Nickelback: Taking the Good and Bad
Say you were performing on stage and someone from the audience suddenly threw a water bottle at you, what would you do? In the case of Nickelback, they experienced a very unpleasant incident in Portugal when someone hurled a water bottle at
Chad Kroeger. Not only that, he got two for the price of one. When he confronted the audience, someone threw a rock at the back of his head. After that, the entire band walked off the stage, with one or two members displaying the finger as they left the platform.
Nickelback is a band that plays hard rock. Its members are Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger and Ryan Vikedal. They got together in the province of Alberta, Canada and although they are all originally from San Francisco, they are now based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Twelve and a half million – that’s how many they sold of their album in the US. In Canada, they sold 1.5 million albums. On a worldwide basis, they come close to the 20 million mark. Their latest album, All the Right Reasons, has already sold more than 3.8 million albums in the US and 5.3 million globally.
Cancon is the Canadian law which requires that a certain portion of music played on Canadian radio must be taken up by Canadian musical artists, and observers say this law helped Nickelback achieved their sales target.
The group has received six Grammys and in 2006, had five nominations. “Photograph”, one of their singles, was nominated for best single. Critics say that Nickelback has no artistry and does not really make a significant contribution to music style. Their approach leans more towards post-grunge music, and Chad Kroeger says that if that accusation were true, how can the critics deny that their albums have sold millions worldwide? The band claims they have much to offer to the music industry and that their members are solid, competent musical artists.
Nickelback’s 2005 album, All the Right Reasons, reflected a shift in subject matter. The album has lyrics that mirror the concepts of time, friendship and nostalgia. It has received multiple negative reviews, with one guide calling the album, “unspeakably awful.”