| Product Summary | | Label: ROADRUNNER RECORDS/WEA | | UPC: 00016861802820 | | Release Date: 11/18/2008 | | Buy.com Sku: 209721071 | | Item#: M4G4R6 | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25079 | Format:  CD |
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| Song Listing |  |
Disc 1
| | Song Title | Sample | | 1. Something In Your Mouth ~ Nickelback |  | | 2. Burn It To The Ground ~ Nickelback | | | 3. Gotta Be Somebody ~ Nickelback | | | 4. I'd Come For You ~ Nickelback | | | 5. Next Go Round ~ Nickelback | | | 6. Just To Get High ~ Nickelback | | | 7. Never Gonna Be Alone ~ Nickelback | | | 8. Shakin' Hands ~ Nickelback | | | 9. S.E.X. ~ Nickelback | | | 10. If Today Was Your Last Day ~ Nickelback | | | 11. This Afternoon ~ Nickelback | |
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| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Nickelback: Ryan Peake, Chad Kroeger (vocals, guitar); Daniel Adair (vocals, drums); Mike Kroeger (bass instrument, bass guitar). | | Audio Mixers: Chris Lord-Alge; Mike Shirley; Joe Moi; Randy Staub . | | Audio Remasterer: Ted Jensen. | | Nickleback's sixth album doesn't stake out new ground, but this Canadian post-grunge quartet is known for their allegiance to old-school hard rock values. That allegiance is borne out on 2008's DARK HORSE, a collection of riff-driven rockers and power ballads that thrives on simple chord progressions, distortion-heavy guitars, and lyrics about partying and other carnal delights. The singalong single "Gotta Be Somebody" may flirt with radio-ready pop, but most of DARK HORSE revels in denim-clad, bad boy swagger. | | It's hard to forget that Nickleback is a mainstream act, however, especially given the potent, high-gloss sound of the album, courtesy of veteran producer Robert "Mutt" Lang. Like Def Leppard, another Lang-produced band, Nickleback's rock is packaged prettily enough for soccer moms, a truth evident in accessible ballads like "I'd Come for You." But longtime fans needn't despair: the band still packs a punch (see the arena-sized rocker "Burn It To the Ground"), proving Nickleback can have it both ways. | | Nickelback are not known for their insight, but Chad Kroeger's caterwauling claim that "we got no class, no taste" on "Burn It to the Ground," the second song on their sixth album, Dark Horse, is a slice of perceptive, precise self-examination. They work with legendary producer Robert "Mutt" Lange (the sonic architect behind Back in Black and Pyromania, two of hard rock's towering monuments) here, and Lange decides to give the band a production caught somewhere between the two extremes of AC/DC and Def Leppard, pumping up some muscle on Nickelback's heaviest rockers and adding some color to their power ballads, suggesting some heretofore verboten suggestions of modernity in the form of electronic rhythms, even taking it to the extreme of adding drum loops to the surefire crossover hit "Gotta Be Somebody." Lyrically, Kroeger trots out a parade of dirty little ladies in pretty pink thongs, porn stars, strippers, and sluts, all of whom are desired and despised for showing too much skin; he's either had his heart broken by those loose women, or he's singing to the good girl left at home while he's out on the town. Nickelback do manage to shed their leathery rock skin a couple of times, first with an arena-rocking "Burn It to the Ground" and then echoing Toby Keith's "Let's Talk About Us" on the white-boy rap pre-chorus for "Something in Your Mouth," but these are mere glimpses of something unpredictable; Dark Horse was constructed entirely from the group's standard power ballad and hard rock templates. The mood only lightens at the end of the record, when Kroeger and company take a break from carousing to kick back with bros and a bong for "This Afternoon" -- its strum-along choruses are a relief but so is its mellowness, as Kroeger seems calmer, relaxed, even friendly. Maybe it's because there were no women in the picture. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine | | Nickelback are not known for their insight, but Chad Kroeger's caterwauling claim that "we got no class, no taste" on "Burn It to the Ground," the second song on their sixth album, Dark Horse, is a slice of perceptive, precise self-examination. Nickelback are a gnarled, vulgar band reveling in their ignorance of the very notion of taste, lacking either the smarts or savvy to wallow in bad taste so they just get ugly, knocking out knuckle-dragging riffs that seem rarefied in comparison to their thick, boneheaded words. Of the two, the music is far less offensive, particularly on Dark Horse, where they work with the legendary producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, the sonic architect behind Back in Black and Pyromania, two of hard rock's towering monuments. Mutt Lange decides to give Nickelback a production caught somewhere between the two extremes of AC/DC and Def Leppard, pumping up some muscle on Nickelback's heaviest rockers and adding some color to their power ballads, suggesting some heretofore verboten suggestions of modernity in the form of electronic rhythms, even taking it to the extreme of adding drum loops to the surefire crossover hit "Gotta Be Somebody." Nickelback do manage to shed their leathery rock skin a couple of times, first with an arena-rocking "Burn It to the Ground" and then echoing Toby Keith's "Let's Talk About Us" on the white-boy rap pre-chorus for "Something in Your Mouth," but these are mere glimpses of something unpredictable; Dark Horse was constructed entirely from the group's standard templates of bleating power ballads and dulled hard rock. | | These two sounds have been the group's trademark for a while now, ever since Kroeger started plumbing the depths of his shallow soul to spit out invective toward lovers and fathers on 2001's Silver Side Up, but stardom has stripped away all lingering angst, leaving behind slow songs about love and fast songs about partying, all designed to woo women he'll later hate. Underneath the housewife-hooking power ballads -- "I'd Come for You," "If Today Was Your Last Day" -- plus "Just to Get High," an ode to a fallen junkie friend that's part of the proud tradition that stretches back to at least Body Count's "The Winner Loses," Dark Horse seethes with ugly misogyny, as Kroeger trots out a parade of dirty little ladies in pretty pink thongs, porn stars, strippers, and sluts, all of whom are desired and despised for showing too much skin. Kroeger may claim that "S is for the simple need/E is for the ecstasy" in his middle-school chant "S.E.X.," but there is no joy in his carnality, just bleak veiled violence, and that nasty undercurrent undercuts his pleading lovesick ballads; he's either had his heart broken by those loose women, or he's singing to the good girl left at home while he's out on the town. This all turns Dark Horse into a murky, wearying listen, with the mood only lightening at the end of the record, when Kroeger and company take a break from carousing to kick back with bros and a bong for "This Afternoon" -- its strum-along choruses are a relief but so is its mellowness, as Kroeger seems calmer, relaxed, even friendly. Maybe it's because there were no women in the picture. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine |
Producer: Joey Moi; Nickelback; Robert John Lange |
Engineer: Olle Romo; Scott Cooke |
| | Compilation Appearances |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 11/18/2008 | | Original Release Date : 2008 | | Catalog ID : 180282-1686- | | Label : Roadrunner Records (USA) | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00016861802820 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (p.127)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Lange keeps things rolling -- and to his credit, Chad Kroeger gratifyingly comes off as more of a regular guy than a rock star."Billboard (p.41)
- "The bulletproof Nickelback provides affordable fun that promises good returns in hard times....With guitar solos, heavier chops and double-entendres." Mojo (Publisher)
(p.104)
- 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he still rock like a post-grunge Metalica....The best tracks here, such as the Leppard-style anthem 'Shakin' Hands,' bear Lange's indelible signature." Blender (Magazine)
(p.78)
- 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The casting coup is producer Matt Lange, who runs with the tricks he used on Def Leppard and AC/DC in the '80s: lotsa echo on the drums, lotsa background voices chanting, 'Hey!'" |
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