Review Summary: Not a terrible album by any stretch, but certainly a flawed album that goes dull even in spite of genuine replay value.
As an admitted fan of Canadian hard rock group Three Days Grace, I actually had high expectations for
Human, their fifth studio album, and certainly more notably, their first without founding frontman Adam Gontier. Despite the fact that My Darkest Days vocalist (and bassist Brad's brother) Matt Walst hadn't fallen on deaf ears when his recorded debut with the group surfaced in March 2014, he continues to face severe scrutiny that is derived from the fact that he supposedly lacks the passion and intangibles that made Adam Gontier one of the most revered faces of modern radio rock. Matt Walst is not a terrible replacement. But the group's collective decision to try and harken back to the aggro-rock stylings of their hayday may very well be the reason that
Human is everything the title suggests.
Plenty of the songs off of this twelve track, near forty minute affair still hold up a year and a half later; plenty of the songs on this album boast strong replay value that listeners like myself can keep coming back to. The concern I've come to have as the album wore off on me is that a handful of the tracks on this record boast of the exact opposite of replay value; moreover, at least half the album is cluttered with piss-poor filler like tracks that add no element of depth to the album. Where tracks like lead-off singles (and chart toppers) "Painkiller" and "I Am Machine" succeeded in infusing a familiar version of Three Days Grace instrumentals with a new vocalist's different approach, tracks like album opener "Human Race" suffer from extremely bland lyrics and run of the mill instrumentals; although the latter track does feature an impressive solo from Barry Stock.
"Human Race" also marked the first time in four years a Three Days Grace single failed to reach the summit of the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart; and for good reason. It's easily the worst track on the album, and that goes without saying it had the potential to be one of the album's best. The lyrical repetition holds it back and kills the momentum during moments where Matt could have written a much better hook. Although the line "If it's an eye for an eye, then we all go blind" is a clever enough line, the repeated use of "yeah" and "goodbye" stunts the growth of the track as it's playing. "Fallen Angel" sees one of Matt's stronger vocal performances, and has a smooth atmospheric vibe to it, but lacks the aggression that fueled the Three Days Grace of old.
"Landmine" is one track off
Human I simply refuse to play again. Although it's got smooth basslines, solid riffage and even strong drumming from Neil Sanderson, Matt's poor vocals and poor lyrics pervade the track like a virus. "Car Crash" is by no means a lyrical victory for the new look Three Days Grace, but is actually pretty cool conceptually and Matt's better vocal performance on this track keeps the pace moving along nicely. "Tell Me Why" features another strong performance behind the mic for Matt, arguably his best on this album, but the lyrics are middle of the road and pedestrian both at once, and the instrumentals are more so a non factor here than anywhere else on this record.
The album limps it's way to the finish line with tracks like "One Too Many" and "The Real You", the former taking it's strong riffs for granted with poor lyrics; the latter infusing poor lyrics with even poorer instrumentals. Gavin Brown, who manned the producer's chair for Three Days Grace's self titled debut in 2003, does a decent enough job given the work he's saddled with. The album through its up and downs plays like a standard, passible radio rock full-length, but still lacks the grit and aggression that made this group's first three records much stronger albums in comparison; even when taking into account this record, at times, builds off of the more atmospheric stylings of 2012's
Transit of Venus, it makes their efforts to channel
One-X and their self titled debut all the more futile and counterproductive
This album certainly could have been a lot worse. I continue to give a tremendous amount of credit to Matt Walst for taking his criticisms on the chin and working hard to be a better vocalist every time Three Days Grace takes the stage. The question is; can he shake all the detractors and do so by putting forth a much stronger album that builds off this album's pros while shedding its cons. Either way you slice it, this album definitely wore off on me as I kept coming back to it, but that doesn't take away my optimism for what the future holds in store for the Norwood hard rockers;
Human is definitely not Three Days Grace's swan song, but it does see the group in a constant struggle to tread the slippery slope of their now checkered past and soon to be checkered future. I have nothing but confidence in the group, however, to bounce back and to create a stronger, more hard hitting record next time out.
