''Explosions'' is the seventh studio album by Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Norwood, Ontario in 1992 originally as "Groundswell" and played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1995 and regrouping in 1997. ...

. It was released on May 6, 2022 through

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

. The album was produced by

Howard Benson Howard Benson is an American music producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was nominated for the Producer of the Year Grammy Award in 2007 and 2008. Early life and education Benson was born and raised in a middle-class family in greater Philadel ...

and by members of the band. It is the third album to feature Matt Walst as lead vocalist.

Background and recording

The band announced their seventh studio album, ''Explosions'', after the release of " So Called Life". They also announced tour dates for the spring that will take place in April and May 2022. In February 2022, the band officially revealed the track list and the cover art for the album. The group began writing the album in February 2020. According to bassist Brad Walst, the album is about, "That feeling inside, like you're gonna explode." He explained the process of recording the album, "We didn’t see each other for the longest time. We recorded nine or ten songs separately, in different studios, and by ourselves, which we’ve never done before." According to Walst, the album has the heaviest songs they've ever written and reminded him of their debut album, ''

''. Drummer

Neil Sanderson Neil Christopher Sanderson (born December 17, 1978) is the drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. He cites his influences as John Bonham, Danny Carey, and Stewart Copeland. He is also the co-founder ...

talked about what inspired the record with

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

, "There is a common thread of theme going through it — the notion of just feeling like you have to self-center yourself in today's world, but then at the same time, you have to hear the opinions of everyone."

Singles

" So Called Life" is the first single released from the album. The song peaked at number one on the ''

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Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

chart for four consecutive weeks marking the band's 16th number one on the chart. "Neurotic" was released on February 17, 2022, as a promotional single. The second official single "

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

" was released on April 11, 2022. The song was dedicated to the people of

Mayfield, Kentucky Mayfield is a home rule–class city and the county seat of Graves County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 10,017 as of the 2020 United States Census. History 19th century Mayfield is in the center of the Jackson Purchase, an eig ...

after an EF4 tornado hit the city in December 2021. The song peaked at number 1 both on active and mainstream rock charts making it the bands 17th number 1 on the charts. The third single, "I Am the Weapon" was released on September 27, 2022.

Critical reception

''Explosions'' has been received with positive reviews. ''Rock N' Load'' gave the album a 9/10 rating complimenting Matt Walst's vocals on songs such as "Lifetime" and "A Scar is Born". Timothy Monger of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

remarked, "the album feels like a continuation of the gritty, aggressive rock that has been the group's hallmark since the beginning." To date, the album has sold 44,000 equivalent album units in the US.

Track listing

All lyrics written by

and

Ted Bruner TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

, all music written by Three Days Grace and Ted Bruner, except when noted.

Personnel

Credits retrieved from album's

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

. Three Days Grace * Matt Walst – lead vocals, rhythm guitar,

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, lyricist,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Barry Stock Barry Stock (born April 24, 1974) is the lead guitarist of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. Biography Stock joined Three Days Grace in 2003, shortly after the band's self-titled debut studio album was released. Stock's addition in Thre ...

– lead guitar,

, lyricist,

* Brad Walst – bass guitar,

, lyricist,

– drums, backing vocals, piano,

programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

Additional musicians *

Lukas Rossi Lukas Rossi (born December 21, 1976) is a Canadian rock singer and musician. He was the winner of the CBS Television reality series '' Rock Star: Supernova'' – a televised audition contest to become lead singer of the hard rock supergroup ''Ro ...

– guest vocals ,

, lyricist *

Eicca Toppinen Eino Matti "Eicca" Toppinen (born 5 August 1975) is a Finnish cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four str ...

– rhythm cello *

Paavo Lötjönen Paavo Lötjönen (born 29 July 1968) is a cello player for Finnish band Apocalyptica. Paavo comes from a family where both of his parents were professional musicians. At the age of 6, he took a cello and decided that would be the instrument he ...

– rhythm/bass cello *

Perttu Kivilaakso Perttu Päivö Kullervo Kivilaakso is a cello player for Finnish band Apocalyptica. Like fellow band members Eicca Toppinen and Paavo Lötjönen, he attended Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He plays a German 19th century cello; he started play ...

– lead cello *

Mikko Sirén Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso, and jazz drummer Mikko Sirén. Originally a classical-s ...

– drums, percussion *

Lenny Castro Lenny or Lennie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Lenny (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lennie (surname), a list of people * Lenny (singer) (born 1993), Czech songwriter Arts and entertainment Music * ''L ...

– percussion *

Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as ''Game for a L ...

– steel guitar * Jet Sanderson – additional vocals Additional personnel *

–

, organ *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

– mastering (

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

) *

Dan Lancaster Dan Lancaster is a producer, mixer, songwriter and artist from the UK. He is best known for his mixing and production work in contemporary rock music, and has worked with prominent global acts such as Blink-182, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Bring M ...

–

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

–

, lyricist,

* Mike Plotnikoff –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

* Hatch Inagaki – assistant engineer * Rhys May – assistant engineer * Paul DeCarli -

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

* Darren Magierowski – additional production / engineer * Jill Zimmermann – additional production / engineer * Jay Wud – programming

Charts

References

{{Authority control Three Days Grace albums 2022 albums Albums produced by Howard Benson Hard rock albums