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Life Starts Now

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For the 1948 film, see Life Starts Now (film).

Life Starts Now
Studio album by
Three Days Grace
ReleasedSeptember 22, 2009 (2009-09-22)
RecordedMarch – August 2009
StudioThe Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, British Columbia
Genre
Length43:34
LabelJive/Zomba
ProducerHoward Benson
Three Days Grace chronology
One-X
(2006) 		Life Starts Now
(2009) 		Transit of Venus
(2012)
Singles from Life Starts Now
  1. "Break"
    Released: September 1, 2009
  2. "The Good Life"
    Released: February 9, 2010
  3. "World So Cold"
    Released: August 3, 2010
  4. "Lost in You"
    Released: February 1, 2011

Life Starts Now is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The album was released on September 22, 2009.[1] It was produced by Howard Benson. It was the second time in a row that the band has worked with him, after the commercially successful One-X.[2] Life Starts Now expresses a lighter lyrical mood compared to the previous album. It is the first Three Days Grace album to be released by Sony Music Entertainment and the last to be released by Jive Records, as Sony disbanded the label in 2011.

Background and production

After being on the road for five years with Three Days Grace, the bass guitarist, Brad Walst, said, "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 described Life Starts Now as a record about "confronting life and how fragile it can be".[3] Speaking about the album, the guitarist, Barry Stock, said, "This time around we really wanted to go with something different than what we've done in the past."[4]

The group began writing the album while on tour in 2007.[5] Pre-production began in January 2009 while the band began recording the music at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver that March.[6][7] The album was completed in August the same year.[8] The group unveiled the cover art for Life Starts Now on August 19, 2009.[9] The band hired an artist from Poland to create the artwork after they stumbled across their website. The cover features two masked men smashing a pile of televisions as winged creatures rise from the destruction, which the group felt "was a good reflection of the album's themes."[10] After finalizing all aspects of the album, they officially announced that the album would be released on September 22, 2009.[1] The album was made available for streaming on September 21.[11]

The band performed at iHeartRadio in December 2009 to promote the album's release.[12] The group embarked on the Life Starts Now Tour from November to December 2009, with support from Default and The Used.[13] They continued to tour throughout 2010 with Breaking Benjamin joining them in support of the album.[14] The band was later joined by Chevelle and Adelitas Way in March to April 2010.[15] They also supported Nickelback on the Dark Horse Tour in September 2010 and Avenged Sevenfold on the Welcome to the Family Tour in May 2011.[16]

Composition

According to Walst, the group cut back on layering as many guitars this time around. The band decided to step it up and made the album a bit more musical to create a "heavy sounding album."[17] Stock stated they wanted "more 'Zeppeliny' bigness in a different kind of way," focusing on tone and raw sound.[4] They recorded the album in a live room together rather than laying down tracks and layering things separately. Adam Gontier described Life Starts Now as "very raw and real."[18] Lyrically, the band wrote the album after looking at life differently from experiencing an "awful lot in our personal lives."[18] The band noted how the album was a lot more optimistic than their previous albums which Walst stated how they needed "to go through some dark times to actually get to that hope."[10]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 79,000 copies in the US in its first week, thus becoming the band's highest-charting album in the US to date.[19] The album also debuted on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart at number two. The album's lead single "Break" peaked at number 26 on the Canadian Hot 100,[20] as well as number one on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.[21] "The Good Life" at number 52 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number one on Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.[20][21] With the exception of "Lost in You", all of the band's singles from the album topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.[22] As of July 2010, the album had sold 398,826 units in the US.[23]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[24]
AllMusic[25]
Melodic[26]
Sputnikmusic[27]

Upon its release, Life Starts Now received mixed reviews from music critics. The AllMusic reviewer, James Christopher Monger, who gave the album three out of five stars, wrote, "Life Starts Now continues the theme of One-X, Gontier's personal demons, but with a hint of sunlight." He complimented the album, writing that it "treats the well-worn metal themes of anger, isolation, heartache, and redemption with the kind of begrudging respect they deserve, pumping out a competent flurry of fist-bump anthems and world-weary, mid-tempo rockers".[25] Sputnikmusic gave the album a mixed review calling the album "rehash number two."[27] A negative review came from the About.com reviewer, Tim Grierson, who wrote, "The problem isn't that Life Starts Now doesn't have good songs — the problem is that there aren't enough of them and that even the strongest moments feel overly familiar. Frontman Adam Gontier continues to expose his tortured soul, but without consistently gripping tunes to back up his anguish, Three Days Grace seem stuck in their misery rather than transcending it."[24] Ben Rayner of the Toronto Star also gave the album a negative review, stating it possesses "no sound of its own, just a shallow range between Linkin Park and Nickelback."[28] Kaj Roth gave a more positive review on the album stating, "This is without doubt their strongest album so far." He praised Gontier's melodies and Howard Benson's production on the album.[26]

Accolades

The album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2010 Juno Awards.[29] It won the Favorite New Album award at the 2010 CASBY Awards.[30] The album was officially certified Platinum in Canada[31] and Gold in the US on March 1, 2011, and Platinum on February 12, 2018.[32]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Three Days Grace

CD release[33]
No.TitleLength
1."Bitter Taste"4:01
2."Break"3:13
3."World So Cold"4:03
4."Lost in You"3:53
5."The Good Life"2:53
6."No More"3:45
7."Last to Know"3:27
8."Someone Who Cares"4:52
9."Bully"3:39
10."Without You"3:34
11."Goin' Down"3:06
12."Life Starts Now"3:08
Total length:43:34
Japanese release[34]
No.TitleLength
13."World So Cold" (piano version, also available on the Lost in You EP)4:20
Total length:47:54
Limited edition bonus CD[35]
No.TitleLength
1."I Hate Everything About You"3:51
2."Just Like You"3:08
3."Home"4:21
4."Animal I Have Become"3:51
5."Pain"3:23
6."Never Too Late"3:29
7."Riot"3:28
Total length:25:35

