Three Days Grace - OneX

Bio
A Canadian band from Ontario, they had their hit single - I Hate Everything About You - about three years ago. They released more single in Canada but not in USA. They consist of four members with Adam Gontier as the frontman/singer.

Overall
OneX sounds similar to their previous album but seems to be happier (as happy as dark music can get). However, their single - Animal I Have Become - is the probably one of the darker songs in the album and their music video definitely left an impression. They seemed to have become like Staind with their dark guitar rifts but with somehow very cheerful notes sneaked in.

Their melodies are pretty easy to figure out and pretty predictable. Honestly, I felt like the melodies were nursery rhyme-ish. The only reason why it’s catchy is because he has a really grungy voice which is a plus. Lyrics are very dark which I like but the melodies takes it away. One song – Let It Die – sounds sooo happy. WEIRD. It’s like singing die mother fucker die to the tune of happy birthday.

Instrumental
One thing that I thought was funny was how there is a keyboard part in the certain songs with the cheery background notes. The guitars were nothing special. Same with the bass and the drums. Nothing too amazing. So… yea… the only thing that separates this group from other is the lead singer’s voice where he uses his grungy voice and also his natural singing voice. I don’t really hear a vibrato because he switches to his grungy voice when he should naturally do a vibrato. Sometimes I feel like he switches too many times in a song. Takes away from the song at times. The backup vocals are definitely sung by the lead singer and not by the other band member. Sometimes its too monotonous.

Recording & Studio Magic
There is enough compression to make me into a 2 ton person fit into a 28 waist for pants. Haha. There is a lot of compression on the guitars and on the voices. bass guitar really seems to be plain and ignored because of that. drums are kinda boring and typical but not bad. Backup voices are from the lead singer and compressed the same way so it gets annoying at times cuz its two voices of the same person. monotonous. At least make it sound a little different. Recording style is like the way they play their instruments – nothing special.

Live Potential
I was interested in going to a concert of theirs when their first album came out. So I went to their website which featured a flash object with a burning house and when you click on the flames coming out of the house, it led you to different things. So I checked out their live performances. I was not impressed. His voice seems to be more altered in comparison with his album recording. And with this album, I feel like there is more voice compression hence creating a thought that it would be hard for him to sing similar to the cd tracks.

In Retrospect
First off, sorry not worth buying. If anything, their first album is much better. The music in this album doesn’t flow too well together. Trying to mix dark music styles and adding in keyboards with very delightful melodies just doesn’t work. Well, they just didn’t do a great job at it. Other bands have done better jobs – Puddle of Mudd and Staind. Some songs are worth a listen and but as a complete album. It’s a thumbs down peeps.

Album Info
Released – June 13, 2006
Number of Songs – 12
Album Length - ~44 Minutes
Singles – Animal I Have Become
Recommended Songs – It's All Over, Never Too Late, Time Of Dying, Gone Forever
www.threedaysgrace.com

Ratings
Lyrics – 6.5
Melody – 3
Instrumentally – 4
Recording – 5
Studio Magic – 7
Originality – 4.5
Live Potential – 4
Overall – 5
WJOD – 4.5

Explanation of the Ratings
Rating is from 1-10. 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest.
Overall is NOT an average of the other ratings.
This is similar to grading system. A 7 is a C. etc.
WJOD = worth dl/jacking off danny.