Before listening to Life Starts Now, the latest album from Three Days Grace, I couldn't quite decide how I felt about the Canadian rock band. It's not that I've ever disliked their sound. In fact, lead singer Adam Gontier's distinctively rough vocals make Three Days Grace stand out on radio stations so often filled with indistinguishable bands, and that's impressive. But my question was always, "Why so angry, Three Days Grace? Don't you have any good news to report?"
After playing (and re-playing) their third album (out Sept. 22 on Jive), I've made up my mind, and the verdict is in: Three Days Grace is completely rockin' — but no longer completely hostile.
The opening track, "Bitter Taste," pairs the band's signature hard rock sound with their expected "you suck and I'm glad we're through" lyrics, which initially made me wonder how similar this album would be to their 2003 self-titled debut and 2006's One-X. But the next track and the album's first single, "Break," renewed my hope. This is easily the next big anthem for America's anguished youth, and even 20-somethings standing at a proverbial crossroads. (You know who you are.)
This article appears in Oct 22-28, 2009.