Third Eye Blind – “Dopamine” [Album Review]

Dopamine, the new album from San Fransisco alt-rockers Third Eye Blind, is their first release in over six years and, judging by the breezy, inoffensive, upbeat opener “Everything Is Easy,” the last few years have been fairly plain sailing for the band, and they have no intention of changing that on this eagerly-awaited album.

Easy on the ear, the album barely breaks a sweat but what it does do, as opener “Everything Is Easy” perfectly demonstrates, is smother you with easy-to-grab-onto hooks and pristine alt-rock. The title track, “Back To Zero,” in fact the whole album, barely steps out of first gear or deviates from its lazy journey so much so that, when the band do on a track like “Rites Of Passage,” the shift in direction or tempo is more than noticeable and, in the case of “Rites of Passage,” doesn’t sit well with the rest of the material. As the album continues, aside from the odd blip, there are plenty of tracks like the serene “Something In You” and the reflective “Get Me Out Of Here” where the alt-rock outfit get things back on track.

The main problem with Dopamine is that, by the time it reaches the midway point, it has all just become very bland and dull. Other than the infectiously hooky opening track and the two tracks at the end of the album, Dopamine does little to leave any lasting impression.

Track Listing:

01. Everything Is Easy
02. Shipboard Cook
03. All The Souls
04. Dopamine
05. Rites Of Passage
06. Back To Zero
07. Something In You
08. Get Me Out Of Here
09. Blade
10. All These Things
11. Exiles
12. Say It

Run Time: 47:26
Release Date: October 23, 2015

Check out the song “Everything is Easy” here.