The Dark Horse

The Age

Friday November 21, 2008

Andrew Murfett

The Dark Horse

Nickelback

(Roadrunner) 2/5

As long as critics have reviewed pop music, there has been a disparity between what they praise and what the public buys. No one better epitomises this than Nickelback, a band ridiculed by the press despite selling millions of records and concert tickets. Music snobs laugh at them - and viewing pictures of frontman Chad Kroeger's newly straightened hair, it's hard not to. But Nickelback have the last laugh: all the way to the bank. Although they are undoubtedly critic-proof, Nickelback are also cliched to the point they're almost offensive. Take the song Something In Your Mouth. It opens with a heavy-metal riff the band's producer, "Mutt" Lange, would proudly offer any of his cheesy hard-rock acts, before dissolving into awkward oral sex metaphors. Nickelback once again try to have it both ways. Demonstrating some startling shallowness, they place the earnest, you-can-do-anything mid-tempo power ballads up next to the misogynist rockers. "It's never too late to shoot for the stars," Kroeger sings on If Today Was Your Last Day. Why strive for excellence when you offer sleazy, unambiguously generic post-grunge rock from the lowest musical common denominator? Expect it to sell by the truckload. -- ANDREW MURFETT

© 2008 The Age

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