Coming out Tuesday 9/27, the definitive Best Of from this grossly underrated band.

4.5 stars of 5 stars (AllMusic)
Best of Blind Melon takes six tracks each from the eponymous 1992 debut and its follow-up Soup, pairing them with highlights from the 1996 rarities comp Nico, some unreleased live material, and the band's run through "Three is a Magic Number" from Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks. It's a thorough and worthy retrospective, particularly when you add the available bonus DVD with videos and concert footage. Sure, there was Classic Masters in 2002. But for fans Best of feels like the one, since it's fully remastered, plays out in order and includes a thoughtful, even touching liner essay from guitarist Rogers Stevens. "I believe we never got to make our best music," he writes. "But I'm happy with the songs that are here." Opener "Tones of Home" begins as a rather typical jammy rocker, but as soon as Shannon Hoon starts singing there's something more, sun-dappled grace alternating with a hard-edged blues wail copped from Robert Plant. "And I always thought this would be/The land of milk and honey/Oh but I come to find out/That it's all hate and money." Stevens reveals that "Change" was the first song Hoon ever played for the band, and the hit "No Rain" retains its homespun pop jones here, even if it was one of the most played-out tunes of 1992. (Thankfully there are no "What's Bee Girl Doing Now?" vignettes here.) The Soup material is strong too, in particular "Galaxie" and the Hoon/Jena Kraus duet "Mouthful of Cavities" that prove Blind Melon wasn't always about jangling acoustic guitars. The gentle Nico outtake "Soul One" should be in the repertoire of every undergrad coffeehouse guitarist in America, and two live cuts dating from 1993 reveal Blind Melon to be a tight live act, and more raucous than you might remember. And that's what's nice about this set. It helps us remember Blind Melon as a band, beyond the death of their singer or the resonance of one big single. [The bonus DVD version of this release included videos for "No Rain," "Change," and "Toes Across the Floor," as well as live footage from a 1995 concert appearance in Chicago.]

1 Tones of Home Blind Melon 4:27
2 Change Blind Melon 3:42
3 Paper Scratcher Blind Melon 3:14
4 No Rain Blind Melon 3:37
5 I Wonder Blind Melon 5:33
6 Time Blind Melon 6:02
7 Galaxie [Edit] Blind Melon 2:52
8 Mouthful of Cavities [Edit] Blind Melon 3:21
9 Walk Blind Melon 2:46
10 Toes Across the Floor Blind Melon 3:05
11 2 X 4 Blind Melon 4:01
12 St. Andrew's Fall Blind Melon 4:14
13 Soup Blind Melon 3:11
14 Pull Blind Melon 3:28
15 Soul One Blind Melon 3:16
16 No Rain [Ripped Away Version] Blind Melon 2:25
17 Three Is a Magic Number Dorough 3:15
18 Soak the Sin [live/#] Blind Melon 5:30
19 Deserted [#] Blind Melon 7:24
20 No Rain [*/multimedia track] Blind Melon
21 Change [*/multimedia track] Blind Melon
22 Toes Across the Floor [*/multimedia track] Blind Melon
23 Tones of Home [live/*] Blind Melon
24 Soup [live/*] Blind Melon
25 No Rain [live/*]

I celebrate Blind Melon every time I climb up on a table and pee on the heads of those beneath me.

I celebrate Blind Melon.

Hmm, grossly underrated? I don't think so. But to each his own.

Underrated or not , this , I'm lookin forward to. IMO , the best songwriter of all time.

I was so into Soup when it came out , it wouldn't leave my car CD player for weeks. One night after attending a rave , a buddy dropped me off at my house around 6 a.m. . I was still tripping pretty good heading for the door when I grabbed the morning paper and saw a little space on the front page that said he died. I was stunned.


BTW , can anyone ysi me some of their albums ? I need to revisit these timeless classics.

I've never been ordered to celebrate Hoon before. I feel all tingly, you danger tiger.

ya love it dont ya!

Wow.

I mean, I like them and all, but come on.

One of my all time favorites.. and one of the best shows I saw back in the day. Luckily there was no public urination that I remember.

Tones Of Home. Yes.

Inexplicable Blind Melon love never ceases to amaze me

YES!!!

I bet the bee girl is really hot now.

Steve

I like "No Rain".
But don't really know anything else, nor have I been inspired to seek more out.

Lines from Detention's "Dead Rock And Rollers" come to mind, but in this context, it's an insult to rock and rollers.

Also being released today

BLIND MELON - LIVE FROM THE METRO '95 DVD

DVD FEATURES
Tracks:
1. 2 X 4
2. Toes Across The Floor
3. Wilt
4. Tones Of Home
5. Vernie
6. Soak The Sin
7. Lemonade
8. Skinned
9. Walk
10. No Rain
11. Galaxie
12. Dumptruck
13. The Duke
14. I Wonder
15. St. Andrew's Fall
16. Soup
17. Paper Scratcher
18. Change
19. After Hours/Time
Bonus Tracks - Recorded Live On MuchMusic 9/12/1995
20. Toes Across The Floor
21. Change
22. Soup

i always thought it was cool and balsy that they went on SNL and did a really fucked up slow version of their current huge hit.

That was only an slow intro; they continued on to play the normal version of the song in full...

I'm firmly in the "Blind Melon was great" camp. I'll pick up that DVD. As much as No Rain could be seen as a one-hit wonder, all of the rest of their material is very strong. I'll upload an album when I get some time. Any preferences? PM me if you're interested. Be warned: I'm not too speedy but I'll get to it.