For over two decades, Nickelback have occupied a unique place within the rock community and music culture. Swaying from being equally loved and hated (for some reason), the Canadian quartet have built a legendary career on massive hooks, radio loved riffs and the ability to get inside literally inside everyone’s head.
After the peppy swing of Get Rollin’ back in 2022, the boys have come back with a bat swinging knockout of an album, Everything Under The Sun! Coming in a No. 6 on the main UK Official Album Charts and shooting straight up to No.1 in the Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart, they’ve provided us listeners with a hell of an album.
The album opens with Rattle The Cage, featuring solo guitarist John 5 (also worked with Motley Crue, Rob Zombie and David Lee Roth) and it immediately delivers the kind of high energy punch that fans expect from Nickelback. Driven by a thick chug and an arena sized chorus, it stands as a very strong opener and a standout track from the album.
Bones For The Crows enters with an almost movie like percussion and a darker atmosphere, giving the song more depth, as the lyrics sing out as a call to arms. I Already Know feels like one of their more polished and melodic tracks off the album, and Leave Me Behind and If I Don’t Go tackle themes of loyalty, personal struggle and redemption, revealing a more introspective side to Chad Kroeger’s songwriting. If I Don’t Go pulled a surprising heart string for me, feeling very vulnerable.
Chasin’ Famous brings the tempo back up, and the sleazy sounds come slithering right back. This one reminds me a bit of Skinny Little Missy from the 2022 album. Not in a lyrical sense, but in the punchy groove, crunchy guitar tones and a playful, almost tongue in cheek confidence oozing out.
Lift Somebody Up is track 10 on the album, and it’s an uplifting anthem featuring an impressive list of guest musicians, including Sammy Hagar, Brent Smith and Zach Myers from Shinedown, Tommy Lee and Charlie Benante (Anthrax). I think it’s a great opportunity for those to say “Now I know what it’s like to be in f*cking Nickelback”.
We close on Last Night Was Fun, which is one of their softer tracks. I like all the tracks; my only wish is that they ended the album on something as massive as Lift Somebody Up.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of Everything Under The Sun is that it feels honest. It doesn’t incessantly chase nostalgia or reek of reinvention; it simply embraces the entire concept of Nickelback. The rockers, the storytellers, the hitmakers and the survivors.
Love them or loathe them, Nickelback continue to do what they’ve always done best: write songs that connect. And on Everything Under The Sun, you can certainly bask in it’s rays without being burned.
Review By Neve Saltmarsh.