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It is February of the year 2000 when four friends from Escatawpa, Mississippi, release their first album. The group in question is called 3 Doors Down and the album is "The Better Life."
The original lineup of 3DD is led by the singer (and unusually also the drummer, in the studio) Brad Arnold, followed by the two guitarists, Matt Roberts and Chris Henderson, and the bassist, Todd Harrel.
The song that best reminds us of the 3 Doors Down of "The Better Life" is undoubtedly the debut single "Kryptonite": the song starts with a light guitar arpeggio and then evolves into an energetic chorus with distorted guitars. The lyrics of this track are comic-inspired as it talks about an unspecified Superman... a clever play on words with the pronunciation between "Kryptonite," (the kryptonite), and "crypto night," which means being hidden by the night.
If "Kryptonite" is a crescendo of melodic energy, other tracks like "Life On My Own" and "By my side" are overwhelming from the start, especially "By my side" certainly among the best songs of the album with a precise Arnold and the guitar duo in great shape: perhaps the most technical song of the album.
There are then tracks that do convince, yes, but only to a certain extent like the rhythmic, well-played, and well-sung "Smack" and "Better Life" but quite monotonous whereas "So I Need You" and "Not Enough" pleasantly mix more energetic sounds with more melodic ones, making them enjoyable but without leaving a mark.
"The better life" is a fairly heterogeneous album as demonstrated by "Be Like That," the "black sheep" of the LP because it is the only romantic ballad close to pop. This track achieved good success accompanying the movie "American Pie 2": an interesting song thanks to Arnold's almost whispered beautiful voice and the violin arrangement in the final part.
"Down Poison" represents the true weak point of the album because it is neither one thing nor another: not melodic, not technical, not energetic, and not even well sung by Arnold who redeems himself greatly in "Loser" and "Duck And Run."
In these two songs, the singer-drummer showcases a voice with a somewhat dark, sad, angry, desperate, and sometimes almost weeping tone, as in "Loser" characterized by a well-placed metal interlude in the middle of the song, and as in "Duck and Run" where gritty guitar accompaniments make the verses stronger than the chorus.
These are 3 Doors Down, a band that did not bring anything new to rock but well applied the teachings of the post-grunge era with heart and technique. In the future, the guys from Minnesota will tend to commercialize their sound without, however, losing their identity or becoming banal, unlike their Canadian cousins Nickelback.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Kryptonite (03:53)
Well, I took a walk around the world
To ease my troubled mind
I left my body lying somewhere
In the sands of time
Well, I watched the world float to
The dark side of the moon
I feel there's nothin' I can do
Yeah.
I watched the world float to
The dark side of the moon
After all, I knew it had to be somethin'
To do with you
I really don't mind what happens now and then
As long as you'll be my friend at the end
If I go crazy
Then will you still call me "Superman"
If I'm alive and well
Will you be there a-holdin' my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite
You called me strong you called me weak
But still your secrets I will keep
You took for granted all the times
I never let you down
You stumbled in and bumped your head
If not for me, then you'd be dead
I picked you up and put you
Back on solid ground
If I go crazy
Then will you still call me "Superman"
If I'm alive and well
Will you be there a-holdin' my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite
If I go crazy
Then will you still call me "Superman"
If I'm alive and well
Will you be there
Holdin' my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite
Yeah
If I go crazy,
Then will you still call me "Superman"
If I'm alive and well,
Will you be there a-holdin' my hand
I'll keep you by my side with
My superhuman might
Kryptonite
Whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa
02 Loser (04:24)
Breathe in right away, nothing seems
to fill this place
I need this every time, take your
lies get off my case
Some day I will find, a love that flows
Through me like this
This will fall away, this will fall away
You’re getting closer, to pushing me
Off of life’s little edge
Cause I’m a loser and sooner or later
You know I’ll be dead
You’re getting closer, you’re holding the
Rope and I'm taking the fall
Cause I’m a loser, I’m a loser, yeah
This is getting old, I can’t break these
Chains that I hold
My body’s growing cold, there’s nothin
Left of this mind or my soul
Addiction needs a pacifier, the buzz of
This poison is taking me higher
This will fall away, this will fall away
You’re getting closer, to pushing me
Off of life’s little edge
Cause I’m a loser and sooner or later
You know I’ll be dead
You’re getting closer, you’re holding
the rope and I’m taking the fall
Cause I’m a loser, I'm a loser!
