Nickelback's latest album shows that despite efforts to diversify, the band's greatest musical evolution since their third effort, The Long Road, is a change at the drummer's seat.
Since the success of The Long Road in 2003, an album that bragged such chart-topping hits as "Someday," "Feelin' Way Too Damn Good" and "Figured You Out," the gap left by the departure of drummer Ryan Vikedal has been filled by former 3 Doors Down drummer Daniel Adair. With this switch, the boys of Nickelback have attempted to further establish themselves as a premier rock band.
On their newest album, All the Right Reasons, the Canadian rockers provide a balanced blend of forceful power ballads among a scattering of lighter tracks. The lyrical content expands from their typical cynical and angry influences into a deeper emotional side with a slew of catchy tracks that are sure to get stuck in listeners' heads, although at times, that's not necessarily a good thing.
The album's first single, "Photograph," is a track likely to fall among the ranks of Green Day's "Good Riddance" or Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You" as a sentimental graduation theme song. In this heart-felt ballad set to a catchy acoustic melody, lead singer Chad Kroeger reflects on his wild high school days, his first kiss and run-ins with the police, and ponders what has happened in the lives of his once close friends. The band's emotional turn on this track proves effective and is something many can relate to, a time of looking back but also of moving forward.
In contrast to "Photograph," the track "If Everyone Cared" attempts another touching reflection, but falls flat due to its hokey rhyme scheme. While the intended message of the song is positive and hopeful, lyrics like "If everyone cared and nobody cried / If everyone loved and nobody lied / If everyone shared and swallowed their pride / We'd see the day when nobody died," make it difficult to take this song seriously.
Running with its sentimental direction, All the Right Reasons also features a tribute to legendary guitarist and friend of Chad Kroeger, Dimebag Darrell Abbott. Kroeger penned "Side of Bullet" after Abbott was shot and killed onstage in December 2004. Kroeger vents his pain and anger surrounding the gunman in his lyrics as he asks, "God why'd you let him do it?" Abbott's brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, also contributed to the tribute by offering Kroeger and company outtakes of music from the fallen guitarist, which Nickelback compiled to create a solo track for the song.
Straying from the "songs that tug at the heart strings" motif displayed in the tribute and less-edgy ballads, the album also displays Nickelback's hard-rock prowess in aggressive tracks like "Next Contestant," an anthem for anyone who has ever dated a stripper, and "Follow You Home." This slightly creepy track, which features a solo from ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, utilizes a powerful guitar intro and harsh drum beats to drive home the oddly determined lyrics, "You can slap me in the face / You can scream profanity / Leave me here to die alone but / I'd still follow you home."
Although the themes of the album are more emotionally expressive than Nickelback's past work, the overall sound is still largely the same. This can further be verified by the track "Savin' Me." While this track stands out because of Nickelback's uncharacteristic use of piano, one can't help but notice its uncanny melodic similarity to the song "Someday" on The Long Road.
Diehard Nickelback fans will appreciate the added "depth" of content and an interesting lighter side to these hard rockers; however, to anyone else, the songs of All the Right Reasons mostly blend together and sound like a 40-minute-long bellow from frontman Chad Kroeger. No major improvements or regressions here.
Grade: C
