The Listener: 'Dookie,' 'Around the Fur,' 'Third Eye Blind,' and 'Tragic Kingdom'

I miss buying CDs. I miss browsing the titles in the store, poring over track lists, and even the challenge of opening the super-tight plastic wrapping and seals.

Though most of the stores are gone, CDs are still around. They’re not as hip as they once were, but they are a habit I do not want to quit. I did not buy many CDs when I was younger because I didn’t have the money, so now that I have some extra scratch, I decided to buy four seminal albums from my youth—Green Day’s Dookie, Deftones’s Around the Fur, Third Eye Blind’s self-titled first album, and No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom—courtesy of Second Spin, the outlet that gladly accepted my unwanted DVDs. (All four are used, so none of them came with shrink wrapping or seals, unfortunately.)

Dookie. Green Day. Reprise. 1994.
Released at a pivotal point in the nineties, Dookie demarcates the end of grunge and the rise of post-grunge, the punk revival, and nu-metal—for me, at least. It makes me think of an elementary-school classmate who innocently thought the band’s name was Green Day Dookie instead of Green Day.

Dookie is filled with energizing tunes that make for good workout music. It contains hits most millennials know by heart: “Longview,” “Welcome to Paradise,” “Basket Case,” and “When I Come Around.” The songs are quick and very efficient, packed with ear-pleasing noise. The entire album passes in a heart-pounding and sweat-inducing flash.

One song that is noticeably absent is “Brain Stew.” I assumed it was on Dookie, but it is on the follow-up album, Insomniac (which is now on my CD wish list).

There is not a bad song on the album, IMHO, but the gems that stand out are “Burnout,” “Having a Blast,” “Pulling Teeth,” and “She.” I will say, though, that many of the songs sound alike. That is my only criticism of the album.

How many songs about masturbation can an album have? (“Bite my lip and close my eyes / Take me away to paradise / I’m so damn bored I’m going blind!!!”) This one seems to have two or three, including the hidden track at the very end, “All By Myself,” which sticks in one’s mind.

Around the Fur. Deftones. Maverick/Warner Brothers. 1997.
Buying Around the Fur fulfills my vow to have more Deftones—and, boy, am I glad I do.

Oh my God, this album is hard! Much like Dookie, there is not a bad song on the entire CD. As the opening track, “My Own Summer (Shove It)” sets the tone and soundscape. The album is driving, melodic, moody, enraging, uplifting, enlivening. Chino Moreno’s vocals are infectious, and it is hard to resist the urge to scream and jump around with him.

Though some of the songs are not as energizing as those on Dookie, or as worthwhile for working out (for me, at least), others are invigorating, especially “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” and “Headup.” My other favorites on the CD are “Lhabia,” “Around the Fur,” “Lotion,” “Dai The Flu,” and “MX.”

There are shades of White Pony, though I’m unsure which I prefer more. (I think I like Around the Fur more because it is much more aggressive.) It has been a while since I listened to White Pony, so perhaps I’ll do a side-by-side comparison sometime.

There are two hidden tracks after “MX” ends—“Bong Hit” and “Damone”—which I did not know until I imported the CD on my computer. Including all three songs and the dead air, the track is 37 minutes and 18 seconds long. That is extreme to hide a couple songs, IMHO. However, I have always thought hidden tracks are more annoying than anything.

The cover is likely one of the more memorable from the decade, I think—or at least it is among the most alluring. Here’s the story about it from the album’s Wikipedia page:

The album cover was shot by photographer Rick Kosick during a late-night party in Seattle where the band was recording. Upon seeing the candid photo of a woman, the band decided that they wanted to use it as the album cover. Kosick was unsure who the woman was, so the band had to find and track her down to obtain permission to use the photo, which she eventually granted. Moreno has since expressed his dislike of the cover, calling it “horrible”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_Fur)

Third Eye Blind. Third Eye Blind. Elektra. 1997.
I don’t read YouTube comments usually, but I read a comment on a Third Eye Blind song a while ago that said the band’s debut album is among the best of the nineties. Having listened to it about 20 times in the last two months, I agree.

Wow—this is an amazing album! It has rocketed into my list of all-time favorites. (What else is on that list? Hmm ... I need to think about that. Sasha and John Digweed’s Communicate [mostly the first disc], Led Zeppelin, and Fatboy Slim’s You’ve Come A Long Way Baby are definitely on there.)

Like Dookie and Around the Fur, the same story is true for Third Eye Blind: there is not a bad song on the entire album. If I list the gems besides the well-known hits, I would list every other song on the album. Push play and it will mesmerize, energize, and motivate. The beats will make you pogo, shake your head, and sing along, and the lyrics will make you cry.

I love the most familiar tunes: “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper,” and “How’s It Going To Be.” They make me think of my freshman and sophomore years of high school, when the songs were released as singles. “Losing a Whole Year” is an amazing tune—one I shamefully had never heard before buying the CD. It makes me think of my job more than anything (though in that case, I feel like I’ve lost an entire decade).

Tragic Kingdom. No Doubt. Trauma Records. 1995.
This surprised me about Tragic Kingdom: it was released in 1995. It makes me think of 1997 more than anything.

A little taste of Orange County, Tragic Kingdom is No Doubt at its commercial peak in the nineties. Much like Dookie, it contains songs that everyone knows: “Spiderwebs,” “Just a Girl,” and “Don’t Speak.” “Sixteen” is a good, energizing tune, but “Sunday Morning” is my favorite No Doubt song, so its inclusion is the best thing about the album for me.

Overall, Tragic Kingdom is not my cup of tea. I like some ska, but not all of it. That said, Tragic Kingdom is not a bad CD, but it is a letdown after having listened to Dookie, Around the Fur, and Third Eye Blind. It falls well short of the three other albums in my order. Tragic Kingdom is the only CD of the bunch that I have not imported on my computer.