Human (Three Days Grace album)

Human
Studio album by
Three Days Grace
ReleasedMarch 31, 2015 (2015-03-31)
Recorded2013–2014
StudioNoble Street Studios, Toronto, Ontario
Genre
Length39:31
Label
ProducerGavin Brown
Three Days Grace chronology
Transit of Venus
(2012) 		Human
(2015) 		Outsider
(2018)
Singles from Human
  1. "Painkiller"
    Released: April 1, 2014
  2. "I Am Machine"
    Released: September 30, 2014
  3. "Human Race"
    Released: March 23, 2015
  4. "Fallen Angel"
    Released: September 15, 2015[3]

Human is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. The album was released on March 31, 2015 through RCA Records. It is the first of three albums without original lead singer Adam Gontier, and the first with My Darkest Days lead singer and Brad Walst's younger brother Matt Walst.[4]

Background and recording

[edit]

Following Adam Gontier's exit from the group in January 2013, Matt Walst of My Darkest Days served as his replacement during the band's US tour with Shinedown.[5] The group later confirmed in March 2014, that Walst would officially be taking over as the band's new frontman.[6]

Recording for their fifth studio album began in late 2013 and recorded it at Noble Street Studios in Toronto with producer Gavin Brown, who produced the band's debut self-titled studio album.[7] According to drummer Neil Sanderson, the album features more raw and aggressive sounds than their previous records.[8] Bassist Brad Walst also added that they went back to their hard rock roots for this album and credited Brown for "getting them in the right mindset."[9][10] "Painkiller" was the first song they wrote for the album, as well as the first one they wrote with Matt.[9]

The group embarked on the Human Tour in North America from July to November 2015, in support of the album.[11][12] The band later toured across Europe and Russia from January to February 2016.[13][14]

Singles

[edit]

On April 1, 2014, the band released the album's lead single "Painkiller".[15] On April 8, 2014, the song was released to US rock radio stations.[16] The song reached number one on the US Mainstream Rock chart, which made it their eleventh number-one single.[17] The album's second single, "I Am Machine" was released on September 30, 2014.[18] The song topped the US Mainstream Rock chart.[19] On March 23, 2015, "Human Race" was released as the third single.[20] On September 15, 2015, "Fallen Angel" was released as the fourth single.[21]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Cryptic Rock[22]
Melodic[23]
Mind Equals Blown7/10[24]
MusicReviewRadar[25]
New Noise Magazine[26]
Revolver[27]
Toronto Sun2/5[1]
Ultimate Guitar Archive6.7/10[28]

Human received positive reviews from music critics. Johan Wippsson of Melodic stated, "Matt really delivers here and shows that his voice suits really well for this type of rock and believe that many of the band's fans agree with me. The rest of the album is almost the same class and overall is it very solid, actually a little better than expected."[23] Allison Stewart of Revolver stated that "little has changed" on the album compared to their previous record Transit of Venus outside of their use of synths.[27] Heather Allen at Mind Equals Blown stated "It's always worrisome when a singer gets replaced because the band that you've come to know and love could easily do a complete musical 180."[24] MusicReviewRadar stated "the departure of the iconic Adam Gontier could have forced the band's loss of identity and direction but Matt Walst managed to fill in Adam's spot without becoming a complete replica" and that "the album was a good surprise [...] well balanced between soft and good-old Three Days Grace-style tracks."[25] Darryl Sterdan of Toronto Sun gave a negative review of the album remarking that the group "resumed churning out the same morose, morbidly misanthropic modern-rock/post-grunge/alt-metal crud-blort as before."[1] Jeff Miers of The Buffalo News described the album as "a collection stuffed with the sort of generic alt-metal that makes radio programmers squirm with delight and makes the rest of us deeply suspicious."[2]

Commercial performance

[edit]

The album debuted at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 6,700 copies in its first week.[29] The album peaked at number 16 on the Billboard 200 and sold 18,000 copies first week.[30] As of January 8, 2016, the album has sold 121,000 copies in the US.[31]

Human earned a nomination for "Rock Album of the Year" at the 2015 Loudwire Music Awards, though ultimately lost to Dark Before Dawn by Breaking Benjamin.[32][33]

Track listing

[edit]

All tracks are written by Three Days Grace (Neil Sanderson, Barry Stock, Brad Walst and Matt Walst) and producer Gavin Brown, with additional writers as listed below

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Human Race" 4:09
2."Painkiller"
2:58
3."Fallen Angel"
3:06
4."Landmine" 3:25
5."Tell Me Why" 3:30
6."I Am Machine"
  • Andrews
3:21
7."So What"
2:57
8."Car Crash" 2:50
9."Nothing's Fair in Love and War" 3:44
10."One Too Many"
  • Casey Marshall
2:41
11."The End Is Not the Answer" 2:52
12."The Real You" 3:54
Total length:39:31
Deluxe second disc edition and Japanese bonus tracks[34][35]
No.TitleLength
13."Every Other Weekend"4:02
14."Human Race" (atmosphere version)3:59
15."Painkiller" (live)3:20
16."Let You Down" (live)4:10
Total length:54:45

