3 Doors Down builds on success

The 1999 CD The Better Life enabled 3 Doors Down to make one of the most emphatic arrivals of any rock band in recent years.

Powered by the omnipresent hit single "Kryptonite," that CD sold an incredible 6 million copies and thrust the band from the small town of Escatawpa, Miss., right into the vortex of the national rock scene.

But while singer Brad Arnold isn"t about to predict that kind of blockbuster success for the newly released follow-up CD, Away From The Sun, he thinks it arrives at a time when music trends are actually more favorable than when The Better Life was burning up the charts.

"I"m glad to see music getting back to some melody," Arnold said. "Well, we"ll say four years ago, if you wanted to hear any kind of heavy guitar, it was going to have to be followed by a rap vocal Ö Also, I"m happy that music is getting away from almost an angstful, vengeful vibe. It was like every rock song had to be angry and kind of mad at your daddy kind of thing. I"m glad that people are starting to gravitate more toward songs that they can just identify with. I think people are realizing that the rap rock thing was just kind of a fad and they just want something they can identify with, with some guitars and, God forbid, a melody in there."

As Arnold noted, 3 Doors Down debuted at a time when radio was not playing many hard rock songs built around melody. At that time, Creed was essentially the only other new band with a similar musical approach to be enjoying substantial success.

Today, the modern rock charts are littered with new bands (Nickelback, Saliva, Puddle Of Mudd and Creed) that, like 3 Doors Down, focus on incorporating hooks and vocal melodies with heavy guitars and beats.

Even with favorable trends, it will be a lot to ask for Away From The Sun to approach the sales of the first CD. And Arnold has already accepted the reality that the new CD - which has gone gold so far - could sell upwards of 2 million copies and still be labeled a major disappointment.

"You just kind of have to realize that fact and realize that you can"t really measure your success by record sales," Arnold said. "I"ll always tend to measure our success by how many people come up to me at shows and tell me that this song or that song has helped them through a time or changed them in some way or helped them in some way. I would just much rather hear that than have a 6 million album plaque on my wall."

3 Doors Down will be playing at the Murat Theater on Saturday, Feb. 1. For ticket information, call 239-5151.