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Review Summary: Don't even give it a chance. Three Days Grace has been around for 15 years. Isn’t that hard to believe? Through those 15 years, we had multiple phases of the group to account. The golden age of One-X continues to rock audiences worldwide. The gravely and powerful voice of Adam Gontier proclaiming, “even if I say it’ll be alright, still I hear you say you want to end your life,” is mentally recited as if he were here. Gontier’s departure was surprising, but his replacement was just the same. Matt Walst, frontman of My Darkest Days, is chosen to fill the void left by one of radio rock’s most talented vocalists. I don’t judge a book by its cover, but considering the track record of one Matt Walst, a lot is to be desired. No hits aside from ‘Porn Star Dancing,’ which as the name suggests, is obviously an emotional and intellectual sentiment.
Human was a sloppy hello from a newly formed Three Days Grace. A generic, uninspired, and poorly executed record that more or less cemented the current path the group travels. Nothing important was said, nor was any advances made. Matt Walst underwhelmed a lot of fans. When Three Days Grace announced their future album, Outsider, many wondered what else the vocalist had to say. Outsider continues the trend of sophomoric, ill-written, and poorly orchestrated “rock music.” Much like its predecessor, the songs on Outsider feel like wasted screams from a high school stereotype.
To be fair, the music is a lot more streamlined from Human. There’s a lot of synth for a Three Days Grace album. The riffs are just as lazy, but that’s what we like after all. The drums are just as basic as they ever were. The current sound is reminiscent of alternative rock in my opinion. It doesn’t have the same deep tone as a hard rock track. The production quality is tight and compressed like the former. The hardest part is pinpointing where the positives lead. Every step forward is 5 steps back in this case.
For those who know my reviews and music taste, the expectations for Outsider are very low. I’m trying to find *something*, anything for that matter, to like about the group. The songs featured are boring. Everything comes off as whiney and juvenile. Let’s take a look at the title track. “I am an outsider. I don’t care about the in-crowd – no. Better off on my own,” mangles its way out of the mouth of Walst with elongated guitars and drums cracking in the background. How straightforward do you have to be? The lyrics are written like a bad homework assignment.
The songs get worse from there. ‘Me Against You’ is the worst of it all. The lyrics are repetitive, immature, and hilarious to read. “F—ck that; I’m down so low I’ve got nothing to lose. F—ck that, And every step you think I'm under your shoe. If you're breaking my back, I'll be breaking yours too.” I’m glad Three Days Grace has something intelligent to say. Seriously, this is a Three Days Grace record. This song, right here, is from Three Days Grace. Need I say more?
Describing them further is redundant because all songs are written similarly. Walst’s lyrical style is egregious. I can’t overstate just *how* blatantly obvious these songs are written. Barry Stock’s guitar can’t save them either. Nothing in Outsider is special. There are no redeeming qualities or saving graces. The album is fundamentally broken. The album is built around the concept of being an outsider. What better way to do that than by being generic? Nothing seems like it’s portrayed from a person, lost from society, examining their surroundings. Everything sounds like ignorance trying to make a statement. The only thing this album has to say is how desperate they are to sound important.
Standout Tracks
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Album Rating: 4.5
"Nothing important was said, nor was any advances made."
nor *were any advances made, broski
your writing style is okay, but this is very undescriptive, you only actually touch on one or two songs, neg
I know i'm the biggest TDG defender on this site, so I don't expect to score any brownie points here, but aye, all is well in the marketplace of free ideas B)
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He only touches on one or two of the songs because that's all that was required to get his greater point across.
pos'd
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i think you both make good points.
nothing'd
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lol'd
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
lil'd
I am really surprised this band is still somehow relevant.
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
relevant is a strong word.
but kudos on that Arcane dig kalk
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Yea, it is. The music itself isn't really relevant at all, but, you know, they're still selling their stuff for some stupid reason.
And yea, Arcane were great and Chronicles is damn fantastic m/ Also Jim Grey is my favourite vocalist atm. It's because of him that I'm taking lessons now haha
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
i'm tots Gay4Grey. but for realz yeah he's an amazing vocalist. what type of lessons you taking?
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This band is 100% not relevant
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Haha, me too, absolutely! He's fucking hot and I'm a pretty straight guy.
