The band everybody loves to hate but still sells millions of records and sells out arenas all while rocking it pretty hard. It seems like to get cred you have to hate Nickelback but I wonder how many of the haters out there has actually heard one Nickelback album back to back. I wonder because I used to be one of them. Having only heard some of the hits, I decided that they sucked and that was it. Until I read a review of their 2008 album Dark Horse that is and became a bit interested. I mean Mutt friggin’ Lange produced the album. Can’t be all that bad when Lange’s involved. So I opened my mind, checked the album out and love it right from go. I never saw that one coming.
Since then I checked out some of their earlier albums and you know what? I dug them too. I still have issues with “How You Remind Me”, though. Since 2008 Nickelback has released three albums, none of them worse than good. I also went to see them live and they were awesome! A Pop band, you say? HA! Go see them live and come back to me about that, I’ll wait right here. Their last album Feed The Machine (2017) was a step up from the uneven No Fixed Address (2014) which means I have some high hopes for the new record. Hopefully they will keep the heavier route of the last record.
And yes, opening track and leading single “San Quentin” tells us that the heaviness hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s a metal-fused number that holds a ballsy, muscular riff and a hard-hitting rhythm complete with some distinct and in-your-face melodies. It’s a gut-punching number, more Metal than Hard Rock with sharp edges and a live-friendly outlook but with a chorus that hooks on right from go. Very good. “Skinny Little Missy” is a crunchy hard-rocker, very much a tune that sounds like classic Nickelback, you know the type that the haters love to hate. It’s a heavy song with raw edges, hooky riffing and a crowd-pleasing rhythm and another chorus that will stick in your mind no matter if you want to or not. I dig this.
Speaking of haters, they will have a field-day with the single “Those Days” as it is one of those cute pop-songs that usually are all over radio. It’s a smooth, very radio-friendly and slick tune but love it or hate it, I happen to think that Nickelback are damn good at this type of song. It’s a close cousin to, say, “Gotta Be Somebody”, full of acoustic guitars and a softer arrangement, the exact type of song that will have every Trve Heavy Metal Soldier In The Night vomit their guts out. It certainly won’t turn any Nickelback-hater around but it will most definitely become a hit, so guess who’ll have the last laugh. Me, I’m a sucker for this kind of tune so I say thumbs up.
The single “High Time” throws a mighty groove our way and blends Pop with Blues-Rock and Country Rock vibes as well as Nickelback’s classic way of modern radio-friendly Hard Rock. It’s a smooth number full of slick melodies and radio-friendly hooks, in other words another tune that will make haters see red. The chorus is damn glossy and catches on right of the bat. I like it but it might be just a tad too glossy for me. Slower in pace on a heavy beat “Vegas Bomb” throws punchiness and edge our way. The mastodon Blues influenced riff is a real powerhouse and the boogie-rock rhythms creates a stellar groove whereas the chorus is more a punch on the jaw more than hit-searching. Great stuff.
“Tidal Wave” is a slow paced, dark and gloomy semi-ballad on a heavy beat and a blackening atmosphere. There’s a saddening feel over the song and it brings a levitating flow and calming vocal-melodies. While the Nickelback melodies are recognizable it’s still something out of the box for this band, a bit of left turn – and it works like a charm. Good one. They continue on the mellow path with the laid-back and held-back ballad “Does Heaven Even Know You’re Missing?”. The song adds a good beat and it turns into a bona fide power ballad, 80’s style with poppy hooks while it also brings on a saddening ambience. It’s a bit syrupy but I really don’t mind some cheese when it comes to power ballads. It’s a good song but a couple of steps from being great.
The balladry continues with the slow-paced “Steel Still Rusts”, a groovy power ballad with an edgy riff and a darker atmosphere. It’s acoustic guitar driven with added electric ditto, smooth melodies and easily embraced hooks. The main melody catches on pretty much right away and the chorus is quite direct albeit not as distinct as these songs usually are. Good tune though. And just when you think that three ballads in a row might be a bit much, “Horizon” comes along and proves to be almost ballad # 4. At least it’s a mid-paced, held-back pop-tune. Clean guitars, keyboards, a big melody arrangement and a somewhat saddening ambience is what the verses treats us with only for the chorus to bring on big guitars and a massive pop-hook, slick and catchy as can be. A good song for sure.
After four calmers a rocker is much needed and “Standing In The Dark” provides us with one. While not exactly Heavy Metal, the tune goes for an upbeat yet at times somewhat held-back drive and a crunchy lively groove and sees the band flirting shamelessly with late 80’s/early 90’s Arena Rock. It’s an uplifting melodic Hard Rock stomper with an enormous refrain that screams hit for miles. Great stuff. Closing track “Just One More” blends guitars and big synths on a good, solid beat albeit a bit slower in tempo. It’s another pop-rock number that’s more smooth than actually rocking with slick vocal-melodies and an over-all glossy outlook. It’s a good tune but the album would have benefitted from a kicking-up-dust rocker as a closer.
As a whole, what Nickelback provides us with here are 11 songs where no song is worse than good but suffers from a to heavy dose of balladry and poppiness. More than half of the album is made out of Pop songs and ballads which in my book is overkill. I mean, this is supposed to be Rock album, right? I have no problem enjoying the songs if shuffled but back to back the album becomes too much of the same thing, at least the second half. Still they will most probably sell shitloads of records and the haters won’t be turned. I like the record but next time, a few more rockers please.
6/10
More Nickelback reviews:
Here And Now
No Fixed Address
Feed The Machine
Tracklist:
1. San Quentin
2. Skinny Little Missy
3. Those Days
4. High Time
5. Vegas Bomb
6. Tidal Wave
7. Does Heaven Even Know You’re Missing?
8. Steel Still Rusts
9. Horizon
10. Standing In The Dark
11. Just One More
CD & Festival reviews 