![ursa major third eye blind ursa major third eye blind](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c3/f8/0c/c3f80c9d44f43e2e7669731c318621be--third-eye-blind-ursa-major.jpg)
Third Eye Blind still has marquee value on the road. After listening to the album several times, I started to wonder if the name was hurting them. When I told people that I was going to review the new Third Eye Blind record, I got the same reaction every time: “Third Eye Blind has a new album out? Really?” A smirk and sarcasm usually followed.
![ursa major third eye blind ursa major third eye blind](https://di2ponv0v5otw.cloudfront.net/posts/2020/01/15/5e1f547693b46a3448f39460/m_5e1f5488969d1f33cfa43276.jpg)
All the elements that made Third Eye Blind popular are there. to prove that he is “down with the kids.” He doesn’t have to do that, because Ursa Major is really solid. His lyrics are too current for their own good, with references to M.I.A. There is nothing wrong with turning into a nostalgia act, but listening to Ursa Major, you get the sense that Jenkins is aiming for a return to glory. If six months is a long time, six years is an eternity. The music industry has always moved at a breakneck pace, but in the MP3 age, six months is a long time. By naming their album Ursa Major, Third Eye Blind is trying to tell us that they haven’t gone anywhere. When a veteran band releases an album of new material, they often name it something like “Never Gone,” or “Time Flies,” or “Invincible.” It’s supposed to be knowing and a bit self-deprecating, but the artist has unwittingly labeled themselves as a nostalgia act. Ursa Major is Third Eye Blind’s first new album since 2003. Third Eye Blind has fallen into a trap that many veteran bands fall into, probably without realizing it. It’s longer than most bands’ hiatuses, however indefinite, and longer than any artist has taken to write their masterpiece. SCQ Rating: 86 Six years is an eternity for a pop band. It is visible for most of the year, so it is a constant presence in the sky. Ursa Major Third Eye Blind Mega Collider Records. Ursa Major is the proper scientific name for the constellation that contains The Big Dipper. The music world has gone a myriad of changes since we first heard the sunny Lou Reed inspired “do-do-dos” of “Semi-Charmed Life.” Ursa Major is not so much a record, but a meditation on nostalgia. However, Third Eye Blind’s heyday is long past. If the band had released this record in 1999, it would have been a monster. Third Eye Blind blasted out of San Francisco when Semi-Charmed Life went to 1 at Modern Rock and their self-titled album sold five million copies worldwide. Stephen Jenkins’ amiable voice hides the melancholy and despair of his lyrics. Ursa Major features some of the most intense music of Third Eye Blinds career: emotional, reflective, aggressive, and sometimes outwardly political. The guitars are bright, shiny and jangly. Ursa Major sounds exactly how you would expect a Third Eye Blind record to sound. It’s not compelling from a musical or artistic perspective. Third Eye Blind’s Ursa Major is one of the most compelling records to be released this year.