The Better Life

Performer: 3 Doors Down
Engineer: Paul Ebersold; Matt Martone
Producer: Paul Ebersold
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: 3 Doors Down: Brad Arnold (vocals, drums); Matt Roberts, Chris Henderson (guitar); Todd Harrell (bass). Additional personnel: Kevin Paige (keyboards). Recorded at Ardent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee. "Kryptonite" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The success story of 3 Doors Down starts typically enough. An aggressive and unrelenting phone campaign to radio stations for their breakaway single "Kryptonite" snowballed into a showcase at New York's legendary CBGB's and a deal with Universal Records. The Escatawpa, Missouri quartet offers a sound that is grounded in '90s alternative rock but doesn't ignore the contributions of hard-rock music's foundations from the '60s and '70s. "Loser" finds 3 Doors Down using Alice In Chains-influenced minor-key vocal harmonies and acoustic-then-electric dynamics. In "Duck and Run," vocalist/lyricist Brad Arnold urges fans to remain positive despite life's trials. The delicate balance of human relations is explored in "Not Enough." In "Be Like That," Arnold sings of a daydreamer's envy, sounding like a heavier Matchbox 20. Though the band began as a power trio, with Arnold on drums and vocals, 3 Doors Down added a second guitarist and a drummer to fatten its sound for THE BETTER LIFE.

Entertainment Weekly (6/2/00, pp.78-9) - "...Shows the boys have assiduously studied the Metallica/Pearl Jam/Creed oeuvres. At its swaggering best, LIFE crackles with energy and crowd-pleasing choruses..." - Rating: B- Q (12/00, p.136) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A bolt-together Stone Temple Alice in Pearl Jam's Soundgarden hybrid....this is rock for people who wear woolen muscle vests and worry about hair products..."

With the assistance of its contemporaries Creed and Days Of The New, 3 Doors Down helped keep the grunge flag flying in the mid-1990s in the wake of the demise of genre founders like Nirvana and Soundgarden. Combining the mammoth, sludgy riffs of the aforementioned bands with a dose of pop melody and an eye on the top 40 charts, the band first gained public attention with its debut release THE BETTER LIFE.

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