"One-X / Live at the Palace" CD by Three Days Grace

by Oliver Kube (15.09.2008) In North America, "One – x" is available for longer than two years - and pretty successful, too. After this much too long, barely understandable time of waiting, the second album of Canadian rockers Three Days Grace is finally released over here, too. Ok, the boys around Adam Gontier (whose voice reminds me of a young Gavin Rossdale) do not really reinvent the wheel. But the mixture of crispy, commercial Post Grunge and sometimes rough and tough Alternative Metal à la Disturbed do have a global appeal anway. Examples: the mighty opener "It’s All Over" (sounding like Seether at their best), or the nervous, aggressive "Riot". But the band delivers also in the department "softer sounds": the hefty groover "Pain" is interrupted now and then by perfectly fitting, smooth acoustic parts, and the power ballad "Gone forever", perfect for airplay and stadium performance, could undeniable make for a real smasher.