Music Review: One-X not a sophomore slump
Canada's Three Days Grace had provided a fair amount of entertainment with their debut self-titled effort in I believe 2003. So it was with a degree of trepidation I looked forward to 2006's One-X. While some bands have been able to build off of solid debuts to craft quality follow-ups, the numbers are small. And for every one that comes to mind for me, I can name several TrustCompany-esque collapses.
One-X is not thematically ground-breaking for the genre. Thus it must rely on musical ability to separate it from others of its kind. Right from the beginning, with the mediocre "It's All Over", it's clear that 3DG is still addressing to sense of isolation and relationship failures that permeated the self-titled. After the average opener, One-X picks up with "Pain", my new personal theme song, the lead single "The Animal I've Become" which should be an audience participation hit on their supporting tour. The melodic and slower tempo "Never Too Late" caps that very solid trio and shows a degree of musical range.
The second half of the disc beginning with the anthem for the angry "Riot" is in my humble and oft misguided opinion outstanding. "Riot" is very solid and up-tempo with a good deal of energy. "Get Out Alive" seems more mediocre to me than it should because of its positioning between "Riot" and the biting, sharp "Let it Die". I think a majority of the listeners can put themselves in the scenario provided in "Let It Die" which makes it quite possibly the most solid song on the album. After a change of pace with "Over and Over", 3DG provides a possibly uplifting song with "Time of Dying" which was very strange given the title but worth much praise for it's construction.
Finally "Gone Forever" is a nice penultimate song which reminds me a lot of "Just Like You" from the debut. The title track "One-X" is a decent ending though middle of the pack in terms of overall musical quality. Each version depending on music retailer has a 13th track so I will not discuss these in detail.
All in all a very solid and commendable effort I will be enjoying for some time to come. While there are no "I must be running out of luck..." lines, the music and lyrics allow for a strong, cohesive collection,
8 of 10
Song Lyric of the Day
"I swear I never meant to let it die
I just don't care about you anymore
It's not fair when you say that I didn't try
I just don't care about you anymore"
Three Days Grace -- "Let It Die"
One-X is not thematically ground-breaking for the genre. Thus it must rely on musical ability to separate it from others of its kind. Right from the beginning, with the mediocre "It's All Over", it's clear that 3DG is still addressing to sense of isolation and relationship failures that permeated the self-titled. After the average opener, One-X picks up with "Pain", my new personal theme song, the lead single "The Animal I've Become" which should be an audience participation hit on their supporting tour. The melodic and slower tempo "Never Too Late" caps that very solid trio and shows a degree of musical range.
The second half of the disc beginning with the anthem for the angry "Riot" is in my humble and oft misguided opinion outstanding. "Riot" is very solid and up-tempo with a good deal of energy. "Get Out Alive" seems more mediocre to me than it should because of its positioning between "Riot" and the biting, sharp "Let it Die". I think a majority of the listeners can put themselves in the scenario provided in "Let It Die" which makes it quite possibly the most solid song on the album. After a change of pace with "Over and Over", 3DG provides a possibly uplifting song with "Time of Dying" which was very strange given the title but worth much praise for it's construction.
Finally "Gone Forever" is a nice penultimate song which reminds me a lot of "Just Like You" from the debut. The title track "One-X" is a decent ending though middle of the pack in terms of overall musical quality. Each version depending on music retailer has a 13th track so I will not discuss these in detail.
All in all a very solid and commendable effort I will be enjoying for some time to come. While there are no "I must be running out of luck..." lines, the music and lyrics allow for a strong, cohesive collection,
8 of 10
Song Lyric of the Day
"I swear I never meant to let it die
I just don't care about you anymore
It's not fair when you say that I didn't try
I just don't care about you anymore"
Three Days Grace -- "Let It Die"
posted by Aaron at 1:11 AM
1 Comments:
Yep, "Let It Die" seems fairly biting. Reading the lyrics for "Time of Dying", it seems a little messed up, but I'd be interested to hear it. We need a music exchange at some point - I believe there are a few tracks I promised you as well.
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