Three Days Grace (album)

Three Days Grace is the debut album by the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace, released on July 22, 2003, through Jive Records. It was the band's only album as a trio.

Produced by Gavin Brown, the album achieved commercial success, peaking at number 9 on the Canadian Albums Chart and number 69 on the Billboard 200. It received a Gold certification in New Zealand, a Platinum in Canada and triple-Platinum status in the United States.

Background and writing

Prior to being named Three Days Grace, the band was known as Groundswell.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> They became acquainted with local producer Gavin Brown and gave him several years' worth of material which they had created.<ref name="MapleMusic Recordings"/> Working with the group, Brown said, "It was really about being in the right place at the right time. You try to do all the right things day-in and day-out, and be dedicated to the craft, but when it's all said and done the final element is luck."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The band garnered the attention of many record labels after the release of their demo, largely due to the song, "I Hate Everything About You".<ref name="AllMusic Bio"/> Eventually, Three Days Grace signed with Jive and began recording their debut album in Massachusetts. The single "I Hate Everything About You" was released in promotion for the album.<ref name="AllMusic Bio">Template:Cite web</ref>

According to drummer Neil Sanderson, the album's material comes from the "crazy things" the group had seen growing up. Singer Adam Gontier stated, "I don't find it easy to write about happy shit. You don't need a release when you're happy." The group completed half of the album at Long View Farm in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, while the rest was done at Bearsville Studios in Bearsville, New York.<ref name="MapleMusic Recordings">Template:Cite web</ref> The album's theme deals with "growing up in a small town, being bullied around and everybody knowing your business."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The band began touring with Trapt in July 2003, in support of the album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During this tour, the group added a new member, guitarist Barry Stock, who joined the band after they held auditions for another guitarist.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The group later joined Nickelback on The Long Road Tour throughout October and November 2003.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The band embarked on a headlining tour called the Three Days Grace World Tour in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They also supported Evanescence on a North American tour in July 2004 and Hoobastank on the Let it Out Tour in November 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In October 2004, the band re-released their debut album with a bonus DVD that contained, music videos of their singles, behind the scenes videos, backstage footage and concert clips shot in Brazil.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Composition

The group spent roughly six months to record the album,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while the songs on the record were written over the course of ten years.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On "I Hate Everything About You", the band recorded two guitar parts for the song, the main guitar part and intro riff. The opening riff was recorded on a Yamaha acoustic through an Amp Farm and the group liked the way it sounded with the acoustic guitar and ended up using it on the final production.<ref name="Ultimate Guitar">Template:Cite web</ref> On the fourth track, "Home", the band was coming up with different ideas and lead parts "that might sound cool," according to Gontier. They eventually recorded a high-pitch guitar lead that can be heard at the beginning of the song. They used a whammy pedal to "bring the whole tone up a whole octave," which was played around the 12th fret.<ref name="Ultimate Guitar"/> On the album's lead track, "Burn", the band was in the studio and started "dumping a jar of pennies on a guitar," according to Sanderson. They added some distortion which sounded like fire and the band thought it fit the title of the track really well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Critical reception

Template:Music ratings The album was met with positive reviews from most music critics. Heather Phares of AllMusic gave the album a positive review, saying, "Although this debut is a little uneven, it's also promising. Three Days Grace are definitely one of the most accessible alt-metal bands of the 2000s; they just need to add some more distinctiveness to their sound."<ref name="allmusic"/> She praised the group's songwriting on tracks such as "Born Like This", "Just Like You", and "Scared". She also called the album's lead single, "I Hate Everything About You", the band's "best song, gaining most of its power from its directness and bluntness in examining a dysfunctional relationship."<ref name="allmusic"/> Dave Doray of IGN gave another positive review, remarking, "almost every single song from the Three Days Grace track list is heavy and catchy, with chewy chunks of assurance and fury thrown in for added measure."<ref name=IGN>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kaj Roth of Melodic stated, "Three Days Grace plays tough modern rock, standing on classic hard rock ground like a mix between Depswa and Shinedown." He complimented the song "Scared" for its guitar harmonies calling it, "real refreshing." However he was critical on the tracks, "Burn" and "Now or Never" for the lack of "good melodies."<ref name=Melodic/> In a mixed review, Rough Edge compared the group's sound to Finger Eleven and Trapt stating, "Sanitized for mass consumption, there's nothing about Three Days Grace that we haven't heard before from other anguished, mid-tempo rock acts of the last ten years."<ref name="Rough Edge"/> Another mixed review was written by Andy Lee of Chart Attack who wrote, "Opener 'Burn' begins with promising rhythmic riffage, if only for its obvious debt to early Rage Against the Machine. From there on in, things head south with a series of gloomy, derivative hard rock numbers that ultimately coalesce into an ungodly amalgam of guitar slop, radio-friendly verse-chorus-verse arrangements and lead singer Adam Gontier's angst-ridden laments."<ref name="Chart Attack Review"/> Spin gave a more negative review calling the album, "generic Canadian gripe rock."<ref name="Spin"/>

