| Break | |
| Cover: | three_days_grace_break.png |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Three Days Grace |
| Album: | Life Starts Now |
| Released: | September 1, 2009 |
| Recorded: | 2009 |
| Length: | 3:13 |
| Label: | Jive |
| Producer: | Howard Benson |
| Prev Title: | Riot |
| Prev Year: | 2007 |
| Next Title: | The Good Life |
| Next Year: | 2010 |
"Break" is a song by Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. It was released as the lead single on September 1, 2009 from their third studio album, Life Starts Now.[1] The song peaked at number 26 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in February 2018.
The band released a teaser of the single on their website on August 27, 2009, before the song was sent for radio airplay the following week.[2] According to bass guitarist Brad Walst, "Break" is about "breaking away from bad influences," during an interview by the Peterborough Examiner.[3] Additionally, in an interview with TheDeadbolt.com, lead guitarist Barry Stock explained the meaning behind "Break":
"Break" peaked at number 26 on the Canadian Hot 100. The song also peaked at number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song topped the US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart for twelve weeks. The song also peaked at number one on the US Mainstream Rock chart for eleven weeks.[4] The song reached number four on the Alternative Airplay chart.[5] As of February 21, 2010, the single has sold 359,461 units.[6]
In 2010, the song earned two nominations at the MuchMusic Video Awards for Post Production of the Year and Rock Video of the Year.[7] The song also earned a CASBY Awards nomination for Best Single of the Year.[8] The song was nominated for Recording Engineer of the Year at the2011 Juno Awards.[9] Billboard ranked the song at number seven on their "Greatest of All Time Mainstream Rock Songs" list.[10] It was the number one most played song on the Active Rock format in 2010.[11]
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AOL Radio | United States | "Top Alternative Songs of 2009" | 2009 | 4 | [12] | |
| AOL Radio | United States | "Top Rock Songs of 2009" | 2009 | 3 | [13] | |
| New York Post | United States | "Top 209 Songs From 2009" | 2009 | 136 |
On September 11, Three Days Grace announced the music video for "Break" would debut on Yahoo! Music on September 14, 2009.[14] The music video, directed by P. R. Brown, begins with the band members entering separate rooms that match their clothes' colors (Adam wearing white, Neil wearing black, Brad wearing gray, and Barry wearing pink), and shows four balls, matching the aforementioned colors, in a pendulum-like state. The beginning of the track "Someone Who Cares" serves as both the intro and the outro for the music video version of the song. The band begins to perform their parts in these separate rooms as giant fans appear and begin to operate. As the song progresses, floating paint balls are pulled through the fans and thus travel in a circle that leaves them stained with the color of the band mate to their left (Adam with pink, Neil with white, Brad with black, and Barry with gray). The song ends with them exiting down a hall, the four paint balls following them.
Several of the effects used in the video include: phantom cams, green screens, polymer, and water-based paint.[15] Speaking about the music video, Brad Walst explained the concept of the video.
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[17] | 39 | |
|---|---|---|
| Chart (2010) | Position | |
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[18] | 4 |
| US Mainstream Rock Songs (Billboard) | 7 |
|---|
| Region | Date | Format | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | September 1, 2009 | Contemporary hit radio | Jive | |
| Various | Digital download | [19] | ||
| United States | September 8, 2009 | Alternative radio | [20] | |
| Mainstream rock | [21] | |||