Diamonds in the Rough 09.13.09: Three Days Grace

Posted by Leo Rivera on 09.13.2009

The band you love to hate, and why you should appreciate them.

Before I get into this week's subject, I have an announcement to make! I am sad to announce that two weeks from today, I will be departing 411mania. Sometimes life just catches up with you, full time job, full time girlfriend (love ya!), you catch my drift.

It has been almost a year since I debuted Diamonds in the Rough, over 25 articles later, I can tell you it has been a blast! Being able to shed light on bands that I honestly believe in and have been an influence in my personal life has been a rewarding experience to say the least. I want to take this time to thank all of the readers here at the music zone, both those who are fans of the bands I profile and those who are critical of those bands or my musical taste. I always look forward to your comments both positive and negative, because if we all had the same musical tastes, it would be pretty freaking boring! Believe it or not, I like listening to the haters, because it makes it that much sweeter to get feedback from the fans.

I have three more articles and three more bands to go, and this week I zero in on Three Days Grace. now I know many of you here at 411 are not very fond of this band. To be honest with you, I was not very keen on this band myself (at first). But over time, I have changed my stance and have grown to not only tolerate but appreciate them and their music.



There are several key reasons for why I can firmly say that I am down with Three Days Grace. 1.) While their songs can often be dark, brooding and simple, they are autobiographical and ring true to front man Adam Grontiers battle with drug addiction. 2.) The music serves a purpose and has a message "Don't' do what I did, I am lucky to be alive." Grontier has had several near fatal bouts with his addictions and make no bones about the dangers of drugs. 3) have you ever seen a band do more with less? I am not knocking any of the musicians in the band, but they are smart enough to know what works and they stick to it. They don't get fancy with their music for the sake of being fancy, they keep it simple and to the point and it has paid off in spades.

With just two albums under their belt ( and a third on the way) Three Days Grace have blossomed and evolved into one of the top modern rock bands today. Both of their albums have been certified platinum in both the U.S. and Canada and in 2007, they were declared the # 1 rock artist of the year by Billboard magazine. In the span of six years, two albums and non-stop touring Three Days Grace have managed to turn haters into believers.

Today we take a look at one of the most criticized bands in rock. Whether you love them or you hate them, maybe after this you can respect them; I give to you Three Days Grace.



The roots of Three Days Grace date all the way back to 1992. In the U.S. grunge was at its apex, influencing generation-x kids like Woodstock era had to their parents. The grunge movement had spread far and wide, creeping into the brisk suburbs of Canada. Five high school in Norwood, Ontario, Canada were particularly affected by this movement. Adam Gontier, Neil Sanderson, Brad Walt, Phil Crowe and Joel Grant; were inspired by American bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice and Chains and decided to form their own band: Groundswell.

Groundswell jammed together for three years before breaking up in 1995. In 1997, vocalist Adam Grontier, drummer Neil Sanderson and bassist Brad Walst re-grouped in Toronto as a trio under the name Three Days Grace. Grontier says the name stands for the question: "If you had a three day grace period to change something in your life, would you do it?"

After years of writing, recording and playing live in the booming Toronto music scene, the band hooked up with local producer Gavin Brown. Grontier, gave him several years worth of material that they had accumulated since forming. According to Grontier, Brown "picked out what he called ‘golden nuggets'", then Brown and the band polished and compiled those songs into a demo EP and submitted it to EMI Music Publishing Canada.

EMI was intrigued but wanted to hear more material. With Brown at the helm, Three Days Grace wrote and recorded the sarcastic (revenge) ballad "I Hate Everything About You" and the rest as they say is history. The song significantly raised the bands profile and soon Jive Records quickly (and wisely) signed them at the behest of their president.

After years of writing, recording and playing live in the booming Toronto music scene, the band hooked up with local producer Gavin Brown. Grontier gave him years worth of material that they had accumulated since forming. According to Grontier, Brown "picked out what he called ‘golden nuggets.'" Brown and the band polished and compiled those songs into a demo EP and submitted it to EMI Music Publishing Canada.

EMI was intrigued but wanted to hear more material. With Brown at the helm, Three Days Grace wrote and recorded the sarcastic ballad "I Hate Everything About You" and the rest as they say is history. The bands profile raised significantly after that song and Jive Records quickly (and wisely) signed them.

Shortly after being signed to Jive and recording the debut album, Barry Stock joined the band as its lead guitarist. Stock who looks more like a professional wrestler (dude is huge) than a guitarist, rounded out the line up just in time to tour behind the Three Days Grace debut album. Released on July 22, 2003, the self titled album offered up palatable hard rock songs in its simplest form and was thus met with mixed reviews.