On the 20th anniversary of the album, Issy Herring of Distorted Sound gave a positive review for the album. She praised the album's lead single, "I Hate Everything About You" stating, "The lyrics are timelessly relatable [...] with all of us undeniably experiencing a toxic relationship at some point in our personal lives." She also praised the album's eleventh track, "Take Me Under" remarking, "The nu-metal/grunge inspired guitar melodies make the track even more sensational and somewhat sentimental to any 90s kid growing up listening to this absolute masterpiece." However she was critical on the tracks "Overrated" and "Born Like This" for its underwhelming chorus. She ended off noting, "the release may be dotted with slight disappointments, but there is no doubt that the highlights triumph the rest."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Commercial performance

Three Days Grace debuted at No. 194 on the Billboard 200 and in its first week, the album sold no more than 34,000 copies.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2004, the album scanned 260,000 units in the US.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The album later peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard 200 in August 2004,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and sold 356,000 copies that year.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2006, the album sold over 1.2 million copies in the US.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> As of June 2007, the album sold more than 1.5 million copies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album also entered the Canadian Albums Chart at No. 9 and sold 5,000 copies in its first week.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to the Nielsen SoundScan, the album has since sold over 335,000 units in Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

The album has been certified platinum in Canada<ref name="CRIA">Template:Cite web</ref> and 3× Platinum in the US.<ref name="RIAA" /> The album earned them a CASBY Award for Favourite New Artist in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The lead single "I Hate Everything About You" was nominated for Best Rock Video and Favourite Canadian Group at the 2004 MuchMusic Video Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Producer Gavin Brown won Producer of the Year for the song at the 2004 Juno Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song also peaked at number 1 on the Canadian rock chart becoming their first number-one hit in the country.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album's second single, "Just Like You" became the first of many of the band's songs to top the US Billboard Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock charts.<ref name="LW Number One">Template:Cite web</ref>

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2

Three Days Grace

• Adam Gontier – lead vocals, guitars
• Brad Walst – bass guitar
• Neil Sanderson – drums, backing vocals

Artwork

• Nick Gamma – art direction, design
• Jeff Faerber – illustrations
• Chapman Baehler – photography
• Diane Schmidtke – groomer
• Mandi Line – stylist

Management

• Mark Adelman – management for Spivak Sobol Entertainment
• Stu Sobol – management for Spivak Sobol Entertainment

Production

• Gavin "Golden" Brown – producer
• George Marino – mastering
• Ted Jensen – mastering on "I Hate Everything About You" and "Just Like You"
• Michael "Elvis" Baskette – engineer
• Krisjan Leslie – engineer
• Jay Baumgardner – mixing
• Rich Costey – mixing on "Just Like You" and "I Hate Everything About You"
• Randy Staub – mixing on "Burn", "Home" and "Let You Down"
• Dave Holdredge – editing
• Mark Kiczula – assistant engineer
• Mike Lapierre – assistant engineer
• Darren Mora – assistant engineer
• Damien Shannon – assistant engineer
• Alley Trela – assistant engineer
• German Villacorta – assistant engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Weekly chart performance for Three Days Grace

Chart (2003–04)	Peak position
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	4
Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	3

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Three Days Grace

Chart (2003)	Position
Canadian Albums (Nielsen Soundscan)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	37
Chart (2004)	Position
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	97

Release history

Release history and formats for Three Days Grace

Region	Date	Edition	Format	Label	Ref.
Various	July 22, 2003	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	Jive	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Deluxe"/>
Japan	September 25, 2003	Japanese bonus track	CD	BMG Japan	<ref name="Japan Bonus Track"/>
Australia	April 19, 2004	Standard		Jive	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
United Kingdom	October 11, 2004				<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
United States	October 26, 2004	Bonus DVD	Template:Hlist		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Brazil
United States	April 26, 2005	DualDisc	DualDisc		<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Various	September 23, 2016	Standard	LP	Sony Legacy	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:Discogs master