Discography Ranking: Nickelback · 1:10am Feb 1st, 2021

I’ve said it once I’ll say it again: I love Nickelback. But saying that they have an inconsistent discography would be generous. I’m not gonna beat around the bush and say that they weren’t the best band around in the early to mid 2000. They were really bad and kinda deserved to be placed in the Triforce of Suckage along with Limp Bizkit and Creed.

However at the same time, they have just as many good albums as they do bad. So today, I’m gonna go through every single studio release from Nickelback and sort them from worst to best. Stand-alone singles like “Photograph” and “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” don’t count as I’m only looking at full releases.

Also, these are just my personal opinions, so no need to hate. I’ll even try to say what I like about the albums I rank low. With that, let’s get going

#9
All The Right Reasons

Oddly enough, Nickleback’s best-selling, diamond certified album is their worst. This came out right before the end of the era where Chad and company just weren’t trying. There are a lot of things wrong with this album, but the biggest problem by far is the lyrics. Almost one half of the songs have absolutely zero depth, like “If Everyone Cared” and “Photograph,” and the other half have the creepiest, most disgusting lyrics I’ve heard from anyone who hasn’t been associated with Fred Durst. This was covered on Regretting The Past on YouTube, and was shown absolutely no mercy. People defend this album to this day, but while I’ll defend Nickelback for the most part, not even I can get behind most of these songs. I don’t hate or love “Photograph” in case you were wondering, but I can stand listening to “Rockstar” from time to time as a joke. Not to mention, I love the songs “Far Away” and “Savin’ Me.” But songs like “Follow You Home,” “Side Of A Bullet,” “Someone That You’re With” all have lyrics that make my skin crawl, and not in a good way. Vocally, it’s fine, I guess, but for the most part, the instruments are just nonexistent

#8
Curb

I was tempted to put this at the bottom since I find this album to be really bland, but at least it’s not as lyrically terrible as the last entry. Unlike All The Right Reasons, I don’t hate Nickleback’s debut, but it has really not aged well. I’ll cut them a little slack since this was their first attempt at writing anything, and they didn’t have any record label behind them, but still, this album is one of many from Nickelback that hasn’t stood the test of time.

#7
The Long Road

This album isn’t as bad as it is bland. It definitely follows the pattern that Nickelback wouldn’t let go of for a while, being write completely bland and meaningless stuff for the most part, but make sure the singles stand out. The problem: this album had five singles, and only one of them were any good. “Someday” is without a doubt the song that sold the album, and to be honest, I do kinda like it. As for the rest of the album, you can tell that no one’s really trying. The only other song I like other than “Someday” is the opening track “Flat On The Floor,” and even then it’s over in less than three minutes. Again, this album isn’t bad, but it’s just another formulaic Nickelback album.

#6
Silver Side Up

The only reason this album makes it higher than The Long Road is because I like the singles better. This was the first album Nickelback tried their formula, and considering this was certified eight times platinum, it worked. But once again, it just hasn’t held up overall. I do like the songs “Never Again” and “How You Remind Me,” as well as “Too Bad” (which is underrated in my opinion), but that’s honestly it. Listen to the song “Good Times Gone,” and you will literally hear how much Chad just isn’t trying vocally. I love Nickelback and all, but it drives me crazy that they have all the talent they want and never do anything with it.

Luckily, now we have a few albums that I can at least kinda enjoy

#5
No Fixed Address

I know I covered this on RTP, but there are plenty of tracks I can enjoy. And while this album is definitely far from perfect, there is at least a lot more effort going into it than the previous albums mentioned. The problem with this album is that it’s just so poppy. The song “What Are You Waiting For” was fine the first time I heard it, but it’s insanely bland now. I’ll give credit where it’s due and say that they were at least trying to move in a new direction, but just because there’s a new sound doesn’t make it automatically good. But like I said, there are songs I do enjoy, being “A Million Miles An Hour,” “Edge Of A Revolution,” “Satellite,” and “The Hammer’s Coming Down.” Overall, No Fixed Address had potential, but they just couldn’t pull away from the formula entirely.

#4
Here And Now

For every song that I enjoy, it feels like there’s another that I don’t. I really enjoy “Bottom’s Up,” “When We Stand Together,” and “Holding Onto Heaven,” but at the same time time, there are totally bland songs like “Kiss It Goodbye,” “Don’t Ever Let It End,” and “Tryin’ Not To Love You.” It definitely feels like they’re trying to change styles, especially evidenced by the song “Lullaby,” but they just couldn’t pull away entirely. It’s what I consider to be the start of Nickelback’s comeback, but I still feel they could’ve done better. I do especially love the song “This Means War,” and so do a lot of people who generally hate Nickelback, which just goes to show the potential this album had.

#3
The State

Now we get to the great Nickelback albums. The State was Nickelback’s claim to fame, and I can absolutely see why. It was before they developed their tried and true formula, and even the most devout Nickleback haters would have a hard time picking this album apart. I don’t listen to a lot of the songs except for “Breathe” and “Leader Of Men,” but it’s always a joy when they do come on. It also showed what they can do musically, which they just wouldn’t do for almost ten years.

Speaking of which

#2
Dark Horse

For whatever reason, this is arguably Nickelback’s most hated album, which I obviously don’t agree with. I don’t know why Nickelback chose this album to start trying all of the sudden, but I don’t mind in the slightest. I think people just hear “Something In Your Mouth” (which I think is decent despite the disgusting lyrics) and write the entire album off. But it has some of my favorite songs in “Burn It To The Ground,” “Gotta Be Somebody,” “If Today Was Your Last Day,” “Just To Get High,” and “Never Gonna be Alone.” And the songs “I’d Come For You,” “This Afternoon,” and “Next Go Round” aren’t bad either. Most of these songs finally get to show off what Nickelback can do musically, which is why I place this album higher than The State. The only songs I dislike on this album are “Shakin’ Hands” and “S.E.X.” (yes, they called a song that). They’re both pretty much about the same thing and both feel like unnecessary additions to the album. Other than that though, this is one of my favorite albums in general

#1
Feed The Machine

But there can only be one best Nickelback album, and I just couldn’t put anything else other than Feed The Machine. It has my all time favorite Nickelback song, being the title track, and the worst track on here is “Must Be Nice,” which is no where near the worst Nickelback can do. The best part of this album though is the guitar work. Chad Kroeger and Ryan Peake finally get to show off what they can do musically, and it really pays off. I also really like Chad’s new vocals, having gone through surgery to remove a cyst growing in his throat. That alone proved to be potentially career-ending for Nickelback. But if they went through all that, and it still sounds this amazing, I couldn’t not make it number one

So that was a look at the best and worst Nickelback albums. Do you agree? Tell me your thoughts below and maybe even suggest another band whose discography I could rank in the future. The next RTP blog comes out in a week on Mötley Crüe’s Generation Swine (which you’d better appreciate), so I hope to see you all then

Report TheHardie-Boy · 80 views ·

Comments ( 2 )