Review Summary: Not a terrible album, but one I would enjoy listening to with an open-mind.
I've been trying to figure out for the past week now why people hate this album so much....
Right off the bat, this is most definitely
NOT a groundbreaking, original album from 3 Doors Down. This album is a continuation of what they know
how to do. Certainly, in some songs, they do not pull it off very well... however, at least there was actual effort thrown into this album; unlike, say... any album ever put out by Owl City.
The lead single is the song critics are harshly attacking the most and I still don't see the harm in it. It's definitely very familiar territory for sell-out bands like Seether and Nickelback who are just pandering to the
"teenage-angst" crowd that seem to have disappeared [checks watch] years ago by this point in time. Yes, that core-demographic are in hiding by this point in time. In many ways, "When You're Young" is the band's "Rise Above This" or "Photograph" according to all of the hatred it's received the past couple of weeks. Personally, I think that the song is a classy and catchy enough tune to get by. Firstly, the song
is one of those "pull out the lighter" moments for live shows, and it's pandering in that way, but the guitar-work elevates the material. Especially is the case when the lyrics "I hope one day I'm stronger than I feel / And I hope that it feels different than today" appear, there a nice little guitar-solo is placed that adds the conclusion missing from the writing of the single.
Secondly, looking past the single to release that this is an album, we have a solid collection of songs. "Heaven" has a wonderful chorus in it's lyrics "I didn't have to die to go to heaven / I just had to go home". This is my favorite track off of the record because it reminds me of The Crow and what I'd like to see from the character's next big-screen adaption. I want to see the character brought back from the dead and take advantage of his powers, only to realize by the end that it's not good enough. But, enough of my strange 'ol ideas for Hollywood, the track has an innocent atmosphere to it and it makes the best use of Brad Arnold's vocals to create a tragic character right before your eyes. Yet still, the track is somewhat held back because of its intro which is a direct rip-off of the band's own "Here Without You". Memorize the opening to "Here Without You" and, when you do, listen to this song with that in mind and it sounds, note for note, exactly the same. Still, it's better than ripping off other bands material [cough, cough, Nickelback, cough, cough].
If anything, the major flaw in the band's fifth studio-album is its lack of "beginning, middle and ending" type storytelling. For example, "What's Left" is a nice little track that starts out with an introduction:
"A few pictures, two tickets, from a trip we took last year,
A handful of memories, some still seem clear,
A few regrets, a couple of melodies, that remind me of you,
I could say that I won't miss this, but that wouldn't be the truth,
There's no one here to blame, and this is the only way"
And ends on...
"A few pictures, two tickets,
From a trip we took last year,
A handful of memories,
Some still seem clear"
...the goddamn introduction. Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" is a song that 3 Doors Down should look into. "Chasing Cars" opens and ends on the same lines of lyrics, just like "What's Left", but the only difference between the two is that "Chasing Cars" is far more effective because the instrumentals add to the closure. The music is slow-building throughout "Chasing Cars", while "What's Left" is more like "here it is" in it's presentation. For example, "What's Left" sounds like Brad is just randomly flipping through his ex-girlfriend's old, remaining items left in his apartment after she left. That's territory that has been expressed
many times before in the genre; should've listened to Nickelback. "Chasing Cars", however, is about a man's feelings and it ends on a somewhat tragic note because he, just like us, doesn't know the answer to his question, "If I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?". There's a lot more to relate to in emotion than lukewarm descriptions of trivial events.
Now... by this point, you must be asking yourself:
Why is this review a 3.5? Well... that's oddly hard to explain.
I've been a fan of 3 Doors Down ever since "Kryponite" and I was blown away by
Away From The Sun. With that, I was a little disappointed that this album didn't feature the improvements the band needed to make a truly note-worthy album. However, despite all of that, I really just love listening to this record. If anything, this is the band's #2 easy listening record, just behind their sophomore effort, because it's so relaxed and yet it's also a joy to listen to. Tracks like "Believer" and the self-titled track ("Time Of My Life") are standouts because they are extremely energetic and are pleasant reminders of songs like "Duck and Run" and... even "Kryponite".
Time Of My Life is absolutely not a terrible record. I do see growth in the band through this record because they have definitely learned from the mediocrity of their last-two albums that boring acoustic ballads don't work [cough, "Landing In London", cough, cough]. The album is simply fun to listen to when given a chance. There's nothing offensive in it, like today's Top 40 charts, and it doesn't take itself seriously in many cases. While they may not be the band I wanted them to branch out to be in time for this record, it's still a solid record nonetheless that I can gladly say I enjoyed dearly.
