Review Summary: Not their best post-Gontier effort, but TDG show no signs of slowing down.
Whereas so many people, fans and critics alike, earmarked Adam Gontier's departure as the end of Three Days Grace, I see it as the exact opposite. Though Matt Walst is only a few years younger than Gontier, I think his presence in this group makes them sound younger, more youthful. In essence, it's a new band. It feels less like I'm pining through the latest from a group that's been around for the better part of thirty years and more like an upward glide of progression from a bunch of angsty upstarts with something to prove. The band has continued to shoot chart toppers up the airwaves with regularity, but the axiom that they will never emerge from Gontier's shadow seems to stand. Perhaps they're more desperate than ever to try and turn that tide? I'm not going to speculate on it, but
Explosions gives you good reason to believe so.
Breaking their long running tradition of releasing albums at three-year intervals, this is the first full length offering from the band since 2018's
Outsider, an album I really enjoyed. Lyrically brilliant? Maybe not, but it was still God damn fun to jam out to. My wager at the time was that a mainstream rock band whose vocalist's biggest hit is "Porn Star Dancing" shouldn't be graded under a microscope for what kind of passages they write. At times, Three Days Grace could be as thought provoking as a sixteen year old, especially on their more juvenile cuts like "So What" and "Me Against You." But there seems to be a truly concerted effort to do different this time around. On midstage highlight "Souvenirs", Matt Walst brushes against the brevity of life in a way the band hasn't since "World So Cold."
There's nothing more beautiful than a distant star
Proof of our ignorance, proof of how small we are
Remember getting high on the hood of my broke-down car
Remember how innocent we no longer are
"So Called Life" is visibly influenced by the turmoil of the last two years. It's nice to see the band with a chip on their shoulder. Stylistically, it's sort of a hodgepodge of their best attributes; faint reminders of the atmospheric tailors of their last three albums, paired with Neil Sanderson ramping up his drumming on the verses and some
mesmerizing keys on the final chorus. "Lifetime", which has f*king
steel guitars on it, escalates the intensity as it goes on (
Will I look into the only eyes that knew me, feels like a bullet running right through me). Walst sings with purpose on "A Scar is Born" and subverts expectations on "I Am the Weapon" by trading the band's streamlined song structure for a more haste filled call and response styled chorus. "No Tomorrow" is one of the few moments on the album that sounds like any fun is being had. Barry Stock's lead guitar takes a backseat on the verses and lets Brad Walst's bass carry things, as Matt sings of living life to the fullest in a way that's palpable and doesn't give the listener any unrealistic expectations (
No one wins, but it's alright).
Elsewhere, the band tries to get away with copying other work. Drummer Neil Sanderson originally recorded "Neurotic" with guest singer Lukas Rossi in 2016 as a side project and it sounds like both the instrumental and Rossi's vocals are copy and pasted from that demo. "Chain of Abuse" is emotionally a beat for beat re-hash of
Life Starts Now's "Bully", differentiating only in that it's a promise of protection from Matt, not merely an observation from a distance. Walst also puts forth one of the best vocal performances of his career on this track, so I can't dock too many points. Lastly, the opening guitar riff on "Redemption" conjures up thoughts of...."I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys? "What a time to be alive", indeed, Matt Walst. Is it also a coincidence he sounds a bit boyish with his performance? If you thought Taylor Swift sampling Right Said Fred was wacky, wait till you get a load of this track. The overall song is innocuous enough, but that opening riff absolutely killed me.
"Champion" is the one moment on here that's truly cringeworthy. Walst's delivery is almost laughably bad on the intro, and the elemental imagery on the chorus doesn't really save things. "Someone to Talk To" is enhanced by animated violins from Finnish metal heavyweights Apocalyptica. It could have been a spiritual successor to 2008's Adam Gontier collab "I Don't Care", but as I mentioned earlier, Three Days Grace seems more ready than ever to move on. The title cut "Explosions" closes things with another admission of our inevitable demise, so why not enjoy "one last trip around the sun?" Like many other tracks on here, Matt sings with a confidence not yet seen in his TDG career. On that note, Three Days Grace's third album in seven years with their "new singer" meets it end.
It's not a perfect album. 2018's
Outsider narrowly edges it out to remain their best album post-Adam. It certainly tops
Human and
Transit of Venus. In terms of the composition, this is the most varied Three Days Grace album to date. Matt Walst continues to carve out a niche and identity of his own within the group and the writing at least attempts to do more than scratch the surface, even if they stumble a couple times ("Champion"). It doesn't quite descend into the lyrical woes and despondency of
One-X, but it comes pretty damn close. Of course, as an artistic achievement, Three Days Grace will
never eclipse that 2006 magnum opus. But I still contend it's incredibly unfair to completely resign them to mediocrity. Despite its flaws,
Explosions finally sees the band less occupied with making Matt the replacement. His voice has improved tremendously in the near decade he's been with the group. And it finally feels like he's standing in the sun on his own in that regard, no longer enveloped by the shadow of his predecessor. On that front,
Explosions is a success, and sets the stage for the band to continue a healthy and vibrant career, even as they and their back catalog of hits continue to age.
