Review Summary: "Did you come here to watch me burn?"
Three Days Grace are, perhaps, the biggest enigma of the 21st century radio rock crop. They've spent their entire career rubbing shoulders on the
Billboard rock charts with bands such as Nickelback, Shinedown, and everyone's favorite Shakespearean wordsworths: Theory of a Deadman. Though I would aggressively hesitate to resign them to the same precinct of airheadedness that a lot of those bands occupy. They could certainly be juvenile at times. I know, it's hard to imagine the same band that ate Snake's Lunchables, kicked sand in his face, coordinated 9/11
and killed Kennedy all in one afternoon could be so artless. But, even when they were, they still sold it with a level of earnest fervor and palpable inertia that made it a lot more accessible. This can be largely attributed to their founding frontman Adam Gontier. With his "naturally husky" sound, armed with equal parts grit and rasp, and a passionate delivery, he elevated the band's identity and made them stand out, especially when they oscillated towards theatrical emo pop on their 2006 magnum opus
One-X. That album's calling card is the lyrical content written by Gontier about his experience with drug addiction, suicidal ideation, and not knowing himself anymore. But what of his headspace while he was still actively battling those demons?
Insert Three Days Grace's self-titled debut, which just turned 20 years old last week. Compared to the rest of the band's discography, it's loaded with a kind of dirty, rudimentary post-grunge vibe not really seen elsewhere in the TDG canon. Their only release with Gontier on lead guitar, the riffs and drums are meatier, and Gavin Brown's production only adds a tinge of gloss to the endeavor. Gontier's vocals are only slightly less sharp than on subsequent releases, but the way he subtly messes up once in a while is actually quite endearing. He still puts forth a
real sounding performance, indicative of what's always rang true for fans of the band. A good chunk of the band's live outings during this time are also a treat to rewatch; Gontier is almost always visibly under the influence. While I'm sure he remains as eager as ever to keep this period of his life in the rearview, it doesn't cheapen my own relationship with these tracks.
The chorus of "I Hate Everything About You" will
never please the thesaurus thumpers out there. But that's part of its charm. It's simple, succinct, and performed with enough zeal to warrant its right to exist. Face it; we've all had our vices. Could be drugs, alcohol, a romantic partner. Whatever the case, sometimes you just need to mindlessly decompress, and maybe figure out what the f*ck it is that keeps you coming back for more. That's the paradox and Gontier brings it to life with the same jaded aggression that's become one of his trademarks as a vocalist. "Just Like You" and "Home" follow suit. Whether he's rejecting the status quo, or just the asshole waiting back at home, Gontier knows he's no white knight, but even he has standards. Meanwhile, album opener "Burn" sees Gontier taunt the listener with a vow that he's "gonna take this"..whatever "this" might be.
Co-written by the band's future lead singer Matt Walst, "Let You Down" is arguably the strongest cut here. Gontier sings of courting someone whose trust he knows he's going to betray. He even promises it, and yet it's still so
inviting. That's the sort of morbid genius of Three Days Grace. There's so much attitude and personality present that you can't help but engage. Neil Sanderson ratchets up the drumming a bit on the bridge, and the riffs are catchy as hell. "Now or Never" and "Drown" are prime examples of the band marrying a solid melody with less hackneyed writing. Backed by distorted and frenetic guitars on the latter track, Gontier laments losing everything he had and wanted ("It's hard to walk when you can't even crawl./Once I had this world, but now I've lost it all.") His voice is a bit grainy on this one, juxtaposed with his cleaner verses on late stage banger "Take Me Under", where he demands clarity out of a push-and-pull relationship. Again, the lyrics are so open-ended, you can attach them to whoever or whatever you wish. His vocal runs on the bridge and outro are also surprisingly solid.
Three Days Grace might be simply performed and easily consumed, but it's a consistently interesting collection of angsty alt-metal. Adam Gontier was audibly in the throes of his bout with addiction and depression here, a cascade of conflict that would be further explored on
One-X. But even if he wasn't the person he wanted to be at this point, his persona is still one that makes him resonant with listeners. At the end of the day, he's a real, three-dimensional human being and he's never phoning anything in. He wears everything on his sleeve. Three Days Grace may not have attained the level of scene cultural phenomena that was ascribed to bands like Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance, but they still carved out a solid niche for themselves and this album was the first of many banger-heavy long players in their underrated discography. You'll never catch me asking, "why do I love you?"
