It is always a challenge to replace an established band member as, despite the best intentions of many, the comparisons to your predecessor are inevitable. Outsider is the second album by Three Days Grace to feature Matt Walst on lead vocals, the follow up to original member Adam Gontier. As with many bands, there are large numbers of fans who are unwilling to even give change a chance and so it speaks volumes that the first album to feature Walst on vocals spawned four US top ten singles. Will Outsider have similar success? Given the past record of this band you would certainly think so.
As soon as the riff to opening track Right Left Wrong kicks in the (overused) saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” springs to mind. Punchy, less-is-more style riffs and choruses just begging for radio play are the bread and butter of this band and there have been no efforts made to diversify. That said, when they bring their best, there are few who can challenge Three Days Grace for writing infectious and memorable rock songs. The Mountain and Villain I’m Not prove that nothing has changed on that front. At track number two, the album peaks early with The Mountain (because it’s a mountain, geddit…) as there is very little that follows that can match its energy or lyrical message of determination and persistence against the odds. Infra-Red could be a highlight if not for a title that just sounds silly. There must be better ways to describe the heat and sexual tension between two people than the electromagnetic wave that is used in TV remotes… My favourite lyric comes towards the end of the album on the introduction to The New Real: ‘Crazy the things that can turn a blind eye, out on the street all the people walk by. Nobody cares who gets pushed aside as long as it’s not gonna fuck with their own lives’. Quite a poignant and appropriate statement for the times we live in.
The title track, I Am An Outsider, sends the message that you should be proud of who you are and not to change just to find ‘a way to fit in a little more’ with the ‘in-crowd’. Such a message can be very empowering for fans who, particularly young people still in school, may feel different or targeted because of their taste in music or dress style. This is an album review, not a commentary on the social standing of rock music fans, but many people, myself included, have often latched onto songs like this at some point in their lives. Mainly songs better than this though, as the main riff is just bland and the chorus isn’t as anthemic as it thinks it is. A good idea yes, but poorly executed both musically and lyrically.
One of the strongest vocal performances on the album comes from Me Against You. Walst flits from whispers to the what sounds like the close to the limits of his range; that point where you can feel the effort behind the note and it is just breaking up, giving a rough and aggressive edge to the vocal part. This combines perfectly with the musical back-drop that never quite builds up to the explosion of sound you expect, making it one of the most interesting songs on the album. This is of course relative, we’re not talking prog-metal levels of complexity here, just subtle changes that help it to stand just that bit taller than the rest of the album.
Three Days Grace have ultimately played it very safe and stuck to their tried and tested formula. Other than subtle experimentation with guitar tone and electronic sounds there is nothing to differentiate the songs from any other in their back catalogue. They will undoubtedly get a lot of radio time with the singles but, other than two or three songs, the album is rather forgettable. To end on a positive note though, I see no reason for any fans to complain about the performance of Matt Walst. His style perfectly suits Three Days Grace and you would hope that now, on his second album, he can be judged for his own performance and not against that of his predecessor. My only hope is that on his third outing he pushes himself a little more to see what animal he can become.
Highlights: The Mountain, Me Against You and The New Real.
Outsider is released on March 9th 2018 via Music For Nations and can be pre-ordered here.
You can find Three Days Grace on Facebook, Twitter and on their website.
