Doogie Nickelback...

I love Neil Patrick Harris.  Well, love as in the way a person loves an actor, not in the way a man loves another man.

A few posts ago, I mentioned Nickelback and got some...feedback...about them.  Nickelback is one of those lightning rod bands that very few people have a vanilla attitude towards.  Most people either love them or hate the everloving snot out of them.  Personally, they are one of my favorite bands, which, as a musician, puts me in a vast minority.  Most musicians hate Nickelback. They are percieved as sell outs, or formulaic, or, dare I say, cheesy.  Well, I agree with all of this.

Nickelback to me has a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" vibe to them.  On the one hand, they are very, very adept at writing the arena rock ballad (Photograph, If Everyone Cared).  On the other hand, (and this is the side that most people don't see), they are pure metal heads who write intensively creative, hard and fast songs that don't disappoint.  If you don't have any Nickelback albums and only hear the songs that are on the radio, then this post is for you.

Never Again- This was the first taste of Rockelback that I heard. I remember turning to the sound guy at the club we were playing at and asking, "Who is This??".  When he said Nickelback, I was floored. This was the same band that I heard on the radio?  I went in search of other songs that sounded like this.

Figured You Out - This was one of the songs that I found. This is my wife's favorite. She loves how taboo the song is, and how raunchy it gets.  Listen to the big, fat distorted guitars and how the band just goes nuts.  Great example of how Nickelback can rock out.

Side of a Bullet- Song written about Dimebag Darrell, former guitarist of Pantera.  This song pretty much proves that Nickelback knows how to lay down a serious hard rock track.

Flat on the floor - My last example that this band knows how to rock.

Now, please don't get me wrong (I hope you have read this far to get the whole side of the story).  Nickelback is the king of cheesy arena rock.  They make Journey look somewhat tame in how cheesy their songs can be.  But, if you look at every Nickelback album, you will notice that the songs are usually split down the middle.

I imagine that Chad Kroeger (vocalist, songwriter) knows that his money comes from the cheesy rock, but he is also a metalhead at heart.  So, he writes certain songs for a paycheck, and then he writes songs that he loves for the other half.  I bet if given the choice, he would pick the heavier songs to play.  I have seen them twice in concert, and both times, they have absolutley blown the roof off of the place.  Once, they played "Sad but True" by Metallica, and it was amazing.  Both times I have seen them play, they have covered "Cowboys from Hell" and just nailed it.  These guys know how to rock.  But they also know what side of the bread is buttered, if you know what I mean.