Personnel

Credits for Life Starts Now adpated from AllMusic.[36]

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[31] 2× Platinum 160,000‡
United States (RIAA)[32] Platinum 1,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release history and formats for Life Starts Now
Region Date Edition Format Label Ref.
Various September 22, 2009 Standard
Jive [54]
Japan November 4, 2009 Japanese bonus track CD Sony Music Japan [55]
Germany November 27, 2009 Standard Sony BMG [56]
Various September 23, 2016 LP Sony Legacy [57]

References

  1. ^ a b "Life Starts Now - or in this case it starts on September 22nd". threedaysgrace.com. Sony Music Entertainment. August 7, 2009. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
  2. ^ David Helwig (September 28, 2009). "Three Days Grace returns to Sault". Soo Today. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  3. ^ Bower, Elizabeth (September 18, 2009). "Three Days Grace Gets Reality Check". The Peterborough Examiner. Peterborough, Canada. Archived from the original on December 9, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Troy Rogers. "Starting Life Now with Three Days Grace Lead Guitarist Barry Stock". Deadbolt. Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  5. ^ Tom Spinelli (October 3, 2007). "Three Days Grace Starts New Album On The Road". Melodic. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  6. ^ Johan Wippsson (January 13, 2009). "Three Days Grace Update, Working With Howard Benson On New Album". Melodic. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  7. ^ Chad (August 10, 2009). "Three Days Grace Ready 'Life Starts Now'". Alternative Addiction. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  8. ^ Kaj Roth (August 6, 2009). "Three Days Grace To Release New Album On Sept 22". Melodic. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  9. ^ "Three Days Grace: Cover Art For 'Life Starts Now'". Ultimate Guitar. August 19, 2009. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Danielle Hatch (January 13, 2010). "Three Days Grace discern the important things in life". Journal Star. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  11. ^ Johan Wippsson (September 21, 2009). "Three Days Grace Listening Party; Stream The Whole Album". Melodic. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  12. ^ Pär Winberg (December 2, 2009). "Three Days Grace Perform Live At Stripped Music/iHeartRadio". Melodic. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  13. ^ "Three Days Grace, Papa Roach Unveil Tour Dates". 105-7 The Point. October 2, 2009. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  14. ^ "Three Days Grace To Tour With Breaking Benjamin In 2010". RTTNews. December 12, 2009. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  15. ^ Rachael Recker (March 25, 2010). "Three Days Grace opens new tour at DeltaPlex in Grand Rapids". MLive. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  16. ^ "Three Days Grace Announced as Special Guests on Nickelback's Dark Horse Tour". Three Days Grace. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
    - "Avenged Sevenfold Announce "Welcome to the Family" Spring Tour". Avenged Sevenfold. February 17, 2011. Archived from the original on July 11, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  17. ^ Aaron Willschick (October 27, 2009). "Interview with Three Days Grace bassist Brad Walst". V13.net. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Rick Florino (January 20, 2010). "Interview Three Days Grace". Artistdirect. Archived from the original on January 24, 2010. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  19. ^ Keith Caufield (September 30, 2009). "Pearl Jam Scores First No. 1 On Billboard 200 In 13 Years". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  20. ^ a b "Three Days Grace Chart History – Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  21. ^ a b "Three Days Grace Chart History – Hot Rock & Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  22. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History – Mainstream Rock Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  23. ^ "The Official Soundscan". Archived from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  24. ^ a b Grierson, Tim. "Three Days Grace - 'Life Starts Now' Review". About.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014.
  25. ^ a b "Life Starts Now - Three Days Grace". AllMusic. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  26. ^ a b Kaj Roth (September 19, 2009). "Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now". Melodic. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now (album review 11)". Sputnik Music. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  28. ^ Rayner, Ben (September 22, 2009). "Three Days Grace: Life Starts Now". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
  29. ^ "Nominees Announced". CTV News. April 1, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  30. ^ "Three Days Grace Wins Casby Award for Favorite New Album!". threedaysgrace.com. October 8, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  31. ^ a b "Canadian album certifications – Three Days Grace – Life Starts Now". Music Canada. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  32. ^ a b "American album certifications – Three Days Grace – Life Starts Now". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  33. ^ "Three Days Grace Reveal Tracklist for 'Life Starts Now'". TuneLab Music, LLC. Archived from the original on September 11, 2009.
  34. ^ "CD Japan - Life Starts Now". CD Japan. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  35. ^ "Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now (Limited Edition) CD 2 Mp3 Download". Soundike. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  36. ^ "Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  37. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums – Week Commencing 28th September 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  38. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  39. ^ "Canadian Alternative Albums - Top 50". Jam! Canoe. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  40. ^ "Canadian Metal Albums - Top 50". Jam! Canoe. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  41. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  42. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  43. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  44. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  45. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  46. ^ "Top Alternative Albums of 2009". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  47. ^ "Top Hard Rock Albums of 2009". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  48. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  49. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  50. ^ "Top Alternative Albums of 2010". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  51. ^ "Top Hard Rock Albums of 2010". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  52. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2010". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  53. ^ "Top Hard Rock Albums of 2011". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  54. ^ "Life Starts Now - Three Days Grace (CD - Jive #46256)". AllMusic. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  55. ^ "Life Starts Now - Three Days Grace". Oricon. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  56. ^ Ricarda Menn (November 30, 2009). "Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now (German Release)". Reflections of Darkness. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  57. ^ "Life Starts Now - Three Days Grace (LP - Sony Legacy #5063080)". AllMusic. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
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