Some criticized the band calling them "Nu-Metal leftovers" while others saw a deeper significance to the band. All music writer Heather Phrase astutely pointed out "the bands focus and adherence to alt-metal formulas coupled with tight songwriting and some unexpectedly pretty choruses results in strong tracks that are more memorable than the work of many of their peers." But even while praising the band, phrase did find one glaring flaw, "Three Days Grace are definitely one of the most accessible alt-metal bands of the 2000's, they just need to add more distinctiveness to their sound."

I have to agree with Phrase's assessment as Three Days Grace was an extremely well written, near picture perfect mainstream hard rock album. The problem was that songs like the hit singles "Just Like You" and "Home" as well as "Overrated" were a little too simple (then again maybe that was the point). While the songs where hits, the bands musical credibility took a hit as people stated that kids could write those songs. However, their were a few gems in this album as well. The first single "I Hate Everything About You" was a cleverly written song that tricks the listener into thinking that it is a love ballad before Grontier knocks you on your ass by screaming to his ex-girlfriend "I hate everything about you!" then there is the mosh pit anthem "Scared" which sounds surprisingly up-beat given the urgency of the lyrics. "Burn" is the perfect melodic hard rock song, starting with a blazing guitar intro before settling into a mid-tempo groove and finally climaxing with an even harder head banging finish. Meanwhile "Let You Down" and "Born Like This" are the slow burn brooding rockers that have become a Three Days Grace staple.



Thanks to the extremely catchy and accessible singles and two years of non-stop touring with everyone from Staind to Hoobastank, Three Days Grace became certified platinum in the U.S. and double platinum in Canada. The constant touring came at a cost, while on the road, Grontier became depressed and addicted to drugs and alcohol. To his credit he checked into rehab after the tour and while there began writing material for the bands second album.

Adam Gontier's battle with addiction and subsequent stint at rehab no doubt lent itself to a more auto-biographical writing process. The result of which was the album One-X released on June 13, 2006. The album is filled with stories about depression, addiction and suicidal tendencies.



In the lead single "Animal I Have Become" Grontier lashes out about his regrets about the person he became as an addict. The song starts with a thumping bass intro by Brad Walst before going into a whip lashing guitar sound courtesy of Barry Stock. Grontier then openly cries out "I can't escape this hell, so many times I tried, but I'm still caged inside, somebody get me through this nightmare, I can't control myself." before going into a surprisingly catchy chorus (given the sensitive nature of the song). "Animal I Have Become" became the bands most successful single and was 2006's most played rock song in Canada.



One-X was a big step forward in the musical evolution of Three Days Grace, this was partly due to Barry Stocks recording debut, who added a whole new (and much needed) layer of depth to the bands signature sound. The album was chalk full of catchy and diverse auto biographical tunes which is a sure fire recipe for success (as far as rock albums are concerned). The album was heavily praised by the Toronto Star: "The lyrics really speak out to you, especially if you're going through a rough time in your life." another review by Allmusic states "the album remains catchy despite its lyrical darkness."

Songs like "Wake Up", "Get Out Alive" and "Never too Late" were unofficial public service announcements to alcoholics and drug addicts that, no matter how bleak life may look, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. And a harrowing realization that we have to work quickly to overcome our demons before they get the best of us. And of course the "broken relationship" theme was still represented in this album this time with the beautifully melodic "Let it Die." The song starts with a sweeping guitar intro with Grontier singing "we had fire in our eyes, in the beginning, I never felt so alive, in the beginning, you, you blame me but, its not fair when you say that I didn't try, I just don't want to hear it anymore." then the chorus "I swear I never meant to let it die, I just don't care about you anymore." The perfect follow up to "I Hate Everything About You."

Despite the dark content there are plenty of rockers in One-X aside from "Animal I Have Become", "Pain" gets you moving, while "Riot" is a certifiable showstopper, a modern day rock anthem.



In 2007, Three Days Grace embarked on a monumental year long tour with fellow hard rockers Seethter and Breaking Benjamin that bought all three bands to the forefront of the modern rock movement. As successful as that tour was for Three Days Grace, what earned them even more respect (especially amongst the haters, myself included) was Adam Gontiers personal acoustic tour of rehab facilities across the U.S. and Canada. Proving that he was not just writing these lyrics to cash in on real life experiences, Grontier did an admirable thing by stepping into rehab facilities and taking his music and experiences directly to the people that need to be touched the most, recovering addicts.



After an extremely successful tour and record, Three Days Grace took a break in late 2008, and returned to the studio in the Spring of 2009 to record their third album the aptly titled Life Starts Now. Produced by modern rock icon Howard Benson, the album has been rumored to be more upbeat and with a brighter outlook on life. The first single "Break" starts off with a catchy up-tempo drum beat, followed by a whistle blow which leads into a fiery guitar rhythm and a chorus "Break away from everybody from everybody, break away from everything, take yourself to higher places!" If this song is any indication, we are in for a different Three Days Grace, as they continue to evolve and shatter all misconceptions that they are a one-trick pony. "nu-metal leftover" I think not, modern rock torch bearer is more like it!