Three Days Grace – One-X

A few years ago, Three Days Grace came out with a single that absolutely took over the Canadian airwaves. Every teen with a TV or radio could sing along with I Hate (Everything About You) flawlessly and they were one of the most talked about bands for a few months. Then they disappeared for awhile, released a few more singles, like Home, which received quite a lot of airplay, but nothing like their breakout single. Their self-titled effort which held all those songs was well received as it was a pretty decent album, nothing spectacular, but it was still good. Anyway, the band slowly vanished before reappearing recently with their new single, Animal I Have Become and their new album, One-X. The single spared my interest in the band again, but still noting big enough for me to go out and get the album – that was, of course, until I saw the band live a few weeks ago. It was the show that reminded me as to why I loved going to concerts, and I knew I needed to get hold of One-X as soon as I could; and luckily it didn’t disappoint.

One-X is your basic radio rock and roll album. It is hard, angry, and just generally pissed off – and it is music that gets you moving. While the breakdowns can become predictable at times, it doesn’t effect the flow of the album in any way. It still lets the listener let off steam and forget their troubles as they take a hold of a new breath and sing along with the dark, angry, and introspective lyrics that take a deeper look into the darkness and insanity of the human mind. Instead of keeping the flowing emotions bottled up, the band lets their fans break lose and let it all go; particularly with songs like Riot which is a perfect mosh pit song.

The highlight of the album definitely comes from Adam Gontier’s vocal delivery. The rough, worn, vocals are the perfect way to deliver the anthems of anger and release. They feel sincere and connectable, which makes the album so much more enjoyable. The only downside of the album is when the band tries to mellow it down a bit with slightly softer and slower songs. While these tracks, like Never Too Late or Over & Over, still have the needed Three Days Grace kick, they do miss a certain flare that only the intensity of the quicker songs can portray.

I do believe that this album will last a lot longer in the minds of the fans than their self-titled release, possibly because their single isn’t as big and overplayed like Hate was and because it is a bit more all encompassing. For me though, the real reason I love this album is the memory it brings from their live performance a few weeks ago, because once you see these guys live, you will never be able to forget it.