three days grace

2004 / 4 stars / reviews / three days grace — No Comments
2
Nov 08

Three Days Grace (2004) by Three Days Grace

Genre: alt rock, post-grunge
Rating:
Check Out: “Wake Up,” “Take Me Under,” “I Hate Everything About You,” and “Born Like This.”
last.fm

Like most Canadian acts that make it big in the U.S., Three Days Grace proved themselves to be as adept with catchy hooks as they were with plaintive teenage-angst lyrics in their self-titled debut. “I Hate Everything About You” should be up there with “Teen Spirit” for Songs That Capture A Teenager’s Anger.

I could go on ragging the album in that vein, but the truth is that much of it is a guilty pleasure, even so many years after its release. The album has a cohesive, maturing sound that captures you from beginning to the middle (when you start yawning at how similar the songs are) to the end (when “Wake Up” makes up everything).

Much of the appeal of this band lies with lead singer Adam Gontier. His voice is equally suitable for whispering and screaming. It’s so rare to find a rock act that has a vocalist with range, but Three Days Grace definitely has it. If Gontier were to follow in the footsteps of Dallas Green and release a solo acoustic album, I might be in heaven.

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2006 / 4 stars / reviews / three days grace — No Comments
16
Oct 07

One-X (2006) by Three Days Grace

Genre: alt metal/post-grunge/hard rock
Rating:
Check Out: “Never Too Late,” “Let It Die,” “One-X,” “Pain”
Official Site, Myspace

Unlike their self-titled debut, Three Days Grace’s One-X is a darker, more complex effort. The days of teenage angst and self-pity aren’t really gone, but the themes explored here are far more adult in nature. There is a melodic undertone that wasn’t present in their first album. Perhaps this is due to the increased production on each of the songs, but it never detracts from their sound.

Most of these lyrical changes are the direct result of Gontier’s fight with Oxycontin addiction, and subsequent rehabilitation. Yet, I have to wonder if there was some strain within the band itself, because “Let It Die” sounds as though it were the case.

These boys haven’t experimented as much as they could have on this album, but they have certainly grown in sound and writing. Here’s hoping that experimentation comes in their next one.

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