Are we having fun yet? (Silver Side Up - Nickelback)

Member Name: star500

Product:	Silver Side Up - Nickelback
Date:	10/11/02 (659 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Strong vocals, Kicking guitar riffs

Disadvantages: People expect all songs to sound like "How You Remind Me", Only 10 tracks

Once upon a time it was quite "cool" to like this 4-piece Canadian band. The internet was buzzing about Chad Kroeger's unique style and the band's underground following across Canada. MP3s of early unreleased tracks were being swapped and downloaded by fans wanting to hear more and the future for Nickelback looked rosy when they released their first commercial album "The State".

This was received positively with tracks such as "Leader Of Men" getting reasonable airplay on American and Canadian radio stations and the album sold well. Slowly, Nickelback were getting recognition.

Then what happened? Well, they released "How You Remind Me" from their second commercial album "Silver Side Up" and all hell broke lose. "How You Remind Me" was hugely popular in the States and Nickelback was officially the "coolest" band in late 2001. In February 2002 they released this track in Europe and its success here mirrored that in North America. The airplay it received was phenomenal and it stayed in the charts for many weeks. It was even the most played rock song in Europe over the summer.

On the back of this and the release of "Silver Side Up" here, they started touring. They received three nominations at the 2002 Kerrang Awards (didn't win anything though) and seemed to be able to do nothing wrong. But they were slated in the musical press for basing a tour on the back of one song - one hugely popular song but nonetheless, one song. Their second single from "Silver Side Up" was "Too Bad" and wasn't released until half way through their tour. The album itself was well received and sold well at first but people soon began to tire of it and began nitpicking and criticising and Nickelback fans on the internet began to die down - they were still there but just didn't admit it any more.

So what was the problem with "
;Silver Side Up"? In my opinion, nothing. I thought that it was a good, solid album with emotive songs, kicking guitar riffs and strong vocals from Chad Kroeger.

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The track listing is as follows:


~ Never Again ~

For me, this was a good choice of opener as it is upbeat and allows Kroeger to show off his vocal ability. The lyrics centre on domestic violence "he's drunk again - it's time to fight" and in essence is quite depressing and emotional although the song comes across as being angry and bitter.


~ How you remind me ~

This is the song that everyone has heard due to its extensive airplay on various radio stations. The catchy lyrics "Never made it as a wise man, couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing..." sticks in your head and in my opinion is the best song on the album. However, many people bought "Silver Side Up" on the basis of this one song and were disappointed as the rest of the tracks are not as easy to listen to and catchy although excellent in their own right.


~ Woke up this morning ~

This is a very strong, solid song and memorable to myself as it was the track that they played to open their gig at the SECC last August. It kind of hides itself away on the album as it is very different from the song before and may be overlooked. But, it is still one of the better ones in my opinion.


~ Too bad ~

Again, this is another one of my favourites and was the second single taken from the album. It is catchy and was a good choice although it didn't catch the public's imagination possibly because the chorus is not as catchy as "How You Remind Me" and many were expecting a similar style to this.


~ Just For ~

Although, the song is not a weak one, it not one of my favourites. The vocals work well, the guitars are prominent and overall it is quite easy to
listen to. I have noticed th
at the intro sounds very much like Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" although the rest of the song bears no resemblance to it.


~ Hollywood ~

This song has been criticised for being one of the more "boring" ones on the album but I have to admit that I quite like it. This may be because it sounded exceptionally good when I saw it performed live and the guitar solo really stands out. It is one of the heavier, slower songs on the album and can take a while to get in to but it is one of my favourites.


~ Money Bought ~

As a contrast to "Hollywood" this track is a little more upbeat with a relatively strong chorus although I find the verse to be a bit weak. It is a good enough song but I personally think that there are better ones on the album.


~ Where Do I Hide ~

This song opens well, with a solid 35 second intro. It is one of the better songs and well suited to Kroeger's gritty vocals. Guitars feature heavily in this one and again it is great performed live. The chorus is catchy in its own way although I personally feel that the whole song is strong.


~ Hangnail ~

Unfortunately, as with most albums, songs towards the end are usually the weaker ones and "Hangnail" is probably the poorest track on the album in my opinion. It is still an okay song but nothing much to write home about.


~ Good Times Gone ~

The last song of the album is more downbeat and with "Hangnail", is classed as one of the weaker tracks. However, I don't think that it deserves the criticism it receives. It does sound like some of Nickelback's earlier stuff (before Silver Side Up). I think it is a good track and would probably appeal to those who bought the album based on "How You Remind Me" as it isn't as heavy as some of the other tracks.

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S
o that's "Silver Side Up". As with all albums, there are good tracks and bad ones and I think Nickelback have produced a pretty good mix. Of course, your perception of a song depends and your own personal taste and I believe that the problem with "Silver Side Up" is that many people bought it wanting to hear carbon copies of "How You Remind Me". When this wasn't the case, they dismissed it as being poor as the style of the other tracks was quite different to the first single.

However, I liked the album, I like Nickelback (hey, I even met Chad at the SECC gig) and I am going to give "Silver Side Up" five stars.

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