The band released Out of the Vein in 2003 and Ursa Major in 2009 with guitarist Tony Fredianelli, but parted ways with him shortly afterwards, leaving only Jenkins and Hargreaves as the remaining core members.

[4][5] Originally, Jenkins started his music career as one half of an interracial rap duo "Puck and Natty" with musician Herman Anthony Chunn, who went by the stage name "Zen".

[5] Jenkins reconnected with music producer and sound engineer David Gleeson, a contact from his Puck and Natty days, to be able to record demos at professional studios like Skywalker Ranch.

[6] Much of the contents of the first demo, such as the track "Hold Me Down", were scrapped and shelved entirely, but Jenkins continued to work on some material like "Semi-Charmed Life" or "Alright Caroline" that were eventually released.

[5][9][4] The band cycled through a number of drummers including Adrian Burley, Steve Bowman (Counting Crows), and Michael Urbano (Smash Mouth).

[4] The two became songwriting partners, with Jenkins writing lyrics and Cadogan helping him brainstorm musical ideas; together, they worked on a second set of demos.

[6] On the verge of breaking up, the band instead regrouped and recruited two new key people: Drummer Brad Hargreaves and manager Eric Gotland, a long-time personal friend and confidant of Jenkins.

[11][6] Valentine noted that he had heard the demos the band had recorded prior to his arrival, but felt they were "not ready" and needed to be reworked or discarded.

[4] In April 1996, after Jenkins had challenged Epic Records executive Dave Massey in a meeting, the band landed an opening gig for Oasis at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium.

[11] In an unlikely scenario for an opening act, the band was invited back for an encore after playing their initial set[12] and was paid double by the concert promoter.

[13] In addition, Jenkins' production of hip hop duo The Braids' cover of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" gained major-label attention.

[16] Valentine reported that while Jenkins and Cadogan recorded good material together, they were constantly at odds with one another in the studio, with their relationship deteriorating over time as they finished the album.

[16] Additionally, unbeknownst to the rest of the band until years later, even though both Cadogan and Jenkins were signed to the deal from the record label, days prior to the signing, Jenkins secretly set up a Third Eye Blind Inc" as a corporation, and named himself the sole owner and shareholder, giving him complete control over all legal and financial matters in the band.

[18] "How's It Going to Be" and "Jumper" similarly succeeded "Semi-Charmed Life" as crossover hits as well, peaking at number 9 and 5 respectively on the all-format Billboard Hot 100 chart.

[24] The band toured extensively in support of the album, including opening for large acts such as U2 and The Rolling Stones in late 1997,[12] before quickly graduating to headlining status afterwards throughout 1998.

[33] While Jenkins insisted that the song was satirical parody,[34] and actually anti-violence, Elektra disapproved of the track being on the album, feeling it could cause controversy because of the proximity of the Columbine High School massacre, which had just happened in April of that year.

[47] Cadogan filed suit, alleging wrongful termination, adding that his production, recording, and songwriting royalties had been withheld since being kicked out of the band.

[48] The band pushed forward with touring in the meantime, continuing to play large venues, but felt pressure from the burgeoning teen pop and nu metal musical movements of the time, which they fell in between without being part of either.

Originally, the band had planned on starting work on the EP they had agreed upon making as a vehicle to release the controversial "Slow Motion" song kept off of Blue by the label.

[57][58] According to Jenkins, some of the reasons for the delay stemmed from a self-imposed pressure to live up to Third Eye Blind's previous successes, leading him to rewrite lyrics.

[72] Work on the album began in early 2005, but progressed slowly, and Jenkins suffered from writer's block and struggled to write lyrics for the songs that had been created for him by the rest of the band.

[73] In 2007, Jenkins announced that the fourth studio album had a tentative title of The Hideous Strength, had around 35 songs written for it, and that some of the lyrics had become political in nature.

[8] As months passed, Fredianelli felt guilt about it, and apologized to Godtland, offering to change his deposition, then angering Jenkins in return.

[2] Three singles were released - "Non-Dairy Creamer" from Red Star and "Don't Believe A Word" and "Bonfire" from Ursa Major, but all failed to place on any Billboard chart.

[81] Irish musician Kryz Reid replaced Fredianelli on guitar, while Third Eye Blind continued to tour in support the album in 2010, most notably co-headlining The Bamboozle Roadshow between May and June 2010.

[86] Fredianelli would go on to sue Jenkins for over 8 million dollars based on many claims of breach of contract and missing writing credits and money and royalties owed from it.

In addition to Jenkins, Hargreaves, and newly recruited guitarist Reid, the band stopped relying on temporary studio and touring support for bass playing, and hiring a new permanent bassist, Alex LeCavalier.

[93] Writer's block continued to be cited as the reason by Jenkins,[94] though Hargreaves also noted that their past successes had afforded them the luxury of taking their time on material without having to rush it because of financial matters.

[101] On July 19, 2016, they played a benefit concert for "Musicians on Call", a charity organization, in close proximity to the Republican National Convention.

[107] Jenkins stated that the act of reinterpreting the cover songs of various genres inspired the band to create another full studio album in the process.