Amazon.co.uk Review: Prior to the release of The State, grungey Nickelback won a Juno Award--the Canadian equivalent of a BRIT Award--for Best New Band. Named after an expression often used by bassist Mike Kroeger when serving coffees for $1.95 each in Starbucks, Nickelback have toured alongside Creed and owe a similar debt to the anthemic rock and articulate soulfulness of Pearl Jam. The State is consciously dramatic, with sweet strums constantly overwhelmed by crashing waves of distorted guitar. Singer Chad Kroeger (Mike's brother) meaningfully croons and wails his tales of life in a small town, with its complex relationships, claustrophobic underground culture and uncomfortable struggle between easy comfort (staying) and invigorating adventure (leaving). Yet Nickelback are at their best when escaping the Pearl Jam influence, as with the heavy, ponderous Billy Squier-style riffing of "Deep", the dirty 70s grind of "Not Leavin' Yet" and the slightly more experimental "Worthy To Say", where a near-Oriental ambient guitar is suddenly hammered by a burst of big rock and Chad Kroeger delivers a bluesy rap recalling prime-time Paul Rodgers. Nickelback are good, but still growing. Once they achieve their own clearly identifiable sound, they may well be great. --Dominic Wills
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Nickelback and The State compared to all other albums.
First off, The State is the second best album by Nickelback(slightly inferior to Curb). Worthy to say is definitely the best song here, I've tried but find it difficult to find comparisons for this song.
Not Leavin' Yet is great and can be compared to Where do I hide. Cowboy Hat also is a great song musically and lyrically, perhaps the best lyrically. (no comparisons have been found.) Leader of Men is the biggest hit and reminds me a great deal of Nirvana's Come as you are.
There is no ... Read More
Rating: - in my opinion best album they've done
first off breathe and leader of men are two of nickelbacks greatest ever songs and in my oppinion this is by far the best album that they have come up with, although well just have to wait and see after all the right reasons come out!
NICKELBACK ROCK
Rating: - One of the best Rock Album ever....
The State is quite simply one of the best Rock/Nickelback Album I've ever listened to. I had listened to Silver Side Up before The State and then purchased this not very long after and although I was at first not so pleased with The State, my opinion soon changed.
The songs do tend to differ from the latest Nickelback hits and appear much more "rocky" and somewhat lively. Tracks such as Diggin' This and Old Enough are a prime example of this. However, the softer more melodic side to ... Read More
Rating: - THIS ALBUM ROCKS
I'm sorry but it is true. I don't think that the other 2 albums after are that much better and the first 1 certainly isn't. I can't believe I didn't hear about this album first as it is almost better than the 2 after it. It has some more popular top quality songs such as "Leader of men" and "Breathe" which are great even after listening to them a thousand times. However I think that the albums not so well songs such as "Cowboy hat" and "Digging this" are just as great to listen to. ... Read More
Rating: - None Better
This is their best album of the three, if you owned silver side up before this one, you will not like this much, but once you get used to it, it is far better, having one song twice is a good thing, espesially if the song is Leader of Men, their is a couple of songs that are a bit dodgy, but the rest are so good they make up for it, and don't effect my stars rating. The accoustic version of Leader of Men is a great song for relaxing. You'll listen to the album so many times you will know the words ... Read More
