Hiring producer Howard Benson, best known for helming heavier acts, for 2011’s Time of My Life is a suggestion that 3 Doors Down realized their eponymous 2008 album was a little anonymous. To be sure, Benson does pump up the guitars but there’s no fighting the encroaching middle age of 3 Doors Down and, with it, a certain slowing of the band’s pace and mellowing of its outlook. Time of My Life doesn’t dwell on pain and alienation the way previous albums did; there’s heartbreak and loss, the lyrics often referencing the splintering of a long-term relationship, but Brad Arnold and company seem settled, comfortable where they are and where they’re going. Without a churning undertow of angst, 3 Doors Down wind up sounding deliberately anthemic and the louder guitars provide neither sound nor fury: they’re mere coloring. Unfortunately, the lack of powerful hooks, either in the melodies or riffs, means that all that coloring is on a grayscale, keeping Time of My Life a muted black-and-white exercise in half-hearted soul-searching.
3 Doors Down
Time of My Life
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AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Track Listing
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 Doors Down | 03:23 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
2 | 3 Doors Down | 04:16 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
3 | 3 Doors Down | 03:46 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
4 | 3 Doors Down | 03:27 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
5 | 3 Doors Down | 02:59 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
6 | 3 Doors Down | 03:42 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
7 | 3 Doors Down | 03:48 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
8 | 3 Doors Down | 03:42 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
9 | 3 Doors Down | 03:08 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
10 | 3 Doors Down | 03:16 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
11 | 3 Doors Down | 03:07 | SpotifyAmazon | ||||
12 | 3 Doors Down | 02:58 | SpotifyAmazon |