Nickelback
Feed The Machine

“Let's hope it's not like the last one” and other similar statements... It was the phrase (expressed in various forms) that appeared like parsley in the comments of practically every post on the “Nickelback Italia” page, which provided news or images regarding the creation of the new album by the Canadian rock band. Yes, “No Fixed Address” quickly earned the title of “an album hated almost universally,” in line with other albums like “Systematic Chaos,” “Dedicated To Chaos,” “LuLu,” “Love Beach,” etc. As usual, I am the odd one out and was one of the few who appreciated it, despite acknowledging its obvious flaws. There was a good handful of interesting and unusual ideas for Nickelback, only supported by too flat a production that didn't enhance the sounds and probably a desire to break into the mainstream at all costs. To me, that underlying idea wasn't to be discarded, just further developed; I am for continuing discussions once they've begun, so I would have liked the new album to be a continuation of that discussion, to carry forward those ideas but with a better constructed, more dignified sound. Personally, I'm sorry not to hear atypical tracks like “What Are You Waiting For?,” “She Keeps Me Up,” “Miss You,” “Got Me Runnin’ Round,” and “Sister Sin” anymore.

However, to the band I consider the last great example of pure and energetic rock'n'roll on Earth (in an era where everyone plays something very alternative, indie, similar-prog, etc.), all these criticisms must not have sat well (even though the band has always shown they don't care about criticism)… We're already the joke of rock internationally, do we also have to become the laughingstock of our own fans? It's possible that this mentality gave birth to “Feed the Machine;” indeed, the band took the easiest path for a group to react to criticism: returning to the sound of their best and most successful works. In this case, the band has done nothing but revisit the formula that produced their most successful works, “All the Right Reasons,” “Dark Horse,” and “Here and Now,” which is that perfect alternation of hard and energetic tracks, often bordering on metal, and soft tracks, ballads close to radio and chart pop-rock. Needless to say, the formula reveals itself once more as absolutely perfect; the listener is jolted from one mood and energetic intensity to another as if it were nothing, and it keeps the enthusiasm alive until the end, without dullness setting in.

An album that doesn't add much to Nickelback's recent offerings except to give us the same emotions they have given us in the past, and do it with conviction. Opening with two energetic and sharp tracks is now a standard, and once again “Feed the Machine” and “Coin for the Ferryman” serve this purpose well. The rock'n'roll energy then takes on funkier and almost danceable tones in the carefree and summery “Must Be Nice” and “For the River,” a spirit we had already found in “Kiss It Goodbye,” all tracks suitable for entering a nightclub when the night hasn't started yet but there's already a sense of party and energy in the air.

And as already mentioned, we also have some very fitting ballads: “Song on Fire,” “After the Rain,” “Home,” “Every Time We’re Together,” with their light guitars yet maintaining that rock'n'roll spirit, are all worthy heirs of the likes of “Photograph,” “Savin’ Me,” “Far Away,” “Never Gonna Be Alone,” “If Today Was Your Last Day,” “Lullaby,” etc. Ballads that I imagine must have initially frustrated many fans; who knows what many said when they listened to “All the Right Reasons” and found it had 5 soft tracks, things like “Oh, but they’re veering towards pop, towards the mainstream,” now instead reading some comments here and there, I notice that the ballads are absolutely accepted as an important side of the Nickelback sound. Yet when the album was being announced, the band talked about a predominantly heavy album, with little space for the soft side. I probably would have accepted it anyway, but it's better this way, with the melodic side well represented.

No, wait, there are a few additions, a few little novelties, such as two tracks linked to each other with atypical solutions for the group: “The Betrayal (Act III)” for instance is a distinctly metal track, where the band seems to delve into the genre rather than just brush against it; yes, a practically metal track has appeared repeatedly from different albums, remember “Because of You,” “Side of a Bullet,” “Next Go Round,” and “This Means War,” but here they have hit the genre more than ever; plus, they had the courage to open it with an elaborate acoustic intro quite unusual for the group. But even more unusual is its counterpart “The Betrayal (Act I),” which develops that arpeggio into an acoustic instrumental unimaginable until yesterday: who would have ever expected such elaborate acoustic phrases from Nickelback? Here we have basically “Nickelback wanting to be Yes,” and staying in Canadian territory, it even reminds me of “Hope” by Rush, indeed, even more elaborate!

And then there's the energetic but not particularly hard track, “Silent Majority,” a rock energy reminiscent of the Foo Fighters but an energy that doesn't spill into hard/heavy; a track like this has been on some previous albums as well, think of “Someone That You’re With” and “Just To Get High.”

So a return to the best things for Nickelback that is garnering a great audience reaction, with highly successful concerts and an enthusiastic crowd that seems to have set aside the disappointment of the previous album. I, again, did not despise it, but returning to the formula that suits them best they have brought out an album that is certainly better, energetic and melodic with alternating tracks, certainly rock'n'roll. It’s surprising that I've listened to it more frequently than even the latest Ayreon release, but it demonstrates that even the progsters have a simpler, rock side and Nickelback expresses it to the fullest. Not to be taken as a work of art, no, but recommended to listen to when you're in the mood for something carefree and light.