I'm taking singing lessons 
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
well duh ;) like classical singing or what style i meant
| | | Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off
"considering the track record of one Matt Walst, a lot is to be desired. No hits aside from ‘Porn Star Dancing,’ which as the name suggests, is obviously an emotional and intellectual sentiment."
just because he doesn't have any hit singles doesn't necessarily make him a bad vocalist. Not necessarily saying that he's a good vocalist (he's not) but is that your only argument against him being in this band?
"The current sound is reminiscent of alternative rock in my opinion."
uhhh, because it is alternative rock. And that's a problem?
"For those who know my reviews and music taste, the expectations for Outsider are very low. I’m trying to find *something*, anything for that matter, to like about the group."
I never find these sentences in reviews to be particularly important. Don't mean to offend but unless you're some incredibly popular reviewer/user on this site that everyone knows about, not a lot of people are really going to care that much.
"The riffs are just as lazy, but that’s what we like after all."
I don't get your point here. Okay the riffs are lazy, but we like it that way? If we like lazy riffs then how is that a problem?
"I’m glad Three Days Grace has something intelligent to say. Seriously, this is a Three Days Grace record. This song, right here, is from Three Days Grace. Need I say more?"
Two things here, first off this tells me nothing other than "this is a song by Three Days Grace". So what? That's a problem? Secondly, I know you're being sarcastic here, but I would advise against it. It just makes the review a lot less credible.
"Nothing in Outsider is special. There are no redeeming qualities or saving graces. The album is fundamentally broken."
You practically said the same thing 3 times.
Another thing is that a LOT of these sentences can be merged. They generally contain up to 5-10 words at a time and it kills the flow. It's not attractive to anyone who's reading it.
As for "touching on one or two songs here", I don't have a problem with that for a band like this because they are a particularly popular band and therefore a lot of people know what they're sound like and what their lyrics touch upon. For instance, would we be talking about the details and specifics for a Nickelback song? That being said, use the songs as a way to describe on how it relates to the music itself, because you're only talking about the lyrics.
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C R I T I Q U E
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Oh, okay. Well, I want to be a rock singer so I'm singing rock songs with my teacher. She has this classic rock / pop background, you know? But all the exercises and warm ups are derived from classical singing anyway, but I don't want to sing in an opera for example.
| | | Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off
learning classical singing and opera is one of the best ways to learn how to do vocals properly imo. a lot of vocalists in rock bands apply the same sort of ideas and techniques into their music. it may not be what you're looking for, but it's worth it.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
Absolutely! I want to master my voice and the classical stuff, the techniques and all the rest, translate naturally into all the singing styles, so I'm happy to do it
| | | Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off
I think Infra-Red is easily Walst's best performance in the band so far... that's not saying much though.
The rest is honsetly throwaway, but there are a few good hooks on here.
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
It's hard to touch on. Most of my complaints about the album are the album itself. Three Days Grace always had lazy riffs. That's their style. They have sustained detuned riff sections. That's not a backhanded comment. People like that style from Three Days Grace. Every band has their own quirks. Secondly, when the subject of Matt Walst comes in, the point is he has no experience. He hasn't had exposure either. That's a critique because you can't rest the future of an ESTABLISHED BAND on a person who wasn't reliable to begin with. His writing style is terrible. The alternative rock comment was also an observation. It's counted as hard rock, which is a stretch. Three Days Grace always seemed more alt. Though, you mistake my review to be bashing Walst rather than the album itself.
Touching on "one or two things" is all that is necessary. What does the album offer? Everything is underdeveloped. The concept is to describe an "outsider" correct? What does the album say? The album makes obvious claims about being a social outcast. The lyrics aren't relevant to anyone over 15. Not to mention there aren't more than two points to expand upon. The music is THE EXACT SAME as their previous record. The production is the only difference. Me saying, "Stock's slow sustained riffs [insert further description]" is redundant. He always does that, so what's the point? I also didn't bash Stock for anything. In fact, he's probably the only consistency here. Whether or not you agree is one thing, but I'm stating my opinion regardless.
I gave the album credit where possible. I don't dive into a record aiming to hate it. I like Three Days Grace. I've made that known before. I just don't like this record. It's horrendously constructed, fundamentally broken, and lazily written. Walst shows no effort. I can't invest in his lyrics. Nothing speaks to me on a personal level. Everything feels half-baked when listening.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
BEAUTIFUL REVIEW POS'D
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
I was actually working on revising it haha. There are some formatting, grammatical, and contextual errors. I'm trying to shake those long sentences. I get people don't want to read word walls, but in a review, it's hard to avoid.
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