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July 22, 2003 - Three Days Grace and Three Days Grace

Two weeks after my last release a new band joins my library when Three Days Grace released their debut album "Three Days Grace" on July 22, 2003. But who is Three Days Grace? They are a 3-piece post-grunge/rock band from Norwood, Ontario consisting of frontman Adam Gontier (lead vocals, guitars) bassist Brad Walst and drummer Neil Sanderson. Three Days Grace range from hard rock to more made-for-radio rock and this debut was quite successful, spawning four singles. Let's see what Three Days Grace are all about! The albuk begins with "Burn" and it starts with a long crackling that's a little dull, then they slam into the main riff led by some loud and solid guitars by Gontier. Walst is playing some cool bass in the verse while Gontier sings his first verse and his voice isn't heavy but he sounds pretty decent overtop. Everything sounds very smooth and made-for-radio and this is pretty good opener in giving you the perfect idea of what Three Days Grace are...
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July 7, 2003 - The Darkness and I Believe In A Thing Called Love

Six days after my last release a new band joins my library when The Darkness released their debut album "Permission To Land" on July 7, 2003. But who are The Darkness? They are a four-piece glam rock band from Lowestoft, Suffolk, England consisting of drummer Ed Graham, bassist Frankie Poullain, guitarist Dan Hawkins and his brother Justin Hawkins (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards). I'm not a big Darkness fan by any means, but I do have the most succesful single off this album, titled "I Believe In A Thing Called Love". It's driven by a fairly simple but pretty rockin' main guitar riff that's easy to get into and Hawkins sure has a one of a kind voice and he hits high notes with no trouble at all it seems. The chorus is pretty undeniably catchy I think and he's definitely a great singer. The real highlight is the guitar solos though: one in the usual slot between the second and and third verse, and another fantastic one to close out the song! All i...
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July 1, 2003 - Hot Damn!

It's a double release day! Two years since "Last Night In Town", Every Time I Die released their second album "Hot Damn!" on July 1, 2003. Aaron Ratajczak has left the band so ETID are on to their third bassist already with Stephen Micciche taking over bass duties. They're still playing the same style of metalcore though and the longest song on this album is just 3:11 as they fire through ten songs in a little over 27 minutes! Let's see what their latest has to offer!  The album begins with "Romeo A Go-Go" and it alternates nicely between a pretty speedy verse, and a slower breakdown of a chorus. Andy Williams and Jordan Buckley both play some pretty cool guitar and Keith Buckley does some high screams in the verse and switches to some high, almost pop-y singing in the chorus. It's an interesting combo but it's pretty catchy for something so heavy! I thought this was a solid way to kick things off. Up next is "Off Broadway" an...
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July 1, 2003 - Frail Words Collapse

Two weeks after my last release and two years since "Beneath The Encasing Of Ashes", As I Lay Dying released their second album "Frail Words Collapse" on July 1, 2003. Bassist Noah Chase has left the band and he is not replaced as these guys briefly become a three-piece with guitarist Evan White playing the bass as well. As I Lay Dying are still playing the same super heavy style of metalcore, but this is their first album on a major label (Metal Blade Records) so the production quality has gone up. Let's see what their latest has to offer! The album kicks off with it's lead single "94 Hours" and it's surprising that any of these songs were "singles" considering how heavy and non-radio-friendly these guys are. They start with a speedy verse with some cool guitars and some nice heavy bass by White, some nice speedy drums by Jordan Mancino and some pretty brutal-sounding vocals by Tim Lambesis. They break things down for a slower chorus...
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June 17, 2003 - Finger Eleven and One Thing

Twelve days after my last release a new band joins my library when Finger Eleven released their third album "Finger Eleven" on June 17, 2003. But who is Finger Eleven? They are a five-piece alternative rock band from Burlington, Ontario consisting of lead singer Scott Anderson, guitarist/vocalist James Black, guitarist Rick Jackett, bassist Sean Anderson and drummer Rich Beddoe. I'm not a big Finger Eleven fan, but I do have one song off this album, their breakthrough, mega-popular single "One Thing". It's driven by a super catchy acoustic guitar riff that is hard not to tap your toe along to and a pretty smooth verse by Anderson. There's some louder acoustics in the chorus as Anderson sings a repetitive but also pretty catchy chorus. The whole song is extremely repetitive, but ur's one if those ones that is just so damn catchy that you don't mind. It's a little long for sure, but still a worthy addition. 
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June 5, 2003 - St. Anger

Two days after my last release and a long four and a half years since "Garage, Inc.", Metallica released their ninth album (their last album doesn't count as an official studio album, but it's the eighth for me, making this the ninth) "St. Anger" on June 5, 2003. This is the only album by Metallica to not have an official bassist as Jason Newsted left the band before the recordings started. All the bass on this album is done by longtime producer Bob Rock. Part of the reason for the long gap between albums was James Hetfield actually checked himself into rehab for alcoholism for nearly a year. Along with all these other changes comes a stark shift in style for Metallica as there is a much more raw production sound, metallic drums by Lars Ulrich, and amazingly no guitar solos. Not one solo on the whole album! What does Kirk Hammett do?! Let's see how all these changes affect the legends in Metallica! The album kicks off with one of it's four singles ...
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June 3, 2003 - Sam Roberts and We Were Born In A Flame

A week after my last release a new artist joins my library when Sam Roberts released his debut album "We Were Born In A Flame" on June 3, 2003. But who is Sam Roberts? He is a singer/guitarist from Montreal, Quebec and he does all the instruments on this album other than drums, which are by George Donoso. Sam Roberts plays an almost folk-style of rock with lots of acoustic guitars and catchy riffs. Let's see what Sam Roberts is all about! The album kicks off with "Hard Road" and it's driven by a fairly simple but undeniably smooth and catchy main acoustic guitar riff. The rhythm section nicely falls in behind and Roberts sings a smooth verse to match in his smooth, folk-rock style. He adds another guitar riff to the mix in the chorus to spice things up a little more and everything is really smooth even though it's not really jumping out at you. Roberts plays a solid little guitar solo before the final verse and chorus and this seems like a pretty good in...
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