3 Doors Down
3 Doors Down

THE REVIEW

The 3 Doors Down are back, and they return with a self-titled album worthy of respect.

The alternative rock band from Mississippi led by the melancholic Brad Arnold returns to move us with an album that exudes artistic maturity and for the first time features a uniform composition in its tracks. Gone is the clear division that was present in previous albums between chart-topping hits and various filler tracks. This is a complete and heartfelt album after several years of silence.

References to Alter Bridge and Creed are present (listen to the excellent "Train" to believe it), as are decent explorations into the tribal, as in "Citizen/Soldier" and "She Don't Want The World". After a good appetizer, there is the chart-topping hit "It's Not My Time", which recalls the band's famous track "When I'm Gone". However, this time the melodic rock formula seems to have found its greatest expression in a piece that, in my opinion, is among the best in the career of the overseas band. It must be admitted that it doesn't quite fit with the rest of the LP but is absolutely indispensable for a financially fruitful and highly catchy album composition.

"It's The Only One You've Got" is a listenable and syrupy pop-rock ballad, likely to be the launch single in the old continent, much like "Here Without You" was in 2002, the only piece by 3 Doors Down known to most in our "musically cultured" beautiful country. There are also post-grunge callbacks like in "Give It To Me", whose intro seems to recall Lenny Kravitz's "Fly Away", and "Pages". Regarding the post-grunge inspiration, it's noteworthy that not coincidentally Gers Upchurch has been the band's drummer since 2005, after playing in "Puddle Of Mudd", which in turn, after his departure, abandoned the grunge sounds.

Overall, "3 Doors Down" is a clean and highly appreciable work. It could have used a bit more variety, but it is perhaps the first robust and meaningful work from the American quintet, undoubtedly a chart album, but that's perfectly fine. In short, the shyness of their early days seems to have vanished to give life to a mature and heartfelt work.