Nickelback
Mega unit-shifting Canadian outfit, Nickelback released their new studio album, ‘Dark Horse’ on 17th November. First single, ‘Gotta Be Somebody’ also hits stores the same day (available digitally NOW).
‘Dark Horse’ is an 11-track précis of everything the group has done so well to this point -- fist-pumping anthems, grinding rockers, soaring power ballads, grinning sexual innuendo, heart-wringing romanticism, choruses that stick in your ears after one listen and hooks so big they practically boomerang through the songs.
While bassist Mike Kroeger contends that ‘Dark Horse’ "isn't affecting some huge departure from our past efforts," it does find the band working in some fresh and rarefied rock 'n' roll territory. It marks the first time Nickelback has worked with an outside producer since ‘Silver Side Up’ in 2001, but considering that producer is Robert John "Mutt" Lange, he of AC/DC ‘Back in Black’, Def Leppard ‘Pyromania’ and ‘Hysteria’ and Foreigner ‘4’ fame, it's easy to understand why the group was willing to open up the inner sanctum.
"He was actually somebody we were interested in working with for a long time," notes guitarist Ryan Peake. "We had to think a lot about relinquishing a bit of that control to someone else, but we just said, 'Yeah, let's give it a shot.'
Work on ‘Dark Horse’ began in March. The band travelled to the producer's home base in Switzerland to begin going over song ideas. The tunes came from a variety of directions; for instance the dynamically swelling "If Today Was Your Last Day," had been around for a while but hadn't been finished.
"Chad brought it out of the vault and the creative juices started to flow," Mike Kroeger notes. Then there's "This Afternoon," whose acoustic, rootsy flavor, along with some downright country-style guitar licks represent a refreshing departure from the Nickelback norm. "It's a big-time part of our background," Mike Kroeger notes, "that whole laid-back, bar-room kind of feel. Where we grew up everybody listened to country. I would say that song's our 'Friends In Low Places,' y'know?"
‘Dark Horse's other songs, recorded this summer at Chad Kroeger's converted barn studio in Vancouver, traverse a wide terrain, from the arcing melodic ebb and flow of the first single, "Gotta Be Somebody" and the metallic groove of "Burn It To The Ground" to the heavy riffery of "Something In Your Mouth" and "The Next Go Round" and the inspiring balladry of "You'll Never Be Alone" and "I'd Come For You."
"We're a rock band," Peake says. "We like to get heavy and we do like to write stuff that's melodic and maybe a little more mellow. It's nice to have both, and it's nice to have both accepted by the fans. There are some bands that can only put out one kind of thing, but our fans are pretty open so we don't get stuck in one place."
Nickelback's track record certainly speaks to the group's stature. The group has sold 27 million albums worldwide since the 2001 breakthrough of mega-hit, "How You Remind Me".
The band recently played to around 85,000 people in the UK on a brief visit to tie-up the tail end of the ‘All The Right Reasons’ album cycle. The band are set to return to the UK next Summer for a full tour. Stay tuned for an announcement soon.