Nickelback – No Fixed Address
Nickelback ruled the airwaves in the late 90s and early 00s, but this is 2014 and bands that were once rock radio staples have found that times have changed. The rock format has moved away from the more grungy sound of the 90s and many stations have re-branded themselves as “Alt-Rock”, dropping any sort of traditional sounding rock band from their playlist and switching instead to artists like Lorde, Mumford and Sons and The Black Keys. Sure, you’ll still hear Foo Fighters and Linkin Park, but for the most part, rock in the traditional sense is dead. Which makes trying to stay current, yet keeping your signature sound challenging for once heavily played rock artists like Nickelback, Staind, or Disturbed. Unfortunately for Chad Kroeger and his band mates, this is not the album to bring rock back from the dead.
No Fixed Address sounds pretty much like every other Nickelback album that’s been released in the last decade. The lead single, “What Are You Waiting For?” is this year’s version of their 2005 mega hit “Photograph.” There are still songs about drinking, sex, and strippers. Basically, not much has changed although Flo Rida makes a surprising, but failed attempt to bring a little hip hop to bro-rock on “Got Me Runnin’ Round.”
The guys try to write a few love songs here and there, but with lyrics like “We can eat our favorite food/We can have an amazing mood/Baby I just wanna be with you/Forever and ever until we die in heaven”, they should probably stick to rowdy white boy tunes. Out of the eleven tracks on the disc, only one really stands out as a potential hit: the ultra-catchy “She Keeps Me Up.”
Let’s be honest – Nickelback was never a great band. Did they release some catchy songs? Sure. Did they get played too much on the radio? Definitely. Are they known for life changing lyrics? No. But love ’em or hate ’em, you have to at least give them a little credit for writing their own songs and playing their own instruments. If you’re a die hard Nickelback fan, you’ll probably love this album but if you were just a casual listener during their heyday, don’t bother giving the album a listen because it’s nothing you haven’t heard before.