Review Summary: Warning: you must be this short to ride.
This album may get hate around this site for being just another post-grunge band but they are forgetting one thing: this band isn’t for them. This album is for all those little 12 and 13 year olds out there only first discovering music and the beauty it has to offer. In times of great confusion and times of despair there is always one partner you can count on that being your ipod. This ideology I am sure still holds true to this day for many reading this review, after all there has to be some reason we are all so passionate about music. Unlike you, yes you mr. fancy I have a useless bachelors in arts you, this album is not very smart. Have you ever had a dog? Didn’t you love him, walk him and pet him, he was your company, he listened in times of need regardless of the fact that he had less brain cells than the average special child. One-X is that dog, this album is your childhood pet, and it is here to give you comfort and happiness in whatever dim witted way it can.
This album is very dark in nature dealing with issues such as drug abuse, self affliction and social isolation. In case you haven’t been on the playground for a while you should know that these are common concerns of angsty, carpel tunnel induced texting children. Unlike most bands that try to reach this demographic Adam’s voice isn’t grading, annoying or William Control. His voice is quite expressive with just a little bit of rasp and strain to make him come off as genuine. Adam’s lyrics aren’t brilliant, if anything they are real. By real I mean that they consist of whining, a lot of it. If you have to leave the house every time your mom tries to tell you that your skinny jeans are unacceptable apparel for a young man then this album will suit your needs perfectly. You see people who listen to this aren’t looking for to search for metaphors, they aren’t out to rip apart lyrics piece by piece, nor does anyone who listens to post-grunge really for that matter. All the audience is looking for is someone else who ‘gets it’, someone else who has the same problems and that is all they want so that is all they get.
It also helps that this album is more addictive than a container of Wal-Mart brand sour gummy worms, the production is very clean and everything can be heard including the bass. By having a rocker style to their instrumentation, it allows kids to listen to this relatable music without having to resort to being called an ‘emofag’ as a result like if they were to listen to My Chemical Romance. Even kids without problems can enjoy this too, meaning for mom that the car ride down to confront your real biological father won’t have to be an ear bleeding experience as well. I mean listen to the song Animal: it has a spellbinding catchiness to it, I bet many reading this review still remember its lyrics to this date. It is a dark but digestible song, everyone feels like they have their dark side that they never want to show the world in fear of ridicule, scorn or whatever it may be. This song let's her rip and shows you the unabashed confessions in the spotlight of slick rock riffs.
This band also has some cool experimentation with acoustic guitar as well in which it uses as the basis for crescendos in songs such as ‘Let it Die’ which is pretty cool especially because they don’t abuse the use of them. ‘Get Out Alive’ is a very slow burning song, with an extremely haunting atmosphere as Adam whispers out to you in plea. The album finishes off with ‘One-X’ which is an upbeat song because it tells you that even though you may be different there are others out there like you. If Three Days Grace and friends can find a place in this messed up world then so can you.
