Away from the Sun

Background and production

The Away from the Sun recording sessions took place during the summer of 2002 with producer and engineer Rick Parashar at London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington. Alex Lifeson, guitarist for the Canadian rock band Rush, performed live with 3 Doors Down in Biloxi, Mississippi during the premiere party for Away from the Sun. The album has sold eight million copies worldwide, including over four million in the US alone.

A two-disc Limited Edition version of the album was released in 2002 with a bonus DVD that included live video footage of the band, a behind-the-scenes "Making of" video about the album, 5.1 audio recordings of the songs "Dangerous Game" and "When I'm Gone", and the music videos "Kryptonite," "Loser," "Duck and Run," and "Be Like That" from the band's 2000 debut album The Better Life.

In September 2023, vocalist Brad Arnold said about Away from the Sun:I think it will always be my favorite record of ours that we made. There were just a lot of emotions I had that were ready to come out.

He also added that: There are more of my adult feelings and emotions in Away from the Sun than there was on The Better Life. I was only twenty-three when we wrote [the former album], but I had already seen and done a lot. Whereas with The Better Life, I wrote those songs when I was a kid; I was literally a kid, I was sixteen when I wrote “Kryptonite.”

Away from the Sun was our first record we wrote as a band… ‘a professional band.’ The first record, I didn’t really have a place that I could put my finger on where I wrote all those songs together.

DualDisc version

Away from the Sun was included among a group of 15 DualDisc releases that were test marketed in two cities: Boston, Massachusetts and Seattle, Washington. The test market DualDisc version of the album is rare. In 2005, the DualDisc version was reissued in a more widely distributed version. The original test market version differs from this common version in both packaging elements and in the design of the back of the inlay card.

The DualDisc has the standard CD album on one side and a DVD-Audio/DVD-Video on the second side. The DVD-Audio portion contains the entire album in advanced resolution 5.1 PCM surround sound and 2.0 PCM stereo. The PCM audio was recorded at 96 kHz and 24bit for both audio tracks, but the 5.1 audio track is at 13,824 kbit/s and the 2.0 audio track is at 4,608 kbit/s. Special features for the DVD-Audio include the band's biography, a photo gallery, and lyrics for all the tracks except "This Time". The DVD-Video portion contains the entire album in 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound and 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo. The DVD side also features the music video for the single "The Road I'm On" directed by The Malloys.

2023 Deluxe Edition

Away from the Sun: Deluxe Edition, a remastered version of the album with ten bonus tracks, was released on August 11, 2023. The extra songs include early studio recordings of "Dangerous Game," "Dead Love," and "Wasted Me," a live early recording of "When I'm Gone," a demo version of "Here Without You," a cover of "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd (from the U.S. "The Road I'm On" single), "Living a Lie" (from the Australian and European versions of the "When I'm Gone" single), the previously released bonus tracks "This Time" and "Pop Song," a re-recorded version of the band's 1997 demo track "Man in My Mind" titled "Something in My Mind," and the exclusive song "Long Day."

Track listing

All songs written by 3 Doors Down except "Dangerous Game" and "Sarah Yellin'" by Arnold, Roberts and Harrell, and "That Smell" by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd. : live recording appears on Another 700 Miles EP (2003) : acoustic recording appears on Acoustic EP (2005) : appears on A Six Pack of Hits compilation (2008) : remixed remaster appears on The Greatest Hits compilation (2012) : acoustic recording appears on Back Porch Jam (2019)

• Allen Collins
• Ronnie Van Zant}}

Music videos

1. "When I'm Gone" (two versions)
2. "The Road I'm On"
3. "Here Without You"
4. "Away from the Sun"
5. "Pop Song"

Personnel

3 Doors Down

• Brad Arnold – lead vocals
• Matt Roberts – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Chris Henderson – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Todd Harrell – bass guitar

Additional musicians

• Josh Freese – drums
• David Campbell – strings
• Rick Hopkins – Hammond B3
• Matthew Burgess – percussion

