Holyman, Time... the list goes on and on, not a bad song on it. The same thing can be said for Soup.

I was fully prepared to bash the new Melon album, but it surprised me