Transit of Venus (album)

Background and recording

"We went for a tighter, more articulated sound on this record", said Neil Sanderson, the drummer of the band. "The music we were writing was a little more intricate than in the past, and we've been experimenting with new instruments. We wanted to present these new ideas concisely without going over-the-top in ambience and overall production." On August 1, 2012, the band announced that they had finished the recording process of the album, saying in a Facebook post: "Going out on a limb here but I think this record....is actually....finished....wow...what a great journey....thanks to Don Gilmore." The album was made available to stream online on September 27, 2012.

"Chalk Outline" is the first single of the album and was released on August 14, 2012. It was released with a lyric video. Loudwire gave the song a 4/5 rating, saying that "Adam Gontier attacks the track with as much angst and aggression as ever." Eviqshed.com gave the single 5/5, praising the fact the band took a different direction musically. The lyric video to the song was published on YouTube on Three Days Grace's Vevo account on August 13 and the official music video was published on October 5.

Critical reception

Upon its release, the album was met with generally favorable reviews by mainstream music critics, citing the band's different musical direction. Loudwire gave the album a 4 out of 5, saying that "Three Days Grace has stepped out of their comfort zone, ditched the formula, and went all in, holding nothing back in the true spirit of rock." Another positive review came from Artistdirect, which said that "Three Days Grace have undeniably progressed here, and the results are nothing short of incredible." Johan Wippsson of Melodic wrote that in Transit of Venus "there's an aggressive undertone, which sets a perfect alternative touch on the album."

Gregory Heaney at AllMusic describes the album as "more refined than anything they've done before". Heaner adds that the "level of atmosphere" on the album allows Three Days Grace to stand out among other post-grunge bands. An article by music journalist Clayton Petras in Inspirer Magazine gave the album a positive review, mentioning that although the album "opens with some eerie notes and a crooning Adam Gontier that we're not quite used to", it goes on to mention that the album settles into "the gruff, rugged sound we've come to expect from the band".

Chart performance

The album debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, selling 48,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week, two positions behind the band's previous album Life Starts Now, but the same position as One-X. Transit of Venus also featured at No. 1 on U.S. Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums, No. 3 on both the U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums and U.S. Billboard Top Alternative Albums, and at No. 4 on both U.S. Billboard Top Digital Albums and on the Canadian Albums Chart. On Loudwire, the song "Chalk Outline" won the website's Rock Song of the Year award for 2012. The song topped the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks charts debuting at No. 1 and remaining in this position for 13 consecutive weeks, before dropping to No. 3 on its seventeenth week on the chart. The song also reached No. 1 on the Active Rock Radio chart, and remained in this position for eleven weeks. This makes "Chalk Outline" the ninth Three Days Grace song to top Active Rock Radio. "Chalk Outline" also peaked at No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles, No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Rock Songs, No. 15 on the U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs Chart, and No. 65 on the Canadian Hot 100. The album has sold 258,000 copies in the U.S. as of March 2015.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Three Days Grace, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits via Allmusic: