Life Starts Now for Three Days Grace

Post-grunge was society’s way of dealing with all of the raw angst that grunge didn’t have the chance to deal with... because it died. Three Days Grace’s self-titled 2003 debut was hailed as flawless by critics, celebrated by moshing metal-heads, and adored by middle-schoolers with a little too much hatred for their parents. To be fair, Three Days Grace was consistent from track to track with emotional, relatable lyrics and tight guitar-work. With emo anthems like “Just Like You” and “I Hate Everything About You,” how can you go wrong?

Three Days Grace’s sophomore effort, One-X was a solid follow-up according to the reviews and displayed a polished sound that was just as angry and powerful as before with such headbangers as “Riot” and “Animal I Have Become.” Three Days Grace experimented on this album with lower tempos and more variety in the dynamics, something they had done particularly well.

Unfortunately, with their follow up Life Starts Now, Three Days Grace’s critics aren’t as forgiving when they saw that the band has a serious case of the Linkin Park. You know, those bands who gained popularity with the tween crowds in the early 2000s who can’t seem to write a single happy song.

The first track on Life Starts Now, “Bitter Taste,” has traditional Three Days Grace style with its strong chorus and overall anger; makes one wonder when lead singer Adam Gontier is going to find someone who doesn’t hurt his fragile heart. Songs like “Goin Down”, “World So Cold”, and “Life Starts Now” are really just space-fillers that don’t seem to contribute much of anything. It’s not hard to predict what their subject nature are—heartbreak and anger.

The first single, “Break” is your classic Three Days Grace which would just be a song about advocating angsty preteen rebellion. The first half of the song is fine but the line “At night I feel like a vampire” made the rest of the song unlistenable on principle.

Songs like “Lost in You”, “The Good Life”, and “No More” are musical contradictions whose lyrics don’t really match up with the songs too well with the latter leaving the audience wonder just how much pain one can actually write about.

“Last to Know” is the album’s magnum opus with a lovely piano intro leading slowly into an electric interlude. Here, Gontier shows his true voice and ability with some lovely falsetto moments.

Overall the album was good and what is expected from Three Days Grace, but it still leaves one to start to wonder how long Adam Gontier can hate life for. Who is his audience? Those stuck in permanent angst? When Three Days Grace mature in content? But then again, I guess if you cant vocalize your frustration in music, where can you do it?

Can't think of a good pun for Life starts now. Maybe... wow now that this review is done, Life starts now. Lame.