You’re getting closer, to pushing me
Off of life’s little edge
Cause I’m a loser and sooner or later
You know I’ll be dead
You’re getting closer, you’re holding
the rope and I’m taking the fall
Cause I’m a loser!
You’re getting closer, to pushing me
Off of life’s little edge
Cause I’m a loser and sooner or later
You know I’ll be dead
You’re getting closer, you’re holding
the rope and I’m taking the fall
Cause I’m a loser!
03 Duck and Run (03:50)
To this world I am unimportant
Just because I have nothing to give
So you call this your free country
Tell me why it costs so much to live
Tell me why
This world can turn me down
But I won't turn away, oh no
I won't turn around
All my work and endless measures
Never seen to get me very far
Walk a mile just to move an inch now
Even though I'm trying so damn hard
I'm trying so hard
This world can turn me down
But I won't turn away
And I won't duck and run
Cause I'm not built that way
When everything is gone there is nothing left to fear
The world cannot bring me down
No cause I am already here, oh no
I am already here
Down on my knees
I am already here
Oh, no, I am already here
I must have told you a thousand times I am not running away
I won't duck and run
I won't duck and run
I won't duck and run
No I pass away
This world can turn me down
But I won't turn away
And I won't duck and run
Cause I'm not built that way
When everything it gone
There is nothing left to fear
This world cannot bring me down
No cause I am already here
This world can turn me down
But I won't turn away
And I won't duck and run
Cause I'm not built that way
When everything is gone
There is nothing left to fear
This world cannot bring me down
No cause I am already here
07 The Better Life (03:07)
I’m about to be on the floor again,
Surely you’re gonna find me here
I’m about to sleep until the end of time,
Drug I take gonna wake
My fear right now
I’m passing away on to the
Better life
I’m passing away on
To the better
I’m about to see just how far I can fly,
Surely your gonna break my fall
I’m about to run as fast as I can,
Head long into that wall
This time I’m passing away on to the
Better life
I’m passing away on
To the better
On to the better life
On to the better
I’m about to be on the floor again,
Surely you’re gonna find me here
I’m about to sleep until the
End of time, drug I take
gonna wake my
fear right now
I’m passing away on to the
Better life
I’m passing away on
To the better
I’m passing away on to the
Better life
I’m passing away on
To the better
10 Smack (02:29)
Rubber headed motor junky
Run me down and try to stomp me
Throw my life away and I'll be worthless just like you
Somewhere now a baby's crying
Down the road his mother's dying
Shot a line and blew her mind and now she's turnin' blue
Don't you throw your life away
Just wait until another day
Don't you throw your life away
Cause baby I can feel it
Don't you ever compromise it
Don't you even realize it
Don't you throw your life away cause baby I can feel it now
Trip and fall
I'm sure you all can tell me
What is on the wall
Behind the liquor store where you get smacked up all the time
Perfect little life you wasted, overdosed and that death you tasted
Scared you back into yourself, and now you walk the line
Don't you throw your life away
Just wait until another day
Don't you throw your life away
Cause baby I can feel it
Don't you ever compromise it
Don't you even realize it
Don't you throw your life away cause baby I can feel it now
Life away
Life away
Life away
11 So I Need You (03:47)
If you could step into my head
Tell me would you still know me
If you woke up in my bed
Tell me then would you hold me
Or would you simply let it lie
Leaving me to wonder why
I can't get you out of this head
I call mine
And I will say
Oh no I can't let you go my little girl
Because you're holding up my world
So I need you.
Your imitation of my walk
And the perfect way you talk
Are just a couple of the million things that I love about you
So I need you
So I need you
So I need you
So I need you
And if I jumped of the Brooklyn Bridge
Tell me would you still follow me
And if I made you mad today
Tell me would you love me tomorrow
Please. or would you say that you don't care
And then leave me standing here
Like the fool who is drowning in despair and screamin'
Oh no I can't let you go my little girl
Because you're holding up my world
So I need you.
Your imitation of my walk
And the perfect way you talk
Are just a couple of the million things that I love about you
So I need you
So I need you
So I need you
So I need you
I'm on my own
I'm on my own
I'm on my own
Oh no I can't let you go my little girl
Because your holding up my world,
so I need you.
Your imitation of my walk and the perfect way you talk
It's just a couple of the million things that I love about you.
So I need you
So I need you
So I need you
So I need you
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By Diccì
"I define them as a group that makes music just for fun, for taste, for pleasure."
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