Third Eye Blind

In its own special way, Third Eye Blind‘s “Blinded” might be the year’s most romantic single. Could there be a more beautiful sentiment than frontman Stephan Jenkins’ confession to a former lover: I want to stay right here and go down on you for an hour? Doubtful. However, like every other song on this year’s Out of the Vein and 1999’s Blue, it suffers in comparison to “Losing a Whole Year,” “Graduate” and “How’s It Going to Be” from the band’s arena-sized-in-a-good-sense yet stigma-ridden-all-the-same self-titled debut. That’s not to mention that record’s “Semi-Charmed Life,” which stands as both the catchiest song ever written about crystal meth and the catchiest song to come out of the late-’90s, post-alternative class that yielded Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray and Matchbox 20. Out of The Vein and Blue have their moments — just not enough of them. But in concert, Third Eye Blind has more than enough pieces to assemble a killer set list.