Major Magazine | Page 23

Many bands rode in the wake of success cast by Nirvana. This allowed talented bands to get some mainstream attention they otherwise wouldn’t receive. Although not all bands saw stardom or even moderate success the most underrated band of the 90’s I will be talking about was relatively commercially successful. The band being, Blind Melon. Blind Melon was composed of six main members, Travis Warren, guitarist, Shannon Hoon, guitarist and lead vocals, Rogers Stevens, Piano, Christopher Thorn, mandolin and bass guitar and, Glen Graham on Drums. All members contributed to the song writing process but, singer, Shannon Hoon was the workhorse behind Blind Melons catchy, introspective lyrics. Hoon is from Lafayette Indiana, where growing up his sister briefly dated Axl Rose in high school. Axl Rose would turn out to be one of the most famous singers of all time for the band Guns n’ Roses. Hearing his old friend on the radio is said to have inspired Hoon to pursuit music. This lead Hoon to move out to Los Angeles in the early 90’s where he would meet Travis Warren and where Blind Melon was born. Blind Melon released their first self-titled, album in 1992.

The album saw some commercial success overall but, the album held the song ‘No Rain’ which proved to be a hit single, rising to the top of the Billboards and staying there for the rest of 1992 and part of 1993. The thing that makes Blind Melon so special is their originality and meaningful lyrics and intricate instrumentals. When one searches online for what genre or genres Blind Melon falls under, they will see different results from different sites, ranging from psychedelic rock, to grunge rock and even some siting them as blues folk rock. Although they were a part of the grunge movement in the early 90’s and, pull from some grunge influence, they had a completely different sound from any band at the time.

Courtesy of Scott Bernstein