“The title of this album really kind of hits it on the head, Time of My Life. It talks about a lot of things that went on in the past,” lead singer Brad Arnold said in a recent interview. “But it talks about a lot of more lighthearted things as well, and (there’s) a lot of fun songs on this record, too.”

The band had a long history to pull from for this effort. Most of them have known each other for more than 20 years, having grown up together in Mississippi and officially forming in 1995. Their debut album, 2000’s The Better Life, featured the song “Kryptonite” and sold six million copies.

In many ways the group (comprised of Arnold, lead guitarist Matt Roberts, bassist Todd Harrell, guitarist Chris Henderson and drummer Greg Upchurch) wanted to get back to that initial feeling from their early years.

“This being our fifth record, it is really similar to our first record in a lot of ways in that we really approached it with kind of new eyes. … with a good heart and hungry hearts and ready to do something new,” Arnold said of the album, released last month.

“We did things that we normally wouldn’t do in the past, and it shows,” said Harrell. “You know how every band in their career has that one record, like Rush has Moving Pictures, and Def Leppard has Hysteria? I think this is our record. I think this is it, because it’s by far, to me, the best record we’ve ever done.”

The album’s leadoff song, “When You’re Young,” became the band’s 10th top 10 single on the mainstream rock chart.

“I think this song strikes a chord with fans, because everybody can relate to how hard it is to be young, whether you’re presently young or whether you’re just looking back on how hard it really was,” said Arnold. “This song in a way is a mockery of how easy people think it is sometimes and how easy people talk about how it is to be young.”

At age 32, Arnold said he thinks of his band mates as brothers. Harrell, 39, agreed and said he feels that 3 Doors Down is finally coming into its own.

“I think the band right now as a whole is probably better than it’s been ever. I think we’re all a lot tighter,” Harrell said. “If you do something as long as we’ve done it, you can’t help but get better at it, you know?”

“As far as where we’re at in our lives, I think the band’s all great. Everybody’s in a good spot right now, and we’re just having fun. We’re ready to go out and have a lot of fun with the fans,” he added.

3 Doors Down are currently on a U.S. tour through October. They just released a new single, “Every Time You Go,” and the music video features footage from their European tour earlier this summer.