Away from the Sun

Away from the Sun is the second studio album by American rock band 3 Doors Down. It was released by Universal Music Group on November 12, 2002. The four singles released for the album were as follows: "When I'm Gone", "The Road I'm On", "Here Without You", and "Away from the Sun". The song "Sarah Yellin'" was originally recorded as "Sarah Yellin' 86" on 3 Doors Down's self-titled demo in 1997. 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. Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson performed live with the band during their premiere party in Biloxi, Mississippi for Away from the Sun. The album has sold eight million copies worldwide, including over four million in the US alone. Away from the Sun: Deluxe Edition, a remastered version with bonus tracks, was released on August 11, 2023.

DualDisc version
This album was included among a group of 15 DualDisc releases that were test marketed in two cities: Boston and Seattle. 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 the listed tracks only (not for the hidden track "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 song "The Road I'm On" directed by The Malloys.

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

Music videos

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

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
 * 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

Reception
As with their previous album, critical reception 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 Sun's 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."