Three Days Grace

There's something a little creepy about growing up in a town so small, you can bear witness to indiscretions and trace the causes and effects on people's lives. On the self-titled Jive debut from Three Days Grace, the Toronto-based trio originally from Norwood, Ontario, Canada, has produced a potent hard-edged rock album, filled with melodic choruses and lyrics that explore the darker side of human behavior.

From the first single, "(I Hate) Everything About You," which deals with love-hate relationships; to confronting and fighting for your individuality in "Just Like You," Three Days Grace writes songs of inner struggle and the desire, in a way, for freedom.  Musically, there's a range from the eerie "Let You Down," with its near demented vocal to the progressive "Burn" with its intricate rhythms, to a more straight ahead rocker such as "Home."

"We saw a lot of crazy things growing up and a lot of our material comes from that," says drummer Neil Sanderson, the more garrulous of the three.

"I don't find it easy to write about happy shit," admits lead singer-guitarist Adam, somberly. "You don't need a release when you're happy."

Adam and Brad grew up in Norwood, a town of 1500 people, just one set of streetlights, but a city's worth of drama.  "You get a different perspective on people," explains Brad. "Everyone knows each other and you can't hide anything. Maybe that's why we can see through the façade that many people hide behind."

Neil hails from Peterborough, just 25 minutes away, a bigger city, which has spawned model/actress Estella Warren and rocker Sebastian Bach. When the band first formed a rock group (under a different name with a different repertoire) in high school, Adam isn't exaggerating when he says, "all 1500 people in Norwood were supporting the band."

The guys didn't strategize about how to get their faces on MTV or land a coveted record deal. They just loved playing live, anywhere.  "We opened for a movie once," Neil points out. "We used to cruise up to the Muskokas (Ontario cottage country) in my K car with a tent trailer on the back and play three hour sets at the local bars."