I was first introduced to 3 Doors Down in a comfy varsity residence room over a cup of coffee. A friend's room was just across the hallway from mine, and we used to gather there to share laughs, coffee — and good music.

Those were the days just before 'Kryptonite' on 2000's 'The Better Life' propelled the band into mainstream attention.

The crooning album 'Away From the Sun' followed and even though certified platinum four times over in the US alone, it lacked the gritty, solid blast of sound that made its predecessor so memorable.

2005's 'Seventeen Days' came straight in at the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart and went platinum in less than a month. Still not as gritty as 'The Better Life', it was nonetheless extremely experimental and emotional — and their most technically proficient work to date.

Which brings us to their latest, the self-titled '3 Doors Down'. The term "back on form" is often thrown around to try and convey that a band has regained previous illustrious heights after a period of mediocrity. But this can't be said of '3 Doors Down'. Rather, it's a return to the days of 'The Better Life' where a raw, emotional ride is what you get, without the excessive heartache that accompanied 'Seventeen Days'.

Everything about it is as comfortable and as welcome as you'd want it to be. An album for the original fans, it's like my varsity friend's room: comfy, relaxing and exceptionally familiar — in a good way.

Although not as technically brilliant as its immediate predecessor, one main improvement is that it's extremely listenable. Where previous albums could easily be divided into two halves of very good and very bad songs, almost all the songs on '3 Doors Down' are of the "good to extremely good" variety.

Shoot me for being silly, but the album does remind one a little of Bon Jovi on 'Keep The Faith' and 'These Days'. And I do mean this in a good way, as '3 Doors Down' has the same relevant grittiness of those two albums — without the nauseating ballads and crappy hairstyles, of course.

It even has a song entitled 'These Days', which is definitely my personal favourite with its rolling drum and guitar opening. It's the full volume blasting album starter 'Train' that sets the scene though, giving way to playful ode to the US National Guard, 'Citizen/Soldier', and radio rollercoaster 'It's Not My Time'.

'Runaway' completes the top five songs of the album, but these are merely the top picks of a record that can be left to play straight through from beginning to end. And so it should.