Three years ago, small-town Mississippi rock guys 3 Doors Down transcended the Creed-wanna-be tag with the release of their multi-platinum debut album, The Better Life (Universal). On their second disc, they hire Nickelback producer Rick Parashar to keep the hits coming while they do some tinkering with the neo-grunge template.

Frontman Brad Arnold follows in the footsteps of many a grunge singer before him on the album’s first single, "When I’m Gone," unleashing a volcanic gripe about the unexpected difficulties of stardom. His spirits don’t rise much higher on the rest of the disc, but the band’s melodies do get brighter — witness the gently chiming guitars on "Away from the Sun" and the up-tempo exuberance of "Going Down in Flames." Arnold gets mushy on "Here Without You," a string-driven ballad about missing his honey from the road and the album’s most obvious piece of radio fodder. And on the unlisted track at the end, he gets downright inspirational over an elegant bed of layered guitars and vocal harmonies. It wouldn’t hurt 3 Doors Down to challenge themselves a little more, but they haven’t lost their knack for writing catchy, sincere rock songs.