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[36]

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[52] Gold 40,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

[edit]
Release history and formats for Human
Region Date Edition Format Label Ref.
Various March 31, 2015
  • Standard
  • deluxe
RCA [34][53]
Japan June 24, 2015 Japanese bonus tracks CD Sony Music Japan [35]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Darryl Sterdan (April 1, 2015). "Live Van Halen and Springsteen top this week's new music". Toronto Sun. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Fans don't mind Three Days Grace's lack of originality". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Rock Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015.
  4. ^ Amy Sciarretto (January 27, 2015). "Three Days Grace Releasing New Album on March 31". Artistdirect. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  5. ^ Chad Childers (January 9, 2013). "Matt Walst Discusses His New Role As Singer of Three Days Grace + Status of My Darkest Days". Loudwire. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  6. ^ Chad Childers (March 8, 2014). "Three Dyas Grace Confirm That Matt Walst Will Continue As Band's Frontman". Loudwire. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  7. ^ Neil Sanderson (May 22, 2014). "Neil Sanderson Details Three Days Grace's Recording Process For New Album". Loudwire. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  8. ^ Neil Sanderson (April 3, 2014). "Three Days Grace's Neil Sanderson Discusses Beginnings of Band's New Album". Loudwire. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Gary Graff (July 18, 2014). "Three Days Grace 'Almost Done' New Album, Predict 2015 Release". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  10. ^ Chad Childers (May 7, 2015). "Three Days Grace: 'We Definitely Wanted to Go Back to a Guitar-Heavy Record'". Loudwire. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  11. ^ Anya Zadrozny (July 7, 2015). "Three Days Grace Announce New Run of 2015 US Tour Dates". Loudwire. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  12. ^ "Three Days Grace Canadian Tour". threedaysgrace.com. June 1, 2015. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  13. ^ "European Tour Exclusive Ticket Pre-Sale". threedaysgrace.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  14. ^ Yulia Krasnikova (February 12, 2016). "Three Days Grace: 'Only in Russia we are rock stars'". Realnoe Vremya. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  15. ^ Graham Hartmann (March 31, 2014). "Three Days Grace Unveil New Song Painkiller". Loudwire. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  16. ^ "Rock Future Releases - Rock Music Radio Songs' Release Dates - AllAccess.com". All Access. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  17. ^ "Three Days Grace Add to Chart Record With New No. 1 Hit Painkiller". Loudwire. June 10, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  18. ^ "Three Days Grace Releases New Song I Am Machine". Blabbermouth.net. September 30, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  19. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History – Mainstream Rock Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  20. ^ "Three Days Grace: 'Human Race' Lyric Video". Blabbermouth.net. March 23, 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  21. ^ Childers, Chad (November 5, 2015). "Three Days Grace Showcase Live Show in 'Fallen Angel' Lyric Video". Loudwire. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  22. ^ "Three Days Grace - Human (Album Review) - CrypticRock Cryptic Rock". 13 April 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  23. ^ a b Johan Wippsson (August 31, 2015). "Three Days Grace - Human". Melodic. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Three Days Grace: Human". Mind Equals Blown. 24 April 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  25. ^ a b "2015 Under The Radar". Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  26. ^ "Album Review: Three Days Grace – "Human"". New Noise Magazine. 15 April 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  27. ^ a b "Review: Three Days Grace – Human". Revolver. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  28. ^ "Human Review". Ultimate Guitar Archive. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  29. ^ Cross, Alan (April 9, 2015). "Weekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: April 8, 2015". Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  30. ^ "Upcoming Album Releases". Hits Double Daily. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  31. ^ "Metallica, FFDP, AC/DC among 2015's biggest-selling rock, metal records | Metal Insider". 8 January 2016.
  32. ^ "5th Annual Loudwire Music Awards". Loudwire. December 1, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
  33. ^ Loudwire Staff (December 2015). "Breaking Benjamin Win Loudwire Music Awards Best Rock Album". Loudwire. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  34. ^ a b "Three Days Grace Adds Extra Music To Deluxe Version Of New Album 'Human'". Blabbermouth.net. February 25, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  35. ^ a b "Human - Three Days Grace". Oricon. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
  36. ^ Human (booklet). RCA. 2015.
  37. ^ Ryan, Gavin (April 4, 2015). "ARIA Albums: Spirit of the Anzacs Stays On Top". Noise11. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  38. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  39. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Three Days Grace – Human" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
  40. ^ "Charts.nz – Three Days Grace – Human". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
  41. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. May 3, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  42. ^ "Chart Log UK: New Entries Update". Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  43. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. May 3, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  44. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  45. ^ "Three Days Grace - Chart History - Top Album Sales". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  46. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  47. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  48. ^ "Three Days Grace Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  49. ^ "Top Alternative Albums of 2015". Billboard. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  50. ^ "Top Hard Rock Albums of 2015". Billboard. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  51. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2015". Billboard. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  52. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Three Days Grace – Human". Music Canada. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  53. ^ "Human [LP] - Three Days Grace (LP - RCA #88843098081)". AllMusic. Retrieved February 25, 2024.
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