Production

• Zach Blackstone – assistant
• David Campbell – string arrangements, orchestral arrangement, string conductor, concertmaster
• Sandy Brummels – creative director
• Steve Churchyard – engineer
• Joel Derouin – concertmaster
• Ted Jensen – mastering
• David Hathaway – butterfly image (courtesy of NASA/NSSTC)
• Suzie Katayama – orchestra manager
• Dean Maher – engineer, digital editing, mixing assistant
• George Marino – mastering
• Frank Ockenfels – photography
• Geoff Ott – engineer, digital editing, overdub engineer
• Rick Parashar – producer, engineer, digital editing
• Bill Richards – product manager
• Paul Silveira – mixing assistant
• Honchol Sin – assistant engineer, assistant
• Gordon Sran – assistant, overdub assistant
• Randy Staub – mixing
• Tom Sweeney – assistant engineer, assistant
• Latif Tayour – assistant engineer, assistant, overdub assistant
• Karen Walker – art direction, design

Limited Edition DVD

• Jeff Panzer – director ("Live")
• L2 Digital – production company ("Live")
• Lennon Golden – producer ("Live")
• Enid Zentelis – director and producer ("The Making of Away from the Sun")
• EZ Entertainment – production company ("The Making of Away from the Sun")
• Tom Derr – product manager
• Tom Mackay – A&R
• Kevin Flynn, Brian Holzknecht – graphics, motion menus
• Charlie Holzknecht – author, encoding at L2 Digital (Burbank, California)

Reception

As with their debut album, critical reception of Away from the Sun remained generally mixed. Praise came from its earnesty and raw aggression, while its lyrical themes were disparaged for being too morbid, depressing, or otherwise "self-pitying". Bob Waliszewski of the website PluggedIn wrote that "Unlike the band’s last disc, this one views hard times with less melancholy and more ambition to affect change. Away From the Sun offers 3DD fans a ray of hope, yet gets burned by a few disappointing turns".

Johnny Lofton of AllMusic gave album three out of five stars, saying: "the band doesn't yet have the hooks to remain consistently interesting for an entire album. Besides the unstoppable melody of the title track, and 'Ticket to Heaven,' which shows some real songwriting depth in comparison to the band's debut, many of Away from the Suns 11 tracks sound too similar. It's an accomplished, often rocking, and sometimes genuinely emotional set, but there just isn't enough variety to sustain it."

Independent music website Music Immortal wrote in a retrospective 2009 review: "Something tells me this album came from a very low, depressed place. A lot of the songs on the album speak of loneliness or emptiness, and its definitely one of those albums you would turn on when you want to be reminded that others feel the same way sometimes."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

References

1. (September 20, 2002). "Going for Adds".
2. (March 14, 2003). "Going for Adds".
3. (July 25, 2003). "Going for Adds".
4. (January 9, 2004). "Going for Adds".
5. [http://www.3doorsdown.com/bio.aspx] {{webarchive. link. (September 13, 2008)
6. (2009-12-31). "Music Albums, Top 200 Albums & Music Album Charts". Billboard.com.
7. "Away From The Sun". Discogs.
8. (September 15, 2023). "INTERVIEW – BRAD ARNOLD OF 3 DOORS DOWN TALKS AWAY FROM THE SUN + MORE".
9. "3 Doors Down Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Away From The Sun With a Deluxe Digital Release---Available Now".
10. (22 April 2003). "3 Doors Down hit no.1 on Billboard Top 40 With 'When I'm Gone'". Business Wire.
11. [https://www.allmusic.com/album/away-from-the-sun-mw0000226281 allmusic review]
12. "Entertainment Weekly review".
13. [http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/3-doors-down-away-from-the-sun musicOMH review]
14. "Rolling Stone review".
15. "Away From the Sun".
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18. "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002".
19. "Top 100 Metal Albums of 2002".
20. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2003".
21. "Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2003". [[International Federation of the Phonographic Industry]].
22. "ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2004". Australian Recording Industry Association.
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24. "Årslista Album – År 2004". Sverigetopplistan.
25. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2004".
26. (2009). "Decade End Charts – Billboard 200 Albums".
27. "Guld og platin i 2004". [[IFPI Denmark]].