...I'll admit it, I got this CD, about 3 years ago, based on the two singles released. If you hadn't heard "How You Remind Me", you were literally living in a hole, because this song was everywhere. It was catchy, and it hooked alot of people.
...In retrospect, I probably should've never bought this album. But I did, so maybe now I can save you from buying it. Or something.
Nickelback are:
Chad Kroeger - Lead Vocals, Guitars
Mike Kroeger - Bass
Ryan Peake - Guitars, Vocals
Ryan Vikedal - Drums
So, what is this album like?
Well, the opening track is not actually a bad track.
Never Again looks at the darkness that is domestic abuse, a subject that doesn't seem to be touched on by many mainstream bands. The song is driven by a decent bassline, as moderate guitars ring out through a catchy chorus.
How You Remind Me was their ultra-catchy midtempo song, not very heavy at all. To say it had mass appeal is an understatement. It never was a BAD song, but it is one of those songs that gets played over, and over, and OVER again, thus taking it from "Hey, this isn't too bad" to "Dear God, don't ever play that again!".
Woke Up This Morning has a nifty guitar line, which drives the song. It's kind of cool, but nothing to write home about, with very minimal bass in this song, and you guessed it, catchy chorus. Their second single,
Too Bad is actually a poignant look back through the eyes of a now-grown child who lacked a father figure...I thought the bridge had a cool guitar not-quite-a-solo in it, but again, nothing very special. Arguably the best track on here (although 'best' is a relative term)
Just For is a rather angry, grunge-like number about getting revenge on the abusive ex-boyfriend. Well, from the perspective of, I assume, a guy friend of the girl who had been abused. It's a rather violent song, but again, 'violent' is a relative term here.
Hollywood is really a forgettable track, with a bland guitar line and lyrics that don't exactly inspire anyone to do anything. In spite of Kroeger's attempt at a catchy chorus here, this one seems to fall short.
Money Bought is pretty forgettable too, with a very minimal chorus and guitar work that isn't very entertaining either. I thought
Where Do I Hide had a pretty cool guitar line, again, nothing spectacular, just kind of cool. Semidecent guitar work + catchy chorus is still the formula, even if the guitar work is slightly better than some of their other tracks. This is a long song...oh, no, wait a minute, after 3:54 they change the song title to
Hangnail. Now, some people have talked about the similarities between "How You Remind Me" and "Someday", but honestly, these past two tracks sound like one another without any overdubbing or any special things done to it. What was a cool guitar riff changes to "Oh, this again" and it loses what little value it had.
Good Times Gone almost has a southern rock feel to it at times, with minimal drums and slide guitar at times. An interesting way to close out a rather uninteresting album. It's a good idea to note that Ian Thornley plays slide guitar on this track, lest we think Chad Kroeger is actually a good guitarist.
So why would anyone want to buy this? I honestly don't know. Their radio singles might have been 'catchy' but that's really all they had going for them. The only tracks I would ever tell anyone to listen too off this album are "Just For" and "Never Again", for lyrics that actually have a tidbit of meaning behind them, and for actually being at least partially interesting to listen to. And to any Nickelback fans, take some solace in knowing that while I might rate this low, this is not the worst album I have purchased.
2/5
