Three Days Grace: “Life Starts Now”

Frikkin’ Awesome Return of Under-rated Hard Rockers

I must make a confession to start: I absolutely love this band, so any review is automatically somewhat suspect. That being said, I shall try to be objective.

The band’s sound has a certain energy to it that is highly infectious. With each new album, they are honing their craft closer to perfection. Their eponymous first album had a couple of good songs, while the sophomore release, 2006’s One-X, had some truly awesome tracks like “Animal I Have Become” and “Riot” to name but two, cementing the band in the echelons of true players in the harder end of the radio-rock spectrum.

Life Starts Now grows on this progression, offering even more catchy tunes. Each song on this album is worthy of attention and repeat listens. The structures are clearly more designed for radio (“World So Cold” and “Someone Who Cares”, for example, are quite repetitive), but the songs do not suffer from this at all. Linkin Park’s recent output has suffered, as they now produce pretty uninspiring pop-rock/-metal that is simplistic and forgettable. Three Days Grace have at least managed to retain some of their edge and gruffness, while also enhancing their hooks and accessibility. The choruses are still huge, the vocals still arresting and varied, and the musicianship is confident and immediate.

Few albums have lived up to my expectations in the past couple of years, but it is safe to say that Life Starts Now has affirmed my confidence in Three Days Grace. They should have a long and successful career ahead of them. Songs such as “Break” (the lead single) and “Bitter Taste” are immediate singles, and if they don’t have you at least nodding your head along, then chances are you’re dead inside.

Highly recommended.

For Fans of: Shinedown, Soil, Drowning Pool, Sick Puppies, Finger Eleven

Vertical Horizon: “Burning The Days”

Long-delayed return of soft rockers

Vertical Horizon first attracted my attention with their 2000 release, Everything You Want. It was melodic, well-written and pretty uplifting soft rock music. Their follow-up album, Go, didn’t really register at all. Burning The Days takes more queues from the softer side of this already soft band, mixing the competent melodies with catchy tunes. The only problem is that they aren’t quite as uplifting as they used to be. The songs are good, but they come across a little more shoe-gazing that I would have liked from this band.

If you want something to chill out to, or to listen to with a girlfriend who’s scared of anything even remotely heavy or ‘hard’, then Burning The Days should fill the role.

For Fans of: Vonray, Our Lady Peace, Matchbox Twenty

Creed: “Full Circle” (Wind-Up)

The Mega-Selling Grunge Outfit of the 1990s Returns!

I was originally quite sceptical about this album. I always liked Creed (Human Clay, despite it being ‘uncool’, is one of my favourite albums of that period and this genre), so I was interested to see how they might fare after some time apart and with mended fences.

Scott Stapp’s solo album was… disappointing to say the least. The other members of Creed went off, along with Myles Kennedy (formerly of The Mayfield Four) to form the heavier, but still melodic and grungy Alter Bridge.

Full Circle opens with “Overcome” – a heavier take on the classic Creed sound, which serves as a suckerpunch for those who had forgotten what Creed’s original appeal was. “Bread of Shame” and “A Thousand Faces” follow this up with two more toned-down songs, each acting like a step down in intensity. This wasn’t entirely welcome, but the songs are very good, exhibiting some more interesting song structures (still straightforward, but not the standard Creed template that had become well-trodden by 2001’s Weathered). Thankfully, as became clear over the course of the rest of the album, the histrionics have disappeared, and Stapp seems to have got his ego mostly in check. Good for him. Mark Tremonti’s guitar playing is exceptional throughout, and it seems that he’s been able to bring over some solos from his Alter Bridge days, again making the album stand out from Creed’s previous output.

Overall, this is a welcome return from a band everyone loved to deride and hate. Just like Nickelback, who continue to produce songs that appeal to a broad demographic (aging music fans who came of age during the grunge years, for example), Creed’s place in the music world is assured. If you like your grunge straightforward and competently composed and performed, then Full Circle is an album that should appeal.

For Fans of: Alter Bridge, Nickelback, Pearl Jam, Breaking Benjamin, Cavo, Breaking Point, Big Dismal, Bush (not the presidents), Day of Fire, Red

Dead By Sunrise: “Out Of Ashes” (Warner Bros.)

‘Solo’ album from Linkin Park’s frontman and members of Orgy

Just as Minutes To Midnight wasn’t the Linkin Park album I had hoped for, Out Of Ashes was not the album I hoped it would be. Chester Bennington has one of the most versatile and powerful voices in rock today (perhaps ever?), and on this album and Linkin Park’s recent output it feels like he’s just churning out songs that lack the punch and impact of his earlier material. The power evident on Linkin Park’s 2001 debut, Hybrid Theory, and their sophomore release, Meteora (2003) is completely absent on this album. Yes, Chester’s vocals are still melodic and catchy, but there’s no bite, and little on here that really stands out.

The music, provided by Ryan Schuck and Amir Derakh, formerly (?) of Orgy, is ok, but again nothing special.

This promised to be so much more, but ended up falling a little flat. Well-produced and –performed flatness, but certainly flat nonetheless.