The Better Life by 3 Doors Down

The Better Life, the debut album from 3 Doors Down, came out on February 8, 2000, and it's post-grunge with the sleeves rolled up: big, chugging guitars, sturdy mid-tempo grooves and choruses built to be bellowed from the cheap seats. It's also a curiosity in the band's catalog, the only one of their studio albums with Brad Arnold playing drums as well as singing lead. Matt Roberts and Chris Henderson handle the guitars and Todd Harrell holds down the bass, and when the band took the songs on the road, Richard Liles came in as a touring drummer from 2000 to 2002.

Arnold's voice is the anchor, a sturdy, earnest bellow that sounds like it's been working a long shift. "Kryptonite" is the one that broke the doors down, a riff that climbs and churns until the chorus blows the roof off, and it went to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Loser" is darker and heavier, "Be Like That" slows down into a wistful, open-hearted ballad, and "Duck and Run" leans into the grind. All four singles got music videos.

The album has sold more than seven million copies worldwide, and it earned a septuple platinum certification in America in February 2020. One rock site later named it the best post-grunge record of 2000. Of everybody who played on it, rhythm guitarist Chris Henderson is the only one still in the band. Next came Away from the Sun.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.