I’ll never forget sitting in the back of the bus on my way to school and hearing those first few bars of Kryptonite through my Sony headphones for the first time as I listened along to my local hard-rock radio station, “WWBN, Tuscola, Flint, Saginaw… Flint’s Rock Radio, Banana 101.5!”
Something about the guitar tone, the snare centric drum beat and the composition of the song made it feel like a comfortable, worn in pair of blue jeans. It was new, but it felt vintage, raw and unique in an era when the first battles of the Loudness Wars were bubbling to the surface (The loudness wars were an era where sound engineers were pushing the boundaries of just how loud they could produce songs without distorting- The louder the song, the more it would stand out against the competition). I was hooked, and after I snatched up “The Better Life,” which was 3 Doors Down’s debut offering, I instantly became a fan. That album, which was released 26 years ago today (8 February 2000), felt like an absolute masterpiece from start-to-finish, and it became the soundtrack to my Summer in 2000, and well into my Junior year of High School.
In fact, if memory serves me correctly, a burned copy of the album made its way into my buddy Patrick’s “Black Rose Metallic” (it was purple and you can’t convince me otherwise) Chevrolet Beretta Z26 and didn’t leave the CD player for a solid year or two.
…and I don’t blame him, because it felt like each song on that album would find a mood to accompany- In my moments of shy, introverted insecurity, “Loser” would stand out, while “So I Need You” would punctuate those adolescent feelings of infatuation and “Be Like That” would elicit the deep rooted desires to achieve my dream of becoming a rockstar, and how it felt to be on the outside looking in.
As I began my foray into attempting to add the title of “guitar player” to my resume, my folks purchased the guitar sheet-music book for me, and I remember sitting in the grass in my parent’s backyard as I learned to play through the various tracks, with “Loser” holding the distinction of being the first song I’d ever learn to play from start to finish.
The more I’d learn about the band as years would pass, one of the things I found the most impressive was that singer Brad Arnold had actually recorded the drums on the album, which I always felt was a true testament to his musicianship. (Daniel Adair and Greg Upchurch, both extremely talented drummers in their own right, would take over subsequent drumming duties)
I continued my fandom through their subsequent album releases, and I loved to see their close ties to Dale Earnhardt Jr. (my favorite NASCAR driver following the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr.), and various veteran oriented charities, but I was elated that, after battles with addiction, Brad had finally come out on top, embracing sobriety in 2016…
Sadly, as has been reported on the official 3 Doors Down social media accounts, Brad Arnold passed away yesterday at the age of 47 after a battle with cancer.
It’s been said that you die twice- Once when your soul physically leave this earth, and once when people no longer speak your name, but the thing about “making it” as a musician is that even once you leave this earth, you still leave behind a legacy for people to enjoy and celebrate, and if you did it right- You just might live forever.
From the desk of Dave Foster 