Ann 2
Alain
JennYNickelback - Dark Horse Album Review
December 21st 2008 06:17
Genre: Hard rock, alternative rock, post-grunge
Length: 43:38
Label: Roadrunner
Three years after their multi-platinum album All The Right Reasons, Canadian band Nickelback are back on the mainstream rock scene with their sixth album, Dark Horse. An eleven-track record, the album peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200, and has already sold more than one million copies less than one month after its release.
Dark Horse starts with its second single called Something In Your Mouth. The opening guitar riff is reminiscent of Nirvana but the lyrics are just mainstream/bubblegum crap. Here are the actual opening lines: “Got to meet the hottie with the million dollar body / They say it's over budget but you'd pay her just to touch her, come on.” In that sense, Nickelback reminds me of bands like Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, Fall Out Boy who are basically the new boybands out there. The only difference is that Nickelback is catered towards an older, but still casual, crowd.
The second track, Burn It To The Ground, has the same problem as the first. There's a nice guitar riff, but the lyrics... meh...
The first single of the album, Gotta Be Somebody, is probably the best song out of the three already mentioned. It's a medium-tempo song, and this is where Nickelback truly shines – love songs that can be used in the background of any chick flick. They seem to have mastered that art. Gotta Be Somebody is just another example. I'd Come For You follows in the same vein, another love song for the ladies.
Next Go Round brings the album back to the high-tempo initiated by Something In Your Mouth. It's a song about sex that's slightly better than Something In Your Mouth, and also sounds a bit more hard rock/metal than the other songs.
Just To Get High is another high-tempo track. A song about someone addicted to drugs, it has better lyrics than Next Go Round but isn't as good melody-wise.
On Never Gonna Be Alone, Chad Kroeger seems to force his voice too much. It's a slow song, so the almost-screaming voice doesn't really fit here. The track following it, Shakin' Hands, is just as average.
On S.E.X., we go back to high-tempo again. This song was tailor-made for radio airplay. I don't really quite know how to explain, but as soon as you'll listen to it, you'll know what I mean.
If Today Was Your Last Day's title is pretty self-explanatory title. It's lyrically the best song on this album, but I don't think it would fare this well against stronger competition. Finally, the album concludes with This Afternoon, a pretty straightforward song about hanging out.
The problem with Nickelback is that they are a decent band, nothing more, nothing less. To be considered a great band, they have to move out of their comfort zone which is the commercial, made-for-radio schtick they have been doing since they burst onto the scene. Their songs are getting better but it's still the same stuff. Fans of Nickelback will love this album, the rest of us will be happy to hear one or two songs on the radio and go on with our lives. There really isn't any song on here that would make me run out and buy this album, so this gets a 2.75, maybe 3 out of 5. Some of the instrumentals are pretty good but the lyrics just aren't up to par.
Note: I know that we have been slow on posting reviews recently. With the holidays upon us, there should be more reviews posted in the next couple of days. Next up for me is Coldplay's latest EP, and Guns 'N' Roses' Chinese Democracy while Alain is working on Kanye West and other rappers.
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