One-X review

Three Days Grace has made a conceptually new album

The Canadian alternative metal band Three Days Grace was formed in Norwood, Ontario. The guys started playing rock as a quartet called Groundswell in 1992, and in 1997, when one of the musicians, Barry Stock, left the band, the trio named themselves Three Days Grace. The first self-titled album was released in 2003 and at about that time Stock came back to the band and the trio became a quartet again. In 2006 front singer Adam Gontier, bassist Brad Walst, drummer Neil Sanderson, and guitarist Barry Stock came to Los Angeles to work at their new, more powerful and conceptually new album One-X. This time Three Days Grace has created a strikingly genuine and affective record filled with a great variety of emotions like misery, rage, passion, loneliness, darkness and many others which is absolutely necessary to make a top level rock album. The lyrics written by Adam Gontier can really impress even the most sophisticated hearers, and the musicians’ playing has evidently grown more confident. The sound of Three Days Grace itself has become completely distinct, so whenever you hear One-X playing you are sure to recognize it in no time.

One hearing of One-X is not enough

The feelings and the themes of One-X vary from song to song. The album opener It's All Over, full of bitterness mixed with released anger, sets free of any emotional limits as well as Pain, a real hit of this record. Animal I Have Become has recently become very popular on TV and radio for it is one of the catchiest tracks of One-X. Sadness and lyrical mood fill the song Never Too Late with a beautiful melody making the most sensitive cry. The track Riot is the most powerful and rocking and its name speaks for itself – the song is filled with riotous spirit. The Three Days Grace front singer’s talent is revealed in the ballad Get Out Alive to the greatest degree, his rich and amazingly strong voice makes the song obviously outstanding. Let It Die is filled with misery and despair and overwhelms you at once with its deep heartache. The love song Over And Over can be included in your romantic music collection for it can touch anybody with its wonderful melody and Gontier’s excellent vocals. Gone Forever and Let It Die sound like a good classic rock, and the closer One-X is a perfect ending for such a brilliant album for it leaves you with a slight dissatisfaction that the record is over. Positively one hearing is by no means enough.

Three Days Grace’s evident breakthrough

When recording an album musicians usually have their aim to make the songs reflecting all their inner emotions, and this task is fulfilled very rarely. Three Days Grace possesses that very special gift which helps them make such emotionally defined music that it gets right to your heart. The four were in LA while recording One-X and state that they never entertained there working hard all days long and as a result made exactly the album they wanted. The progress between the first and the following creations of Three Days Grace cannot be questioned. Their distinct sound and the constantly developing talent of Adam Gontier make the band so distinguished from many other rockers, and a long history and interesting background provide them with great opportunities. With their second album the amount of their fans all over the world has at least doubled for One-X is an evident breakthrough. Taking into account Celine Dion’s, Nickelback’s and Avril Lavigne’s success, Three Days Grace has once again proved to the world that Canada is a place where real stars are born. Hopefully their next creation is going to be even better than One-X for there is always room for perfection. For now we can enjoy this record for it is perfect anyway.