Outsider

I love rock and metal music, and Three Days Grace is one of my all-time favorite bands. When I was a younger, my music tastes changed and varied all the time, but it wasn’t until I started listening to Three Days Grace, specifically “Time of Dying”, that I began to listen to this genre of music. As time went on, my tastes gradually expanded as I listened to more and more artists, but Three Days Grace always remained one of my favorites, so I was very excited when I saw that they were releasing a new album on March 9. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but what I heard blew me away. Outsider is easily one of my favorite albums. The drums, guitars, and vocals are all extremely powerful, but so is the message. Each song has an absolutely amazing message, and instead of going through each song and saying “the vocals are good; the guitar riffs are good; etc.”, I want to explore the messages presented, as well as briefly comment on what I love musically about the song.

1. “Right Left Wrong”–When I first listened to this song on YouTube, I thought that it was ok. But after listening to Outsider I’ve really grown to like and appreciate this song. I think that it is a great intro song that really sets up the rest of the album. In my opinion, one of the coolest parts of the song is the last third. The entire song is great and it really contributes to the idea that for some people, no matter what they do in life, society somehow sees it as wrong. A lot of the other songs in Outsider really contribute to this idea as well, but it’s really interesting to see where it starts before it evolves.
2. “The Mountain”–This was the first song that I heard from Outsider and it immediately had me interested. Something that I really love about this song is the message. It seems that so many songs are just about sex and drugs in this day and age, so I find songs like “The Mountain” to be extremely refreshing. I feel like in our society, we can all get so overwhelmed with life that it can be difficult. Because of this, I love that the central message of “The Mountain” is to just keep going, keep pushing on. I love songs like this that have an inspirational message.
3. “I Am An Outsider”–First and foremost, I can really relate to this song. So many of my friends listen to rap music and I just don’t find the appeal. I find real guitars and real drums and just real instruments to be more interesting, and better sounding, than a repetitive, monotonous beat with a questionable message. Granted there are legitimately good rappers with positive messages, the genre just doesn’t appeal to me. Because of this, I can relate to this song. I’m different from a lot of people my age and I don’t really care. Something that I love about music is that some songs can really capture a mood or feeling, and “I Am An Outsider” does this perfectly.
4. “Infra-Red”–This song is definitely one of my favorites on the album. This is the first song where the motif of love really begins to develop. Quite frankly, the song is about two people who understand each other, even though the rest of the world doesn’t. That’s something that I really like about this song; the idea of just being yourself even if the world doesn’t understand. In society, we have set so many standards for ourselves and others that we find it odd not to follow them, we see the world in black and white. This song says no to that idea. But don’t just be yourself, find someone who understands and accepts you for who you are. And in all honesty, this an idea that I can wholeheartedly support.
5. “Nothing To Lose But You”–This song starts off rather quiet and soft, but it quickly ramps up and explodes with emotion, before slowing down again and repeating the process. The motif of love also continues on in this song. In this song, the message is really about just how important a loved one can be. Just from the title of the song you can see how important this idea is. And in all honesty, it’s true. When someone finally finds that person that they can love unconditionally and trust with all of their deepest secrets, it’s one of the most valuable relationship that anyone can have. Because of this, everything really does pale in comparison to this meaningful relationship.
6. “Me Against You”–In this song, the idea of being yourself and ignoring society’s mold for you really comes through strong. I would definitely say that this is the angriest song on the album, both in terms of message, the underlying beat, and the vocals. All of these things really work together wonderfully to create a very unique and interesting song. And concerning the message, it is the most outright hostile towards society and its standards. By challenging society, it reveals just how influential and pervasive society and its values can be in our lives. It encourages us to stand up for ourselves and live how we want to, not how society wants us to.
7. “Love Me Or Leave Me”–This is definitely one of my favorite, if not my favorite, song on the album. The song is definitely the quietest and softest song on the album so it contrasts very nicely with “Me Against You”. My favorite part of this song is definitely the refrain. I find it to be extremely powerful and emotional, even if it is rather simple. The song is softer, because at this point in the album, the motif of love is beginning to shift from a healthy and stable relationship to an unstable one that ends poorly. This song really sets up that transition, so it’s a bit more somber than a lot of the other songs and I love it.
8. “Strange Days”–“Strange Days” is definitely one of the most interesting songs on the album, and I think that it has by far the best beat. The song really revolves around the idea of the apocalypse, though it is rather nuanced. And in 2018, this hits shocklingly close to home. The past few years have been rather tense, due to natural disasters and other tragedies, and the thought of the apocalypse has never been more real, at least for this new generation. But instead of worrying about what might happen in the future, we should enjoy ourselves and make the best of life. Even without the bleak circumstances, this idea is still a good one, and I think that everyone should make the most out of life, because we never know when it will end.
9. “Villain I’m Not”–“Villain I’m Not” wraps up the love motif. In this song, a relationship is presented where one of the parties involved blames the other and the relationship deteriorates. But instead of being angry, the other person forgives out of love. Though sad, I find the idea to be rather poignant; not every relationship will go smoothly. Some relationships will end badly, and this can be difficult if only one of the parties feels love. It’s a beautiful song that touches on the darker side of love, and I can’t think of many songs that have accomplished this.
10. “Chasing The First Time”–This song deals with the problems of drug addiction, and frankly I’m not sure how I feel about it. I think that the song is trying to warn against drug addiction, because after the first time, after the first high, the person will try again and again to replicate that first experience. I believe that it’s a warning not to waste your life enslaved to drugs, but it is kind of ambiguous. I like to see it this way, because it fits with the idea of being yourself and living how you want to instead of how society wants you to. By avoiding drugs, you live your life and it isn’t driven by any controlling force, though this message is ultimately up to interpretation.
11. “The New Real”–“The New Real” is another song with an absolutely phenomenal refrain. This song is trying to say that everyone is so focused on making a name for themselves somehow that they don’t really care about anyone else. Everyone is so materialistic and focused on themselves that they forget about others. Everyone has their own dreams and ambitions, and that isn’t bad, but people end up trying to achieve them by ignoring others and focusing only on themselves. It’s rather interesting after listening to this song, because I’ve never really noticed how prevalent this really is in society. Society has conditioned us to focus so much on ourselves that we frequently forget about others.
12. “The Abyss”–The final song on the album is “The Abyss”, and it brings the album to a nice close. This song is more or less about how the world has changed to become more twisted and distorted, and in all honesty, by looking at the world and all of its problems, it has changed. And sometimes the only way to deal with this change is by retreating into our own little worlds, but when we come out again, the world has changed again. It’s a rather interesting take on life, though one I may not fully support. Much like with “Chasing The First Time”, the message in “The Abyss” isn’t very clear-cut, and since it’s ultimately up to interpretation, this is what I think the message is.

All in all, I find this album to be amazing. Every song brings something special and after listening to Outsider, I can see why it was named that: society is looked at and critiqued by someone who lives outside of society’s influence, an outsider. I would highly recommend this album.