Blind Melon was one of those bands that had a different description of what they were and sounded like depending on the rock fan you were asking. If you only knew their mega-hit single “No Rain” you might describe them as a light, poppy one hit wonder.
But, if Shannon Hoon’s tortured lyrics and icepick voice punctured your soul like the rest of us that bothered to listen to tracks other than “No Rain”, you know ‘light and poppy’ didn’t describe Blind Melon at all. In fact, a true Shannon Hoon fan may say the band got a bad reputation from their most successful song.
Where to Watch ‘All I Can Say’ Movie
Have you ever heard a song on the radio and got the album, or a CD in my case back in the day, and played it only to find out the band sounded nothing like the song you knew of them? That is exactly what happened to me the first time I listened to Blind Melon’s self-titled work Blind Melon in its entirety.
At the time, my ears were too young and immature to hear through the B.S. terrestrial radio had sold me, so I hated the album. The music was nothing like I expected it to be. I vowed never to listen to the CD ever again. But for some reason I still don’t know, my soul was dragged back to that Blind Melon CD. And strangely enough, it took more than just a couple of spins to convince myself the music was worth the time.
Blind Melon’s Shannon Hoon
But I am forever grateful the universe pushed that album on me. It changed the course of my life, and the person I am today. Shannon Hoon dug into my subconscious and revealed to me all the ugly, raw wounds of my heart. While giving me hope. To this day Blind Melon’s southern rock laced with pain and cocaine cuts deep. He wore his issues like bare naked skin. It’s damn apparent in his songs.
Now that Inny and I run a rock radio station, I would be crazy not to play, share and expose as many fans as possible to the sudden brilliance of Shannon Hoon and his band. We play Blind Melon frequently, and spead the airplay to as much of their library as possible. Shoot us a request if you ever want to hit us up on social media for a good Blind Melon sample.
“All I Can Say” Footage Filmed by Hoon
Sadly, Shannon Hoon died young at the age of 28 from a drug overdose.
During the short period of time Blind Melon rose in the ranks of 90’s rock band stardom, Shannon Hoon struggled with his instant fame and fortune, but he also burgeoningly recorded it with a video camera. Hoon documented this period of his life at a time when the concept was odd to the world. Now days, Social Media and our camera phones make it easy to document your life, or the life of your pet hamster, Ziggy should you choose to.
The Retro Artists (What We Play)
Shannon Hoon recorded everything, including moments of joy. An example of this is when he signed his first record deal with Capitol Records on the rooftop of their Hollywood building. But he also recorded mundane acts of life like personal hygiene, and even times of distraught and pain when his demons surfaced and conflicted with his loved ones or the people around him.
“All I Can Say” Movie
This large 5 year archive of footage of Shannon Hoon by Shannon Hoon have been scoured and edited into the movie ‘All I Can Say’. The movie was then acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories, a company co-founded by Adam Yauch of The Beastie Boys. Admittedly, I have not seen the film yet, but I am anxious to do so. A lot of praise is being adorned onto the project from reputable sources and super fans.
Once we have viewed the film personally we will come back to this article and edit it to reflect our review. If you’d like to watch the movie yourself we placed a link to it below. On Oscilloscope Laboratories’ website, choose a virtual cinema you’d like to rent the movie from. And please come back and let us know what you think of the film, or hit us up on the social media of your choice: