Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

As with many hard rockers who’ve swam in the glistening waters of the mainstream, there’s usually a past to be reckoned with… or ignored, depending of course on how the sweet taste of success has or hasn’t fueled a live for the moment ego.  So Nickelback have arrived in style, their “Silver Side Up” release achieving massive worldwide success and turning the Canadian foursome into Rock superstars.  

“Curb” was originally ten years gone and first time listeners might be thrown by the high level of guitar riffing and low tuning that goes with it.  Those familiar will see that what they’ve done today is “refined” their sound at the hand of a starry eyed producer who convinced them they could go further if they only would… However, Chad Kroeger’s impassioned vocals and their knack for the catchy hook remain at the core—think of a band like The Goo Goo Dolls before “A Boy Named Goo” hit it big and you’ve got a good foundation to work with for comparison.  Now for fans that jumped on the post-“Black Album” Metallica bandwagon, well damn, that’s a whole other ball of confusion.  

“Curb’s” got a lot more instrumentality going for it, the arrangements not quite so simple, and exemplary of an early band going for broke, letting loose the amperage, grunging out before dumbing down, and consistent with the time it was produced when groups like Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and Pearl Jam were running rampant across the video screen.  So before they were “Heroes,” they were a little known Vancouver band struggling to make it in a Rock climate that’s subject to change as often as the late summer temperatures in upstate New York.  “Curb” features an earful of ragers like “Little Friend,” “Detangler,” “Fly,” or “Just Four,” that are more punch than pop yet still you wonder how they snuck under the radar screen so easily.  

It’s an overall solid heavy Rock record that was previously unreleased in the states, so this truly is a find for fans and serves as a sensible stop gap between records, which considering their still climbing chart work, may take a while.