Three Days Grace

File:Three-Days-Grace the band 2218.jpg

The band during One-X

Three Days Grace is an Alternative Hard Rock/Post-Grunge group from Norwood, Ontario, Canada. Formed in 1992 as the band Groundswell, they consisted of Adam Gontier (vocals, rhythm guitar), Neil Sanderson (drums, backing vocals), Brad Walst (Bass, occasional backing vocals), Phil Crowe (Guitar) and Joe Grant (Guitar), all attending high school at the time. This incarnation would ultimately break up 1995. They later reformed under the name Three Days Grace in 1997 as the trio of Gontier, Sanderson and Walst. In 2003 after their debut tour they enlisted Barry Stock as lead guitarist, allowing Gontier to simply sing in concert.

They released the demo for "I Hate Everything About You" in 2003, scoring them a record deal with Jive records. They released their self-titled debut album that same year.

Members:

• Adam Gontier: Vocals, rhythm guitar
• Neil Sanderson: Drums, keyboard/piano, Backing vocals
• Brad Walst: Bass, backing vocals
• Barry Stock: Guitar

Discography:

• Three Days Grace - 2003
• One-X - 2006
• Life Starts Now - 2009

Gontier also preformed guest vocals in the Apocalyptica song "I Don't Care" and in the Canadian supergroup Big Dirty Band for Trailer Park Boys: The Movie along with Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush, Die Mannequin's Care Failure, Ian Thornley of the band Thornley, and The Tea Party's Jeff Burrows.

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Tropes associated with Three Days Grace:

• Abandoned Warehouse: The setting for the "Pain" music video.
• All Just a Dream: The "Animal I Have Become" video.
• Break Up Song: Not actually as common as you'd think; Adam has been Happily Married since before One-X came out. Most of the songs from the debut have little to do with anger in the context of a relationship. Though it's still up-in-the-air what in the heck "World So Cold" and "Last To Know" are about.
  • "Last To Know" is pretty clearly a Break Up Song about being left for another guy. "World So Cold" is debatable.
• Calling the Old Man Out: "Just Like You"
• Cover Version: Only "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac has actually come from an album (which was ultimately cut from Life Starts Now, becoming a bonus track). Live, they've been known to cover anything and everything, especially during the bridge of "Home," from Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot" to "Lose Yourself" by Eminem (then there's this). Gontier alone likes to do spontaneous acoustic covers of old rock and alternative songs, such as "Wicked Game" by Chris Issak, "The Drugs Don't Work" by The Verve, "Rooster" by Alice in Chains, "Black" by Pearl Jam, "Everything Falls Apart" by Dog's Eye View, "Another Lonely Day" by Ben Harper and "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty.
• Creator Breakdown: Adam's addiction to Oxycontin, which got him sent to rehab (resulting in "Pain," "Animal I Have Become", "Over And Over" and "Gone Forever").
  • Wouldn't be surprised if "Riot" was written there as well
• Dem Bones: One of Adam's mic stands, shaped like a skeletal hand gripping the mic, which he sometimes fixes into the shape of the horns for fun.
• Enemy Within
• Go Mad From the Revelation
• In Memoriam: Their Live at the Palace DVD/Blu-ray, dedicated to their deceased manager.
• Messy Hair/Shiny Midnight Black: The way Adam styled/dyed his hair around One-X.
• Metal Scream: Gontier gets one at the end of "Riot." Special mention goes to Home
• Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Sometimes as low as a 3 or 4, and at times a 7 (Heavier tracks like 'Pain' and 'Just Like You' are examples.)
• Nightmare Fuel: The "Animal I Have Become" video.
• Old Shame: Adam often comes off as sheepish regarding the less mature lyrics he wrote on the debut. He calls "I Hate Everything About You" "Really blunt".
• Perishing Alt Rock Voice: "Last To Know," bordering on Coldplay-like murmuring.
• Precision F-Strike: "Riot." "Wake Up."
  • There's also "Gone Forever" and "Overrated". Together, these four songs are the only ones in their entire discography to contain profanity.
• Police State: The "Just Like You" video.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: "I Hate Everything About You".
• Rage Against the Reflection: The "Animal I Have Become" video.
• The Rockumentary: "Live at the Palace" is a half-example; there's several extensive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage intermingled between the songs.
• Silly Love Songs: "Without You". But this is effectively balanced out by the more genuine-sounding "Last to Know".
• Signature Song: Probably I Hate Everything About You, with Animal I Have Become offering a challenge to the title (they even finish some shows with it).
  • "Never Too Late" could also be in the running considering it was a big pop hit
• Surprisingly Gentle Song: Lost In You, probably because it lacks a significantly sombre mood.
• Vocal Evolution: Adams's voice on the debut was simply scratchy, grungy over-screaming without much technique. With the recent albums he's invited far more melody and flexibility than in his younger days, ranging from a higher register on some songs to a lower bass on others.
• What Have I Become?: "Animal I Have Become"
• World Half Empty: "World so Cold"
• Yandere: Especially in the song "Over and Over"
  • Nightmare Fuel when you consider that this song could actually be talking about Adam's addiction to prescription drugs.