“No Rain” is synonymous with 90’s alternative rock in a way few songs are. The playful and bubbly guitar riff that kicks things off, the lackadaisical rhythm section sort of the sardonic lyrical choices that sound as if they’re being sung on a sunny day in a field of green grass while frontman Shannon Hoon eats fresh strawberries on a checkered picnic blanket. The fact that the song was about the fatigue of depression while sounding nothing of the sort is a sort of defining characteristic of 90’s alternative rock, similar in a way to Third Eye Blind’s 1997 hit “Semi-Charmed Life” was about methamphetamine addiction. In the 90’s those darker themes were dressed up in plain sight, not quite hidden but also not quite fully revealed. It was treated as one small piece of who you were instead of defining everything you stood for. I think there’s a lesson in that.
That multi-faceted personality can be applied in other ways to Blind Melon. While most commercially successful bands in the 90’s alternative rock era were either fully committed to aggressive overdrive (Soundgarden, Nirvana) or dressing up traditional pop songs (Weezer, Oasis) one thing they certainly weren’t doing is drawing upon the influence of classic rock bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, or Allman Brothers Band. And yet here was Blind Melon, zigging while others zagged, and in the process turning in one of the best guitar albums of the decade that somehow managed to sound right at home with their alternative rock contemporaries.
As a debut album Blind Melon is striking in its focus and quality. The dual-pronged guitar attack of Rogers Stevens and Christopher Thorn is groovy as all hell, meshing perfectly with the charismatic stylings of frontman Shannon Hoon. It’s a legitimately great work of art that has stood the test of time over twenty years following its release.
Standout Songs: “No Rain”, “Seed To A Tree”, “I Wonder”, “Drive”, “Tones of Home”, “Soak The Sin”
