3 Doors Down Make the Album Rock Fans Knew They Could

Today marks the release of 3 Doors Down's self-titled fourth album, already making waves with the radio hit "It's Not My Time". The follow-up to 2005's Seventeen Days is a return to form for the band that started out as a straight-arrow rock band and really never should have tried anything else.

The band's previous two albums, 2002's Away from the Sun and Seventeen Days were both worthy efforts, but weren't the balls-to-the-wall rock you'd expect from the band that ripped listeners a new one with "Kryptonite" back in 2001. The biggest hits from those two albums ("Here Without You", "Landing in London") fared best on the safer, ballad-heavy Adult Contemporary charts. Scoring a hit on any chart is nothing to sneeze at, but I always thought 3 Doors Down could do better. Thankfully, they prove me right on the new album, and damn is it good to hear some crunch back in their sound.

This album comes in with their guitars at 11 for the first three tracks, with "Train", the previously raved about "Citizen/Soldier" and "It's Not My Time" offering an incredible first impression not heard since The Better Life eight years ago. The remaining nine tracks put up a similar urgency and strength that wasn't really there on previous albums, only stopping one or two moments to let the acoustic guitars do their bit. "Let Me Be Myself" is a decidedly been-there-done-that track, while "Your Arms Feel Like Home" is about as country-twinged as the title would suggest. Aside from these blemishes, every other aspect of this album is what you would hope for. "It's the Only One You've Got" would make a hell of a single, with a near-perfect blend of subdued (but still rocking) verses and explosive shout-worthy chorus. Lastly, album closer "She Don't Want the World" is a different 3 Doors Down in that it doesn't ever reach that high point in the chorus or bridge a la "It's Not My Time" or "Kryptonite", but even though it stays pretty static, it's got an indescribable allure to it that demands you stick around for the whole album.

Anyone who heard The Better Life knew 3 Doors Down had to be just messing around on the two albums between that one and this one. This, of course, leads to the age-old question, "What the hell took so long?"

Final Score: 7/10
Highlight Reel: Citizen/Soldier, It's the Only One You've Got

==TJ==

The 3 Doors Down Single That Isn't...Really

It's been a long time since a song has been able to give me chills after repeated listens, but for the last few weeks I've had one song that has given me goosebumps after every single play. "Citizen Soldier" is an unofficial single released by 3 Doors Down after its successful use in a National Guard commercial/music video (said video is below). I usually scoff when bands release singles that are blatantly patriotic, since its usually just a big marketing ploy to score a hit on country rock stations. "Citizen Soldier" is way different in my mind. For one, there's nothing country about this track. This is the hardest song I've heard the band do since "Kryptonite". It's also much more subtle; there are no mentions of the war in the song or the video, it's more of a tribute to the individual, not the cause or the institution. And in that sense, 3 Doors Down REALLY succeeds.

The thing is, this song would simultaneously be a great and terrible single. It would be great for the band, since the press it would get would send the song skyrocketing up the charts. The problem is it would polarize too much that I almost think you'd get a reverse-Dixie Chicks situation. This time, the overly cynical anti-war folk would be blind to what the song REALLY says and radio stations in big liberal areas would try to limit its play. That's a real shame, since for the first time, I think we've written a song about soldiers that doesn't take a definite stand on any conflict. Kudos to 3 Doors Down for writing a brilliant track, a song 100 times better than "It's Not My Time", the single they currently have on the radio.



3 Doors Down - Citizen Soldier [iTunes]

3 Doors Down's self-titled album drops May 20th.

==TJ==