If your one experience with Blind Melon is the cute (admittedly great) "No Rain," then prepare to really hear Blind Melon for the first time.

That insane voice of Shannon Hoon's, flying all over the place... He was a natural talent, with almost no musical experience before graduating high school, leaving home, and forming Blind Melon in Los Angeles. The first song he ever wrote is on their debut album, which is just a practical joke of probability.

Hoon stands out, but the musicianship all around in this band begs recognition. The drumming by Glen Graham is deft and thoughtful, a worthy modernization of Mitch Mitchell.

What this song really benefits from is its writing. This isn't some funky jam band clicking a muted minor 7 chord and expecting us to shimmy until the power runs out. "Dear Ol' Dad" is a first-rate composition. From the sudden opening, this song is in its own cool blues place. The chorus gets beyond blues/funk standard concepts to really shape some unique sound, and then they finish with the guitars droning a tasty, heavy phrase in 7/8. After the second verse, rather than a second chorus, they head straight into a dark, expansive development with complex guitar laying and a classical technique solo.

The transition from this to the third verse is something very non-lazy, something so rare. The best transitions can probably be songs on their own if properly expanded, but hardworking songwriters will offer them up for sacrifice as bridges between sections sometimes appearing for only a matter of moments.

The last third of the song, after the second chorus does come, is its own unique section, really hitting hard on the funk before a second guitar solo (a second guitar solo! the song is only three minutes long!), this time much more aggressive, brings us to the end.

In three minutes, due to some major efficiency and compression in composition, this song covers a ton of excellent territory. A badge of songwriting honor.

Hard rock and artistry. There is always that possibility.