#Nickelback the long road professional#

And, like with any post-Nirvana wallow in angst and torment, Nickelback doesn't vent specific problems it's all a generic litany of the torture of relationships and the evil that dad did.

So, Nickelback is more palatable here, but that doesn't mean they're any easier to digest, since Kroeger's voice does not wear well and the band's humorlessness and relentlessly earnest somberness are oppressive.

#Nickelback the long road professional#

It's the same sound as Silver Side Up, but it's a little bit more professional and polished, which does have the neat trick of sanding down some of Nickelback's strident tendencies, leaving behind a sleek album of theatrical angst. Perhaps a flat-out party song would have been a welcome change of pace, but it, like every other song here, is performed in the band's lumbering style - clumsy rhythms, guitars run through too much processed distortion slashing away at power chords that are echoed by harmonies that are nothing but root and the fifth notes (call 'em power harmonies) and topped off by Kroeger's strained gruff vocals. After all, this is an album that ends with 'See You at the Show,' the neo-grunge 'We're an American Band' that invites their audience to come along on the Nickelback bus and party down - a sentiment that kind of undercuts the endless barrage of tortured lyrics that precede it. Perhaps Kroeger and his cohorts in Nickelback are also fueled by real angst and just aren't capable of turning it into art, but 2003's The Long Road, the follow-up to their 2001 breakthrough, Silver Side Up, suggests that they really are just heavy-rock hucksters. Of course, on the surface grunge was just modern hard rock, but upon further inspection it was an interesting, unruly beast, fueled by genuine passion and angst, which is why each band had a distinct sound and a different way of fleeing from the scene when it all became too much. Nickelback courts it through their audience-pleasing grunge pastiche, which treats the style as just another variation of hard rock. Those three bands were unpredictable and, in various ways, shunned success when they received it. Throughout that year and into the next, the band and its ham-fisted lead singer Chad Kroeger, who always seems on verge of a hernia, were omnipresent as they peddled their cleaned-up, streamlined amalgam of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam. Thanks to their smash number one hit 'How You Remind Me,' Nickelback became the poster boys for neo-grunge in 2001. Joey Moi - See You At The Show (Album Version) Nickelback - Another Hole In The Head (Album Version) Nickelback - Throw Yourself Away (Album Version) Nickelback - Should've Listened (Album Version) Nickelback - Because Of You (Album Version) Nickelback - Believe It Or Not (Album Version) Nickelback - Do This Anymore (Album Version) This one doesn’t draw on the experiences of my life it could be anybody’s story.”Ģ001’s Silver Side Up spawned the massive hit “How You Remind Me,” which clocked in as the most played song of 2002.01. For a start, “there’s no central theme,” lead singer Chad Kroeger told Billboard. The Long Road finds Nickelback taking a slightly different direction in their music. Taking a much-needed break and heading back into the studio has kept the band off road for most of 2003. Since bursting onto the rock scene back in 2000 with their first international release, The State, Nickelback haven’t stopped touring – until this year that is. Five shows in the state are planned at the start of the tour and then they branch out to the Midwest and East Coast. The disc was just released, giving fans a couple of weeks to learn all the songs so they can sing along when the band hits Texas October 14. Heavy-hitters Trapt and Three Days Grace will join Nickelback as the openers.