STACK Magazine December Issue 122

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MUSIC visit
DECEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi
COVER FEATURE
T o this day, The Beatles have sold more
records in America than any other band
not originally from those shores. But,
who’s second? Led Zeppelin? Pink Floyd? AC/
DC? … um, Adele? Nope, none of the above.
The answer? It’s not from Europe or down
here in Australia, but closer to the USA. The
second biggest non-American selling band in
American recording industry history just hopped
over the border and got amongst it – no, it’s not
Bryan Adams... it’s Nickelback. Yep, the Canadian
poster boys of post-grunge arena rock – loved
and hated in equal measure – broke America
wide open some time ago. No matter what
anyone thinks of them, the facts remain: nine
Grammy Award nominations, three American
Music Awards, a World Music Award, a People’s
Choice Award, and 12 Juno Awards (the
Canadian equivalent of the Grammies).
Nickelback was formed in the early ’90s,
initially as a cover band called The Village Idiots.
The nucleus of the band was Chad Kroeger and
his brothers Mike and Brandon, who shared a
mutual love of Led Zeppelin and Metallica.
They re-named themselves Nickelback when
they released their Hesher EP, the name coming
from Mike Kroeger’s job at Starbucks where he
was often heard to say, “here’s your nickel back”
when giving customers their change.
The band’s new album, No Fixed Address,
comes over a year after Chad Kroeger’s marriage
to pop star Avril Lavigne, and arrives just in time
for him to turn 40. And while there’s growly
vocals, big-as-a-house power chords, and plenty
of lighter-waving rock choruses on offer, there
are some new directions afoot in the world of
Nickelback, no doubt about it.
While Nickelback fans will swoop on the new
album, and their Australian dates for next year
(see below), it’s hard to ignore the jibes that
have been levelled at the band, sometimes from
fellow musicians. When Black Keys drummer
Patrick Carney attacked them in 2012 – telling
Rolling Stone that “rock ’n’ roll is dying because
people became OK with Nickelback being the
biggest band in the world” – the band simply
tweeted a ‘thanks’.
Nickelback return with a new album, No FixedAddress, and an upcomingAustralian tour.
if [the critics] had
stopped writing all this
stuff about us, there would
be no controversy . . .