Nickelback – Return to the melodic and radio-friendly rock that still appears to be angst-ridden

Rock comes in ever increasing shapes and sizes but there are some that take it to the very limit… Not on the extreme side but to the mainstream. That’s a definite impression after repeated listen- ings to Nickelback’s second album, ‘Silver Side Up’. Still, it is not saying - bad but safe and, in engineering terms, it is ‘regressive technology'. It uses someone else’s research to create the same product.

Well, the prinicpal of music entertainment is to sell old sounds to the new generation of listeners, to translate the musicians’ inlfuences into a language that communicates to the current music fans. Nothing wrong with it and if a strict principle of invention was to be adhered to, then there would be no new culture, whatsoever.

All said, but yet to be done, Nickelback’s is a decent album with a wrong title; the metal named should be platinum as this record has topped the American and Canadian charts. As far as Euro-sensibilities are concerned, this appears a tad too mellodious, a touch too much Bon Jovi without the lurdicrous hairdos. (I withdraw the last remark just ‘aving looked at the artwork.)

Nickelback, led by Chad Kroeger, can drop a heavy tune (‘Hollywood’), they are a dab hand at mellow-rock (‘Good Times Gone‘), mid-paced tracks (’Money Money’), there are nicely executed guitar-solos, but this is not down-tuned like one would expect from a nu-metal era band. But then, Nickelback are an ol’-metal combo.

If there is one thing that this album is, it is – polite, whereas rock is supposed to be a challenge to the social stagnation… Rock placid is where Nickelback is at and there is nothing wrong with it, as long as it’s your ear-fodder.

6/10


Bonus material downloadable on the band’s site.