I'm a huge Blind Melon fan and an even bigger fan of the grunge movement in general, but I think it's a stretch to call it "blues". Fundamental to the blues is the basic 12 bar blues progression. You might have a little lee way in how you arrange that progression, and a lot of freedom in what you do within the framework of that progression (as well as with the tempo, choice of instruments, etc), but when you abandon that 12-bar progression completely it's really no longer the blues. It's sort of like playing a song without any guitar distortion or heavy volume and calling it "heavy metal". When you take away what fundamentally defines a style, it's not really that style anymore.
That having been said, I loved Blind Melon. Tragic what happened to Shannon Hoon. Eery how it always happens at 27.
|