CD Review – “Dark Horse” – Nickelback.

 

Dark Horse

 

 

 

Having sold a combined 16 million copies of their last five albums, you could understand if a band such as Nickelback simply gave up the development of new ideas., but with the band’s latest release, they seems to be going backwards.

Beginning their career with the post-grunge stylings of Staind, Seether and all those other bands that haven’t had a mention since 2002, Alberta’s Nickelback reached the mainstream with their #1 North American single “How You Remind Me.”

With the release of their last album, 2005’s “All the Right Reasons”, the band seemingly scrapped their reputable sound in favour of stadium-filling “rock”, the variety popular with men who go by names such as Clyde, Elroy and Randy.

It’s clear the band is aware of its audience, catering directly towards them with their latest album “Dark Horse.”

The first element of the album worth a mention is the names of the songs themselves, including “S.E.X”, “Burn it to the Ground” and album opener “Something in Your Mouth”. Reading over the track listing gives you some idea of the content of the material, which, according to the album’s press release, are classed as “grinding rockers,” “fist-pumping anthems” and “soaring power ballads.”

On first listens, the music itself doesn’t seem too bad – decent steady drums and guitars with more than a touch of overdrive pedal.

Commit closer attention, however, and some absolutely mind-bending lyrics will reveal themselves.

“Well she ain’t no Cinderella when she’s gettin’ undressed/Cause she rocks it like the naughty wicked witch of the west,” croons frontman Chad Kroeger in “Shakin’ Hands.”

“Me and all my friends/We drink up, we fall down/And then we do it all again,” claims album closer “This Afternoon.”

Such poetry should come as no surprise from the band, that statement confirmed by Chad Kroeger himself earlier this year when he stated that this album was almost titled “Sex and Drinking.”

The main problem with this album is the uninspired subject matter tied with frankly inexcusable lyrics – a nightmare for feminists – that at some points pass the point of misogynistic clichés and simply end up being offensive.

“We’re kind of a people’s band, so we’ll leave it up to them whether they like it or not. We’re one of those bands people come back to, which is very cool,” says guitarist Ryan Peake in the album’s press release.

However, on the basis of this album, it wouldn’t be surprising if the band found themselves short of female fans next time around.

 

 

CD Review – “Missiles” – The Dears

 

missiles

 

 

The release of the Dear’s fourth full-length album comes after a recent e-newsletter admitting that “This could have been a message saying that the Dears is over.” That statement isn’t too far from the truth.

Having lost most of their band during the making of this album – the follow up to 2006’s “Gang of Losers” – the husband and wife team of Murray Lightburn and Natalia Yanchak have just managed to pull through. The result could be seen as their most consistent release yet, seemingly creating a bridge between two previous styles – the early poppier material, and the more direct, almost aggressive sounds of “Gang of Losers.”

The overall sound of “Missiles” isn’t exactly straightforward, incorporating strings, harmonies and brass into simple melodies and repeat ad nauseum rythyms, giving an almost epic feeling to the new material. Since the early days, “cinematic” is a word that’s been used to classify their sound, and they continue to live up to that tag here.

The Dears have always been popular with the melancholy dramatist crowd, bringing to mind Echo and the Bunnymen and Morrissey. Radiohead could also be seen as an influence, sharing some faint similarities, although the vocal melody on “Berlin Heart” could be considered too similar to “No Surprises” for comfort.

While it’s not the huge comeback from the 2004 breakthrough “No Cities Left” people seem to have hoped for, it doesn’t seem to try to be that. It’s the sound of a band trying to find their feet after a major change, in this case, losing five members.

There are some minor flaws. The album lacks real choruses, instead drawing out songs gradually, with only one song being shorter than five minutes. Album closer “Savior” clocks in at just over eleven minutes, and states “there will be a next time.”

But even if this turns out to be the last Dears release, it seems like a fitting closing point. 

 

last song i heard – “mercy” – plants and animals

It’s Diddy’s Vote That Matters.

P Diddy feels that his support for Barack Obama was the factor that lead the Democratic candidate to victory. 

He told the Associated Press:

“I felt like my vote was the vote that put him into office. It was down to one vote and that was going to be my vote. And that may not be true, but that’s how much power I felt it had.”

So we all have him to thanks, then.

Cheers Diddy.

last song i heard – “sofacore” – johnny foreigner