Nickelback - Feed the Machine

Nickelback
Feed the Machine
2017
Spotify

Making fun of Nickelback has almost become a genre onto itself these days. No one represents a more basic style of music while still managing to make millions of dollars. I don't know one person who listens to Nickelback on a regular basis, or at least anyone who will admit it, yet they sell out stadiums and are one of the few bands who still sell physical music. Many people have been signaling this album as a reinvention for the band as they take a more political stance and turn the volume up on some of their licks. First the political bend. Chad Kroeger, being the savvy person that He has shown himself to be, saw all the turmoil and how fired up people got by politics in 2016 and thus this album focuses almost entirely on that. With tons of authoritarian symbolism and an overwrought Rebel narrative Feed the Machine is "supposed" to be the soundtrack to a resistance movement, what it is however is just a parody. There are times where Kroeger's voice edges ever so closely to a country sound, perhaps a bit of foreshadow on their next move. What makes it all worse is just how serious Nickelback's lyrics are. Maybe this sound could go down a bit easier if there was any bit of humor or self-deprecation but there is absolutely zero. Nickelback take this very silly music very very serious, and it makes it so hard to listen to. On "Must Be Nice" Kroeger uses this percussive vocal delivery and it is almost like they took hard rock, softened all the edges, ruined the lyrics and a brand new Nickelback song is born.

When every song tries so hard to be an anthem all of them are destined to fail. It's like the formula is so dialed in for Nickelback that they have no space to change or shift, you are going to get the Nickelback you have always expected and that is just about it. The production is well done with everything sounding just like it should, but when the song sucks who gives a shit how well it is produced. On the harder songs like "For the River" it is almost like Nickelback are desperate to prove their Hard Rock chops, but fail so miserably. It is just really hard to imagine who this music is for or who is really clamoring for the new Nickelback record, yet the band still packs places all over. It still feels like there is this silent majority making the band remain popular. I guess people can really get hyped on some bullshit sometimes. I knew going into this record I wasn't going to like it, but I didn't think it would feel so icky. This isn't just bad music it's bad pandering music, perhaps the greatest offence you can perpetrate against your audience. It seems like they were shooting for Metallica, but ended up with...well... Nickelback.

2.0 out of 10