Away from the sun

After a large-scale tour in support of the successful debut album The Better Life , sales of which reached 6 million copies, 3 Doors Down was difficult to focus on the second disc ^{[1] [2]} . The musicians composed songs for a future album even during the tour The Better Life Tour . Drummer A Perfect Circle Josh Freese and David Campbell took part in the work on the disc together with the group - Conductor of a string orchestra , who contributed to the creation of the composition "Away from the Sun" ^[3] . The album was produced by Rick Parashar , who collaborated with Nickelback , Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains ^{[2] [4] [5] [6]} . In May, in an interview with Billboard magazine , vocalist Brad Arnold said that the material on the new album will be different from what it was on the previous one, but the group will stick to its fundamentals in this direction ^[7] . On the eve of the release of the album, the team organized performances in front of the soldiers, visiting various naval bases such as Rota (Navy) in Spain, the US Navy Aviation Station in Sicily , the naval station at Naples airport ^[8] . Away from the Sun was recorded in Seattle for 2 months, the album went on sale in November 2002 ^{[8] [9]} .

Officially, 3 Doors Down announced the release of the first single (the tentative date was set for the end of September) in addition to the video clip and already announced the upcoming tour in late autumn 2002 ^[7] . The first single was the song "When I'm Gone" which provoked an enthusiastic response from the audience, in front of which the band performed this composition during the last concert tour ^[3] . Also the singles were published compositions "The Road I'm On" , “ Here Without You ”, which reached number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 ^[10] and “Away from the Sun” charts . Away from the Sun was released in formats such as CD , compact cassette , DualDisc and SACD ^[11] . Included with the album was also attached a free DVD with video material, clearly showing 3 Doors Down in the process of working on the album ^[3] . The release spent 49 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts and, according to the sales results, was certified by the American Recording Industry Association as four times platinum ^{[12] [13]} . Album sales amounted to 3 million copies ^{[12] [14]} .

In support of the album, the group conducted a tour and, in addition, appeared in such TV shows as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , The Late Late Show and Mad TV ^[15] .

Allmusic website editor Johnny Loftus, who rated the album out of 3 stars out of 5, noted that Away from the Sun looks more sophisticated than The Better Life , but the 3 Doors Down arsenal still has nothing catchy to keep them interesting. album, with the exception of the title track and "Ticket to Heaven", demonstrating more meaningful songwriting compared to the debut album of the group. “Many of the 11 songs on the disc sound too monotonous. But, if you look from the positive side, 3 Doors Down and producer Rick Parashar didn't overdo it with sound effects, as often happens with the release of the second album. ” Loftus compared the composition "When I'm Gone" with the work of Kenny Wayne Sheppard and described the blues-rock number as powerful ^[2] .

A critic of Rolling Stone magazine , who gave a mixed record of the record, called Away from the Sun qualitative and rhythmic, but he thought that this album probably would not be enough for fans of the 2000s group. The author of the review mentioned that there are quite a lot of long, “nauseous” metal compositions, and from the entire disc he singled out the compositions “Away from the Sun” and “When I'm Gone”, in which, in his opinion, there is a good combination of melodramatic and "spiral" guitars ^[16] .

The author of the British musicOMH website, Jamil Ahmad, praised Brad Arnold's vocals and in some songs Away from the Sun found similarities with the work of Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins . He also noted that the album, produced by Rick Pashar, marked the return of 3 Doors Down after a multi-platinum success and a long tour. "The result of this was a very personal work, dealing with topics such as homesickness, loneliness , and the fateful moment of becoming a rock star." Ahmad’s enthusiasm was inspired by the tracks “Running Out of the Days”, “Ticket to Heaven” and “The Road I'm On”, but the critic gave a less positive assessment to the compositions “Sarah Yellin '” and “Going Down in Flames”. The album is worth listening to ^[4] .

The reviewer of the Belarusian Musical newspaper stated that on this album the band played an increasingly heavy post-grunge , gradually approaching something like the Nickelback and added that already with “When I'm Gone” 3 Doors Down found their fellow Canadian rockers - “ Never Again ”. “The band has released a serious album, which shows that the guys have seriously worked, but unfortunately, it did not produce the success that was expected of him” ^[5] .

Observer of the music publication Melodic.net who praised the album and highlighted such compositions as “Running Out of the Days”, “The Road I'm On”, “Away from the Sun”, “When I'm Gone” and “Dangerous Game” (with a killer guitar riff ), expressed the opinion that musically Away from the Sun is the best work of 3 Doors Down to this day, but with it the team will find it harder to achieve the same success as with The Better Life ^[17] .

Places in the charts

• Away from the Sun to Yandex. Music
• Away From the Sun (eng.) . 3 Doors Down Official Site. The appeal date is September 18, 2015.
• Away from the Sun at Last.fm
• Away From the Sun on Discogs
• Away from the Sun interview . YouTube . The appeal date is September 18, 2015.