Asif Khan Inc.

Dark Horse – Nickelback

Clichés are what they make out of themselves over time. Thoughts, philosophies, idiosyncrasies – which drive themselves to abysmal levels of banality by being constantly bludgeoned to death, resurrected, and bludgeoned again in a vicious circle. Most of them, however, become those inseparable facts of life which are just there in one corner of the head; a dormant tumour which lies unnoticed, without any malice, staring at your face once in a while to mark its presence. Some achieve levels of malignancy which contain within themselves the potential to infest entire populaces of unsuspecting humankind.

The world of music has given birth to many such clichés – some dormant, most malignant, with the crown jewel of lot being the slogan of generations following successively – SEX, DRUGS, ROCK n ROLL, a phrase which has transcended the picket fence of being a cliché to being a truism. And it looks like one of the biggest names in music from the Great White North, for lack of anything more imaginative, has decided to use this to good effect for themselves.

Over the past decade or so since they broke out on the scene, Nickelback has been making waves with their brand of music which growls and snarls with moans and groans. Catapulting into the mainstream with their multi platinum 2001 album Silver Side Up which featured the chart topping How You Remind Me, they have steadily built a reputation for themselves as badass rockers by following it up with The Long Road (2003) and All The Right Reasons (2005) which contained Rockstar, a single which has become the anthem for a generation wanting to make it to the spotlight, means notwithstanding. By now record sales were something that had become a mere number, so they go out and catch hold of one of the biggest name in production history for their next album Dark Horse. Thus, the production credits mention a name uttered with reverent awe, Mutt Lange, who has been behind some of the most successful records of all time, including AC/DC’s Back in Black, and whose legacy stretches right across Def Leppard, Bryan Adams and Shania Twain.

On Dark Horse, Nickelback seem to have taken upon themselves the responsibility of being the standard bearers for carrying forth the truism we talked about earlier. Complete with no holds barred references to alcohol, drugs, hookers, porn stars et al; it seems that innuendo is a word that does not have a place in their dictionary. Starting right from the opening track Something in Your Mouth which talks about a pretty young thing who has a slight disdain for clothes to Shakin’ Hands which talks in hallowed tones about a high society professional escort who ‘earns six figures by working three days a week’, Chad Kroeger’s voice contains within itself a euphoric level of crass. Foreplay, what’s that, we get straight to the act. Which is what he hollers about on Next Go Round about going on all night long and beyond, doing what else, but S.E.X. which is nothing but a ‘simple need’. Just to Get High and This Afternoon takes care of the pharmaceutical and booze department, turning themselves into perfect accompaniments for times when someone would want to get wasted utterly. Somewhere down the line though, they get a bit confused. Maybe all the hook-ups didn’t really work out that well, and they start pining about love in a style of mush (Never Gonna Be Alone, I’d Come For You) which could make jelly out of some knees when subjected to serenading. The overall musical tone of the album is more pop than rock, and although there are some heavy sections, the guitar solos simply fail to impress. Nonetheless, they are good enough for extended radio play and for those times when you are just driving out to work having nothing better to listen to on the radio. It remains to be seen however, how much this would ‘remind’ them of their past glories though.