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The old five-point scale has been retired in favor of just rating stuff 1-10, which allows me a much more nuanced final rating. Still don't take it that seriously. Most of these come from my own collection, so the grades skew rather high. Your results may vary if you send me stuff to review.

Each album is given three Essential tracks, my personal favorites, regardless of how weird and inconsequential they are. The Quintessential pick is the one I think best represents the album as a whole, so you can try one song instead of a whole album of songs. Non-Essential picks range from merely disappointing to outright unlistenable.

3 Doors Down

[#] 3 Doors Down (1997)

Reviewed March 16, 2025

Impressively major label for an indie band, however you take that.

These baby photo demo releases from soon-to-be-gigantic bands are always so fascinating. 3 Doors Down (dubbed "The Escatawpa Sessions" on the two-disc The Better Life reissue) shows the exact difference major label A&R made to a gargantuan hit like "Kryptonite"--that is to say, basically none. It's genuinely impressive how similar the demo "Kryptonite" is to the final, only differing slightly by tempo practically. Uncanny musicianship or a stroke of luck, up to you. The rest of the disc, maybe less so--"Loser" is missing the coda that gives it its satisfying finish, the rest weighed down by needless noodling. It's the kind of disc that won't convince heathens these guys had anything more for the table and might be a little too weird for casual fans.

3 Doors Down is half-Better Life tunes and half-outtakes fit for singles and later records. Of the two, the Better Life tunes are either so close, they effectively amount to a less muscular version of their finals ("Smack", "By My Side"), or needed serious editing to reach their full potential ("Down Poison", a very good tune made a slog by pointless instrumental excursions for half its runtime). The outtakes are more interesting to talk about. "Dead Love" has the wah and swagger that belie the group's southern roots. "Wasted Me"'s start-stop dynamics are a neat tactic used by too many bands before them. And "Sarah Yellin' 86"? A grimy, morbid piece of family drama with the best chorus left off the band's best album. For shame.

Essential:	Quintessential:	Non-Essential:	Rating:
"Kryptonite", "Wasted Me", "Sarah Yellin' 86"	"Life of My Own"	"Down Poison"

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