All the Right Reasons

Throughout their nine-year career, Nickelback have stayed true to their roots, releasing five CDs of straight-up, unapologetic rock & roll. So how have things changed for the Canadian boys since the massive success of Silver Side Up and The Long Road? Well, brothers Chad and Mike Kroeger still live in the Great White North, and they still write hook-laden rock songs. The only difference now is that they have the satisfaction, 10 million CDs later, of smugly knowing that even some of their biggest naysayers will guiltily admit to singing along with Nickelback's catchy hits. On All the Right Reasons, one track definitely ranks high up in hum-ability: the first single, "Photograph," reminisces about the bittersweetness of high school in a small town--once again reconfirming frontman Chad Kroeger's ability to write memorable hooks. Regarding the rest of the disc: standard rock topics like love, lust, jealousy, and breakups abound, with riff-y delivery that longtime fans will love. The guilty pleasure bunch will also find what they need within the grooves, on the ballad "If Everyone Cared," the riff-heavy "Fight for All the Wrong Reasons," and the Metallica-inspired "Savin' Me." The disc's most impressive and simultaneously surreal moment, however, exists on "Side of a Bullet," a passionate revenge tale written about the killer of Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, which features one of the late Abbott's guitar solos as donated by Pantera bandmate and brother, drummer Vinnie Paul. --Denise Sheppard