Nickelback
"Dark Horse"
Roadrunner Records
November 18, 2008
Grade- A
???Still slightly angry, vengeful and obsessed with sex, the Canadian boys of Nickelback are back with their sixth full-length album, Dark Horse.
???Chad Kroeger and company's return holds a mix of fast, loud numbers infused with more than just one obligatory slower song.
???As to be expected, the slower songs, comprising about four of the tracks, hold more rumination about life and relationships.
???Falling into this category is the song released early to radios, "Gotta be Somebody." It nicely states that Kroeger and crew aren't just rock heathens lookin' for tail and cheap drugs, at least not all the time.
???"Cause nobody wants to be the last one there/ Everyone wants to feel like someone cares," sings Kroeger.
???Although pre-released as a representation of the album, this song only identifies with a small minority of Dark Horse.
???Interspersed among these more sentimental songs are another seven tracks that, more often then not, are about prostitutes and beer.
???In "Shakin' Hands" the band takes familiar fairytale names and pins them to a gold digging woman who clearly ain't into Kroeger for his looks.
???"Done everyone once and everyone knows/ You gotta get a little dirty when your diggin' for gold," sings Kroeger.???
???However, they take a break from being "bat-crazy" to admonish drugs and addicts in "Just to Get High," singing on how his best friend will take "All that you got/ N' burn it on the spot/ Just to get high, high, high, high."
???But not to worry, even that admonishment is set to a driving rhythm with a chorus that you'll want to yell and stomp your boot along with.
???Showing that once again Nickelback can deliver an album with enough variation to please a wide array of listeners, Dark Horse offers actual insight on why this group has inexplicably become the biggest band in rock.
