''Third Eye'' is the third studio album by

Redd Kross Redd Kross is an American rock band from Hawthorne, California, who had their roots in 1978 in a punk rock band called the Tourists, which was started by brothers Jeff and Steve McDonald while Steve was still in middle school. With the additio ...

. It was released by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

on September 14, 1990. It includes "Annie's Gone", which peaked at number 16 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart. The naked masked woman on the cover of the album is

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...

. The band's guitarist

Robert Hecker Robert Hecker (born March 7, 1965), is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter with the bands Redd Kross and It's OK!. Hecker was born in Hermosa Beach, California. He played lead guitar and sang with Redd Kross from 1984 to 1991, and again from 20 ...

provided vocals on "1976", doing a

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popular ...

impersonation, which led people to believe Stanley did the singing.

Critical reception

Alex Henderson of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, saying: "While some punk enthusiasts missed the old Kross, this decent though not outstanding album proves that the band was still worthwhile at the dawn of the '90s." Greg Sandow of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' gave the album a grade of B, saying: "Their uncanny '60s echoes have to be taken with a mountain or two of irony, which — take your choice — gives the album depth, or else weighs the group's cute little tunes down with more significance than they can easily bear." Jeremy Clarke in Q Magazine described the album as a "potent neo-pop with bright melodies".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Jeff McDonald Jeff McDonald (born 1963 in Hawthorne, California) is an American singer and guitarist best known for being a co-founder of alternative rock band Redd Kross with his younger brother, Steven Shane McDonald. In the early 2000s, he played in Ze M ...

– vocals, guitar *

Steven Shane McDonald Steven Shane "Steve" McDonald (born May 24, 1967) is an American rock musician, best known as the bass guitarist in the Los Angeles alternative rock/power pop band Redd Kross. He is a founding member of the hardcore punk band Off! – serving a ...

– bass guitar, vocals *

– guitar, vocals Additional musicians *

Victor Indrizzo Victor Indrizzo (born September 23, 1967) is an American session musician, primarily known for playing the drums, as well as a songwriter and producer. Indrizzo was born in Freeport, Long Island, New York. He has toured, recorded and worked wi ...

– drums, vocals * Peter Levine – keyboards *

Michael Quercio Michael Quercio (born March 13, 1963) is an American musician. He is the founder, bassist and lead singer of The Three O'Clock, and coined the term Paisley Underground as the name of a musical subgenre. Paisley Underground Quercio is best known ...

– intro guitar riff (1) *

Susan Cowsill Susan Claire Cowsill (born May 20, 1959; Canton, Ohio) is a musician, vocalist and songwriter. The Cowsills Cowsill began her musical career with the Cowsills in 1967; she is the youngest member of the Cowsills and the only daughter of parent ...

– additional vocals (5, 8), background vocals * Vanessa Bell Armstrong – vocal solo (7), background vocals * Mary Bernard – background vocals * Paula Salvatore – background vocals * Brian McCloud – percussion * Charles Davis – trumpet * Gregory Alper – saxophone Technical personnel * Michael Vail Blum – production, engineering * Brian Jenkins – additional engineering * Craig Doubet – additional engineering * Bret Newman – additional engineering * David Eaton – additional engineering * Joe Barresi – additional engineering * Paul McKenna – mixing *

Greg Fulginiti Gregory Fulginiti (born February 13, 1951 in Cape May Court House section of Middle Township, New Jersey) is an American recording and mastering engineer. Fulginiti grew up in Wildwood, New Jersey and graduated from Wildwood High School in 1969 ...

– mastering * Doug Erb – sleeve design, logo * Vicki Berndt – cover photo concept, painting, B&W photography * Mojgan B. Azimi – cover photography

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1990 albums Redd Kross albums Atlantic Records albums Albums recorded at Sound City Studios