''Life Starts Now'' is the third studio album by the 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 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.
Based in ...
. The album was released on September 22, 2009. It 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 Philad ...
. It was the second time in a row that the band has worked with him, after the commercially successful ''
One-X
''One-X'' is the second studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was produced by Howard Benson and is the band's first album recorded as a four-piece band, as Barry Stock joined the group and took over lead guitar from lead singer ...
''. ''Life Starts Now'' expresses a lighter lyrical mood compared to the previous album. It is the first Three Days Grace album to be released by
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...
and the last to be released by
Jive Records, as Sony disbanded the label in 2011.
Background and production
After being on the road for five years with Three Days Grace, the bass guitarist, Brad Walst, said, "We all came home and got a hard dose of life," which the band then used to create a more "musically in-depth and personal album". He described ''Life Starts Now'' as a record about "confronting life and how fragile it can be". Speaking about the album, the guitarist,
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 Thr ...
, said, "This time around we really wanted to go with something different than what we've done in the past."
Pre-production began in January 2009 while the band began recording the music at
The Warehouse Studio
The Warehouse Studio is a multi-media recording facility and photography studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, owned by Bryan Adams.
Building
Originally built by the Oppenheimer Brothers in June 1886 as Vancouver's first wholesale g ...
in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
that March. The album was completed in August the same year.
The group unveiled the cover art for ''Life Starts Now'' on August 19, 2009. After finalizing all aspects of the album, they officially announced that the album would be released on September 22, 2009.
The group embarked on the "Life Starts Now Tour" in 2010 to support the album. They also supported
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta. It is composed of guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan Peake, bassist Mike Kroeger, and drummer Daniel Adair. It wen ...
on the "Dark Horse Tour" in 2010 and
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance ...
on the "Welcome to the Family Tour" in 2011.
Sales
The album debuted at number three on the
''Billboard'' 200, selling 79,000 copies in the US in its first week, thus becoming the band's highest-charting album in the US to date. The album also debuted on the ''Billboard'' Top Rock Albums chart at number two, along with "
Break
Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to:
Time off from duties
* Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties
* Break (work), time off during a shift/recess
** Coffee break, a short mid-morning res ...
" which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Rock Songs chart and "
The Good Life" at number 52 on the
Canadian Hot 100 and number one on ''Billboard'' Rock Songs chart.
With the exception of "Lost in You", all of the band's singles from the album topped the
''Billboard'' rock song charts. In July 2010, the album had sold 398,826 units in the US.
Reception
Upon its release, ''Life Starts Now'' received mixed reviews from music critics. The ''
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 databa ...
'' reviewer, James Christopher Monger, who gave the album three out of five stars, wrote, "Life Starts Now continues the theme of ''
One-X
''One-X'' is the second studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was produced by Howard Benson and is the band's first album recorded as a four-piece band, as Barry Stock joined the group and took over lead guitar from lead singer ...
'', Gontier's personal demons, but with a hint of sunlight." He complimented the album, writing that it "treats the well-worn metal themes of anger, isolation, heartache, and redemption with the kind of begrudging respect they deserve, pumping out a competent flurry of fist-bump anthems and world-weary, mid-tempo rockers". ''
Sputnikmusic'' gave the album a mixed review calling the album "rehash number two". A negative review came from the ''
About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
'' reviewer, Tim Grierson, who wrote, "The problem isn't that ''Life Starts Now'' doesn't have good songs — the problem is that there aren't enough of them and that even the strongest moments feel overly familiar. Frontman Adam Gontier continues to expose his tortured soul, but without consistently gripping tunes to back up his anguish, Three Days Grace seem stuck in their misery rather than transcending it."
Accolades
The album was nominated for "Best Rock Album" at the 2010 Juno awards. It won the "Favorite New Album" award at the 2010 Casby Awards. The album was officially certified Platinum in Canada and Gold in the US on March 1, 2011, and Platinum on February 12, 2018.
Track listing
Personnel
Three Days Grace
*
Adam Gontier – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
*
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-founde ...
– drums, keyboards, backing vocals
* Brad Walst – bass guitar, backing vocals
*
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 Thr ...
– lead guitar
Artwork
*
Danny Clinch
Danny Clinch (born 1964) is an American photographer and film director.
Biography
Born in Toms River, New Jersey, Clinch graduated from Toms River High School East in 1982. After attending Ocean County College, he attended the New England S ...
– photography
* Chris Feldman – art direction, design
* Jackie Murphy – art direction
* Adrian Knopik – illustration
Additional musicians
*
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 Philad ...
– keyboards,
programming
Production
* Howard Benson – producer
* Mike Cashin – assistant engineer
*
Chris Lord-Alge
Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic compression for molding mixes that play wel ...
–
mixing
*
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
T ...
–
mastering
* Paul DeCarli – digital editing
* Jon Nicholson – drum technician
* Hatsukazu "Hatch" Inagaki –
engineers
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...
* Mike Plotnikoff – engineers
* Andrew Schubert – engineers
* Brad Townsend – engineers
* Marc VanGool – guitar technician
Management
*Michael Tedesco –
A&R
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Authority control
2009 albums
Albums produced by Howard Benson
Jive Records albums
Three Days Grace albums
Zomba Group of Companies albums