Three Days Grace

THREE DAYS GRACE

   Three Days Grace is a Canadian post-grunge band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer and the backing vocalist Neil Sanderson, and bassist Brad Walst. In 2003, Barry Stock was recruited as the band's lead guitarist. The band is based in Toronto.

   After signing to Jive Records, Three Days Grace has released three studio albums: Three Days Grace in 2003, One-X in 2006, and Life Starts Now in 2009. The albums have been certified platinum, double platinum, and gold, respectively, in the United States. The band have a string of number one hits on the Billboard Alternative Songs and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.

Musical style and influences:

   Three Days Grace's musical style has generally been described by critics as alternative metal and hard rock throughout the band's career. Heather Phares of Allmusic, in a review of the band's debut album, compared them to rock bands Chevelle and Helmet. Dave Doray of IGN described Three Days Grace as "heavy and catchy, with chewy chunks of assurance and fury thrown in for added measure." Allmusic's Corey Apar said One-X brings an "accessible alt-metal attack of blunt lyrics and crunching rhythms" that retains the melodic sound despite its lyrical darkness".

   The band has listed numerous influences in their music. Gontier has mentioned such bands as Sunny Day Real Estate, Kyuss, Nine Inch Nails, and Alice in Chains as influences for the band's music. Julie Garisto of the St. Petersburg Times has claimed that Three Days Grace's influences also include the grunge band Nirvana and the heavy metal outfit Black Sabbath. According to Gontier, the lyrics for Three Days Grace songs have mostly been influenced by the Seattle music scene. He summarized about the band's influences in an interview, "Musically there's a lot of different influences, but lyrically it's hard to have different influences because you just write."

Awards:

   Three Days Grace have been recognized for their musical efforts through several awards and nominations. In 2007, the band was ranked by Mediabase as the top artist in airplay across all rock formats in the US and Canada, and Billboard named them Rock Artist of the Year. Three Days Grace has been nominated for four Juno Awards. In 2004, the band was nominated for New Group of the Year. "I Hate Everything About You" was nominated for Best Rock Video and People's Choice: Favourite Canadian Group at Much Music Awards. In 2007, they were nominated for Best Group of the Year, and their album One-X was nominated for Album of the Year. The band's first single from One-X, "Animal I Have Become", was Canada's most played rock song in 2006 and won that year's Mediabase award for the most played rock song on radio. "Never Too Late" was nominated for Best Video and Best Rock Video and "Pain" was nominated for Best International Video by a Canadian and People's Choice: Favorite Canadian Group at Much Music Awards. In 2010 Life Starts Now was nominated for best Rock Album at the Juno awards but lost to Billy Talent III. In 2010, "Break" was nominated for Best Post Production Video and Best Rock Video of the year at Much Music Awards.On Fuse.tv, The Good Life is in a poll for "Best Summer Hit". In 2010 "Break" and "Life Starts Now" were Nominated for "Best Single" and "Best Album" at the Casby Awards and "Life Starts Now" won Best Album.

Band members:

Current members:

• Adam Gontier – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1992–1995) (1997–present)

• Neil Sanderson – drums, percussion, piano, backing vocals (1992–1995) (1997–present)

• Brad Walst – bass guitar, backing vocals (1992–1995) (1997–present)

• Barry Stock – lead guitar (2003–present)

Previous members (as Groundswell):

• Phil Crowe – lead guitar (1992–1995)

• Joe Grant – guitar (1992–1995)

Discography:

THREE DAYS GRACE

(2003)

   Three Days Grace is the self-titled debut album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace, released on July 22, 2003. It was their only album under Bertelsmann Music Group.

   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." In another positive review, Sputnikmusic said, "this is a very good debut CD from this band, there are very few flaws, and the music is all very good and it's great to listen to. Looking ahead, I see only good things for this band...although, with only one CD under their belts, it's too early to tell." Dave Doray of IGN gave another positive review, saying, "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."

   The album has been certified double platinum in Canada, and platinum in the US.

ONE-X

(2006)

   One-X is the second album from Canadian rock band, Three Days Grace. The album was released on June 13, 2006. They worked with producer Howard Benson for the album, this decision proved to be a great move for the band, as the album was both a critical and financial success. It is their first and only album under Sony BMG, the successor to Sony Music Entertainment's original roots & Bertelsmann Music Group. The Sony BMG joint venture was dropped in 2008, leading for Bertelsmann's Sony BMG stake going back to Sony.

   Before One-X was released the band previewed some numbers from the upcoming album on several occasions. They played four of the new songs, including "Animal I Have Become" and "Never Too Late", at the H.O.P.E. Volleyball SummerFest in Ottawa in July 2005. "Animal I Have Become" was released as a single and received substantial airplay before it was released with One-X.

   Previews for four of the tracks on One-X were able to be found on Three Days Grace's Online Trading Cards. Tracks that could be previewed were "It's All Over", "Pain", "Never Too Late" and "Over and Over".

   The cover depicts a string of connected paper dolls with checkmarks on all except one of the figures, in which this represents the album's title. On the inside, the CD tray shows all red fish, except one black fish. This same image is also on the "Animal I Have Become" single cover. The lyrics are included in the album booklet.

   The album debuted at #2 on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album also entered the Billboard 200 albums chart at #5 with first week sales of more than 78,000 copies. It has gone to sell over 1,733,000 copies in the US alone, making it their highest-selling album to date.

   One-X was met with mostly positive reviews. The Toronto Star complimented the album with a review title of "One CD worth buying..." and focused on its lyrics, saying, "The lyrics really speak out to you, especially if you're going through a tough time in your life." Allmusic reviewer Corey Apar praised the music, saying it "remains catchy despite its lyrical darkness". Ultimate Guitar gave a largely positive review of the album, and also praised Gontier's vocals, saying, "Gontier's strong vocal performance could explain why the band has garnered the success they've had. When you hear an infectious vocal, you might have a powerful urge to sing along."

   In 2007, One-X earned the band an award for Rock Artist of the Year by Billboard magazine. They won a Media Base award for most played rock song on radio in Canada for their single "Animal I Have Become". One-X has been certified double platinum in Canada, and platinum in the US.

LIFE STARTS NOW

(2009)

   Life Starts Now is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The album was released on September 22, 2009. The album was produced by Howard Benson. This is the second time in a row the band has worked with him, after the commercially successful One-X. Life Starts Now expresses a lighter lyrical mood compared to the band's previous album. It became the last ever Three Days Grace album under Jive Records until Sony Music Entertainment disbanded the label in 2011, and the first under Sony Music Entertainment.

   After being on the road for five years with Three Days Grace, bassist Brad Walst stated, "We all came home and got a hard dose of life," which the band then used to create a more "musically in-depth and personal album". He describes Life Starts Now as a record about "confronting life and how fragile it can be".

   Pre-production for Life Starts Now began in January 2009 while the band began recording the music in Vancouver in March. The album was completed in August of the same year. After finalizing all aspects of the album, they officially announced that the album would be released on September 22, 2009.

   While not as successful as the band's previous album One-X, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 79,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week, thus becoming the band's highest-charting album to date. The album also debuted on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart at number two, along with "Break" which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Rock Songs chart and "The Good Life" at number 52 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 1 on Billboard Rock Songs chart. With the exception of "Lost in You", all of the band's singles from the album topped the Billboard rock song charts.

   The album has been nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2010 Juno awards. The album has been officially certified Platinum in Canada. It was also certified Gold in the US on March 1, 2011.

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