All The Right Reasons

Nickelback
All The Right Reasons
2005
Rating: 2/10

When I took this project on my goal was to prove to myself that maybe Nickelback isn't as bad as I make them sound and maybe they have something that could redeem them. I mean this album has now gone seven times platinum in this great country of ours and has sold a total of nine million copies in all of the world I figured there might be something good on this album. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried I was sadly mistaken.

It's weird when I was listening to this album I thought man this first track is awfully long. Then the album ended and I realized that all the songs sounded so much alike that you can't distinguish one from another. Think of Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time. Now try real hard to think of the complete opposite of him and you get this album. Nickelback doesn't experiment at all on this record instead they go with the same song formula over and over. They are still doing heavy guitars with nonstop riffs and they never seem to want to change chords or melodies between songs. After going to a shrink because I wanted to cut my ears off and never hear again I decided that at least Nickelback has one thing going for them. They have a horrible lead vocalist in Chad Kroeger with lyrics that are equally as bad, so at least they aren't outdoing themselves in anyway. Not to mention Chad Kroeger makes having a lot of money sound horrible with all of his depressing lyrics. Now I don't want this album to look like a total failure. Although it is sub par for many bands around right now, for them this is a stretch adding more keyboards and acoustic guitars than on previous albums. Also on Follow You Home, the first track on the album, there is a small guitar part coming in about halfway through the song that sounded good, but I soon found out it was played by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top instead of their regular guitarist. I am afraid there is nothing that can save this album from being anything but bad art.

In conclusion, this is the first and last time I will listen to this album. I will go as far as to say this album is unlistenable under any circumstances. I don't care if tomorrow someone offered me a million dollars to listen to this album again I couldn't do it if I tried. Bassist Mike Kroeger has tried to defend their similar sounding music by saying that when you have a distinct style it's hard to not sound the same. He even tries to compare them to that of AC/DC. There are two main things wrong with this statement. First, if you are trying to defend yourself why drag an almost equally bad band like AC/DC into it. Second, there is nothing distinct about Nickelback's sound. It sounds like every other hard rock band out there right now bland and uninspired. Yet all the other bands find some way of at least sounding different for every song. I suppose if you happen to like predictable songs and like to hear the same song over and over with slight changes then this album is for you. Aside from that group of people I think this comic says it best.

-Niko Gruber

Sky Blue Sky

Sky Blue Sky
Wilco
2007
Rating: 8.0/10

Some say that Wilco's latest album wasn't enough of a step forward; Pitchfork classifies this album as "dad-rock" and throws it to the side, calling it less experimental, less noticeable than their previous work. I say it's still experimental, just in subtler ways, and for those that say Nels Cline is too much the centerpiece of the album, are you implying that there are too many guitar solos? Well, I have news for you people.

When your guitarist is Nels Cline, you can do whatever the hell you want and make no apologies.

First off, let me say that I am indeed biased. Niko got me into Wilco about a year and a half back, and due to my solid diet of 70's rock as a child (thanks Dad) I'm probably too comfortable with lazy shuffles and wailing guitar solos rock to give this album an entirely unbiased listen. I was familiar with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot before hearing this album, and my friends suggested I give this album a listen primarily because Wilco was returning to their roots; some country, a little blues, a little rock... stripping things down a bit. Throw in Jeff Tweedy's vocals and Glenn Kotche's always-there pocket drumming and you have a stew that is quite delectable, as far as I'm concerned.

Guaranteed, the lyrical work on this album isn't a huge evolution from anything Tweedy's done before. The musicianship is solid, as expected; Nels Cline is a god amongst men, John Stirrat and Kotche make as solid of a rhythm section as you'd ever want, and the rest of the band performs admirably. I would agree that Sky Blue Sky isn't a record that pushes the limits of the band's creativity, as some of their previous albums have, and as many music critics have noted.

But this doesn't make Wilco's latest album bad. It makes it different. More classic. Maybe even more fun for Wilco to play and create (this album was a collaboration between the band members. A Ghost is Born was Jeff Tweedy and Pro Tools)... but let's not think about how much fun the band had taking a step back and writing some straight-forward rock & roll songs, let's just secretly wish everyone was Radiohead. Pitchfork, take note. Idiots.

This album works because it's so classic. Not everything has to evolve all the time; it's not always the answer to spend hours in post-production adding layers and textures and colors to thicken up a band's sound. Sky Blue Sky is a great album because Wilco didn't follow their recipe, didn't try to expand on the experimental nature of their previous album. Wilco, I salute you for stripping down your sound, letting down your hair and writing some straight ahead rock-and-roll. Thank you.

My favorites on the album are:

• You Are My Face--Such wonderful groove.
  
• Impossible Germany--Here is where Duane Allman is resurrected.
  
• Side with the Seeds--Nels Cline can keep up with the best of them. The driving instrumental sections showcase the band's incredible musical cohesion... the guitar solo is the point but listen for the string arrangements in the background and the half-cocked, swinging drums.
  
• Hate It Here--listen to the conversation between the Fender Rhodes and piano throughout the verses. Stirrat is milky smooth on the bass.
  
• Walken--listen around 2:28 when our boys turn up the heat and stomp through a few bars in a two-beat shuffle; one of my favorites moments of the album. Kotche shines on this tune, and Mikael Jorgenson makes eighth notes vastly interesting.
  
• What Light--kind of a Dylan-y thing Tweedy has going for him, but it works great for the song. Slide guitar is the perfect touch.
  

-Derek