Review Summary: Three Days Grace surprises with their best effort in a decade, ensuring their tumultuous recent history has been obscured by a bright future.
It's hard to gauge how Three Days Grace made it this far. It's not because they lack any talent; that couldn't be any farther from the truth, but because the group's recent history is mired in tumult. Popular frontman Adam Gontier departed from the band half a decade ago and calls for the band to hang it up haven't faded one iota. Matt Walst may not be able to perform the band's back catalog of hits with the same angst and grit that Gontier did, nor may he hide the same personal demons behind those lyrics. But who's to say that means the band in this new incarnation can't forge their own path and yield a viable product? If any vestiges of doubt still linger, the band's sixth studio album
Outsider, will prove this long running rock group isn't going anywhere for a long time.
Of course, there are few, if
any lyrical masterpieces on this album, but that's okay. Pen to paper prowess hasn't been the band's forte since
Life Starts Now and Matt Walst got his start with a song called "Porn Star Dancing". At this point, a truly fair metric for Three Days Grace rests on the music itself. There are some catchy hooks, grooving instrumentals and the band members all bring individual talents and skillsets to the table. Matt Walst may not be approaching Adam Gontier territory just yet, but he's clawing his way closer with each note played. This album is the best vocal performance of Walst's career, quite the far cry from his obnoxious sneers with My Darkest Days.
"Right Left Wrong" may not be a compelling read when skimming through its winding passages, but Matt Walst carries the track with some fluid vocals, a lot more rasp than he showed on the band's last album
Human and certainly a lot more emotion. He no longer sounds as if he's phoning it in. Meanwhile, the instrumentals are eerily reminiscent of
Transit of Venus, circa the tracks that weren't drenched in electronic atmosphere. Lead off single "The Mountain" is a standard radio single, but forgives its inevitable status as such with hard hitting instrumentals, strong inertia and high production value. De facto title track "I Am An Outsider" sees another strong performance from Matt behind the microphone, forgiving both a middling composition and subpar lyrics.
"Infra-Red" reminds the listener that not only can this group still churn out some catchy hooks, but even be clever lyrically. Matt drives the track with fluid, in-tune singing and his brother Brad provides some audible bass. "Everyone's living in black and white," Matt tells the listener. "But we see each other in a different light," he continues. Is the track a Pulitzer winner? No, of course not. But that's easily forgiven by a catchy hook that gives itself room for lyrical creativity within the run of the mill composition. "Nothing To Lose But You" may play like a watered down version of Nickelback's "How You Remind Me", but Barry Stock's strong lead guitar guides the track through a bumpy road and Matt sounds much more earnest than the listener is led to expect.
"Love Me Or Leave Me" is the laziest written track on here and Matt Walst lets his juvenile former self out on a daypass on "Me Against You." At this point, all the listener can do is hope the momentum from the album's first half isn't derailed by a hollow, flimsy scurry to the finish line like was seen on
Human. That's where "Villain I'm Not" comes in. The best track on the album by far, it injects
Outsider with the last jolt of energy it needs. This track is
infectious, highlighted by the single best vocal performance of Matt Walst's career. Easily the best track this band has recorded in at least nine years.
"Chasing The First Time" feels almost nostalgic instrumentally. Despite the modern pop tinge behind it, it provides a sprinkle of familiarity, as if only Three Days Grace could cut such a song. Not a lyrical marvel, but an enjoyable mid tempo hard rock jam and that can't be argued with. "The New Real" is critical of society in a way that doesn't sound quite as plastic and trite as a Nickelback song this side of "Edge of a Revolution", the hook "Everybody's just trying to be somebody" carrying the chorus. "The Abyss" closes the album with some eery synths and thunderous drumming from Neil Sanderson. The longest track on the album, the track serves as one of the better closing album cuts the group has put forth. For the first time since he joined the band, Matt Walst hints at some of his own personal demons, channeling Adam Gontier's tendencies without hijacking them. With that,
Outsider meets its end.
This is easily the best album Three Days Grace has sent out since
Life Starts Now, one that should, hopefully at least, put to rest the notion that the band in its current state can't shine brightly on their own, without Adam Gontier. Momentum has certainly swayed in this group's favor again. As Adam Gontier sits in quiet stasus with Saint Asonia, Three Days Grace carries on and promises that not only is the path ahead of them quite bright, but that'll be a long time before the sand runs out. Kudos to the band for putting forth their best work in a decade and obscuring the tumultuous turmoil that once overshadowed them.
