Hello reader,
Welcome back or welcome to SWT if this is your first time here.
Arguably this is the biggest band I’ve reviewed but size doesn’t influence coverage here at SWT, what’s good is good. I liked the album enough to cover it and share it with you. Today, we’re going to delve into Three Days Grace. They’re a massively popular Canadian band with 19 #1 songs on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart as of July 2025. A band formed in Ontario in 1997 after the group had played together under a different name Groundswell while in high school. Over the years, they’ve been described as various genres from alternative rock to alternative metal, to hard rock, post-grunge alternative rock, and nu metal.
Remarkably every three years (with the lone exception occurring during the Pandemic) the band has released a new album starting with their self-titled debut Three Days Grace in 2003, One-X in 2006, Life Starts Now in 2009, Transit of Venus in 2012, Human in 2015, Outsider in 2018 and Explosions in 2022. Most of their angst and frustration within the bands vocals and lyrics were relatable to those going through hardships especially teenagers at the time. I guess I happened to be at the right age at the right time because that self-titled release and the singles getting local radio airplay in 2003 and 2004 while I was in high school, “I Hate Everything About You”, “Home”, and “Just Like You” served as my first exposure to Three Days Grace. What’s your earliest memories of Three Days Grace?
And now in 2025, comes the band’s eighth studio album, Alienation out via RCA Records on Friday, August 22nd for your listening pleasure. This is the band’s first album as a quintet and marks the return of original lead vocalist Adam Gontier who left the band in 2013 but recently rejoined in 2024. Matt Walst served as lead vocalist Gontier was doing solo work and also part of the Modern Rock supergroup Saint Asonia. The bands current lineup includes Adam Gontier (vocals, guitar), Matt Walst (vocals, guitar), Barry Stock (lead guitar), Brad Walst (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Neil Sanderson (drums, keyboards, backing vocals).
Gontier said, “‘Kill Me Fast’ is one of my favorite songs this band has ever written. It’s about ripping the band aid off. It’s a plea to someone who’s already halfway out the door, to just let you go. Don’t keep me hanging on while you figure your life out. It’s about the slow torture of not knowing where you stand. That moment when silence hurts more than the truth, and you’re begging for the cut just to stop the bleeding.” I think that’s a good perspective on the mindset of the rest of the album and what to expect.
Giving credit where it’s due. Alienation album credits:
- Adam Gontier – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Neil Sanderson – drums, backing vocals, keyboards, programming
- Brad Walst – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Barry Stock – lead guitar
- Matt Walst – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
- Lindsey Stirling – violin on “Never Ordinary”
- Howard Benson – production, vocal production
- Dan Lancaster – production
- Zakk Cervini – production, mixing
- Mike Plotnikoff – audio engineer
- Alex Kortz – audio engineer, digital editing
- Adam Haggerty – audio engineer
- Hatsukazu “Hatch” Inagaki – digital editing
- Paul DeCarli – digital editing
- Julian Gargiulo – assistant mixing
- Joe Rickard – assistant engineer
- Junichi Murakawa – assistant engineer
- Ted Jensen – mastering
And now for some hype for both your eyes and ears via Three Days Grace’s YouTube channel:
The album opener that would be perfect for entrances for athletes or an intensive workout. The lyric video for “Dominate”:
(All credits and rights to Three Days Grace)
The official video for the song that rips the band-aid off for good, “Kill Me Fast”:
(All credits and rights to Three Days Grace)
The closer, exploring recovery, relapsing and more within the song “Another Relapse”:
(All credits and rights to Three Days Grace)
Overall, Alienation is a solid album. Die-hard fans will love it. It seems to fit well among the bands discography. New fans will find aspects of the album that they enjoyed as well. Fans that went away for awhile, will be intrigued by Gontier’s return and the dual lead vocals idea but stay after listening and realizing that some of these songs are better than they expected.
There’s plenty to like starting with the consistently hard charging guitars, robust drum work and vocals that are often anthemic but also ballad-like at other times. There are plenty of elements on Alienation that are consistent in the hard rock and post-grunge genres that drive their fans wild. The opening song, “Dominate” kick starts the album bringing listeners together as one in an anthem fit for a wrestler’s entrance, an arena gathering or a group bobbing their heads to the collective beat. The dual vocal approach from Gontier and Walst worked fantastically on this album and seems to work for the band in general. Their voices not only pair well together but both have great tone on their own. Kudos for making that approach work! Hopefully having co-lead vocals is the case going forward with future releases as well.
One of the highlights on this album for me is the songwriting and song composition. The band pairs melodies excellently throughout the album. Some would call the lyrics too bleak but I think that the songwriting within this album examines some of the darkest times of a human whether it’s day to day struggles or cyclical ones that are tough to break free from, with respect and gives voice, strength and the lyrics also will provide some catharsis to its listeners. To go from alienated to having a common shared experience. Sometimes accomplishing all of that is easier said then done for songwriters but those in Three Days Grace do it so well, and this album is another example of their greatness in that regard. Kudos. Don’t pigeonhole them with lessor bands.
Alienation gets 4 out of 5 Scum Drops from me. It is a very good album and fits well into the 4 Scum Drops range relative to all new albums released in 2025. Probably in the lower to mid portion of that range if I had to be more specific. I think that Alienation is arguably the band’s best release in years. One that will bring long time fans, new fans and those in between a shared positive experience of listening to it. Take the time to listen to it. What do you think? I recommend adding it to your collection on the formats of your choosing.
I’ll always advocate that you take the time to listen to every album in its entirety. The listening process with Alienation will take you just over 40 minutes from start to finish. You’ll probably listen twice a in row though. Along the way, you’ll discover your own favorite songs without the influence or bias of others. After a few listens on my own, I found the songs emboldened below to be my favorite songs on this album.
The tracklist for Alienation [song length]
- Dominate [3:14]
- Apologies [3:06]
- Mayday [3:23]
- Kill Me Fast [3:17]
- In Waves [3:24]
- Alienation [2:55]
- Never Ordinary (ft. Lindsey Sterling) [3:48]
- Deathwish [3:12]
- Don’t Wanna Go Home Tonight [3:31]
- In Cold Blood [3:13]
- Power [3:37]
- Another Relapse [4:59]
Total runtime: 41:39
For tour info, merch and more visit their comprehensive site, check out their socials: Instagram, Facebook, and listen to more at their YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music page.
Thank you for reading and supporting good music.
Until next time,
Alex
Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com
