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Dark Horse
Studio album by Nickelback
Released November 18, 2008 (2008-11-18)
(See release history)
Recorded 2008 at Mountain View Studios, Abbotsford, British Columbia
Genre Rock
Length 43:38
Label Roadrunner
EMI
Producer Mutt Lange, Nickelback, Joey Moi
Professional reviews
Nickelback chronology
All the Right Reasons
(2005)		 Dark Horse
(2008)
Singles from Dark Horse
  1. "Gotta Be Somebody"
    Released: September 29, 2008
  2. "Something in Your Mouth"
    Released: December 15, 2008[11]
  3. "If Today Was Your Last Day"
    Released: October 11, 2008
  4. "I'd Come for You"
    Released: January 29, 2009
  5. "Burn It to the Ground"
    Released: March 23, 2009
  6. "Never Gonna Be Alone"
    Released: September 29, 2009
  7. "Shakin' Hands[12]"
    Released: November 16, 2009
  8. "This Afternoon[13]"
    Released: March 1, 2010

Dark Horse is the sixth studio album by the Canadian rock band Nickelback, released on November 17, 2008 in Europe and a day later elsewhere.[14] The follow-up to their multi-platinum selling All the Right Reasons (2005), it was co-produced by the band and Grammy Award-winning producer and songwriter Robert John "Mutt" Lange, famous for working with such acts as Foreigner, AC/DC, Bryan Adams, Def Leppard and Shania Twain. The entire album was made on FL Studio and Pro Tools, and features very little live instruments.[15] More than a year after its release, it has yet to leave the Top 100 on the Billboard 200.

Contents

Promotion and singles

The first single from the album was "Gotta Be Somebody", which was released online for free digital download on September 29, 2008, for a strict 24-hour period.[14] "If Today Was Your Last Day" had been planned as the lead single but was scrapped at the last minute. The track "Something in Your Mouth" became available for download from the United States iTunes Store on October 28, and was released to US rock radio airplay as the second single from the album on December 15. The song was a hit in 2009 in many countries, such as the United States and Australia.

In January 2009, the album's second mainstream single (third overall) was released: "I'd Come for You", with Nigel Dick having made the music video, which was shot in the same month.[16]

The songs "Something in Your Mouth" and "Burn It to the Ground", written by Kroeger, were released only to the rock radio stations in December 2008 and May 2009 respectively.

The exclusive Wal-Mart edition of Dark Horse included a link to download an MP3 from Nickelback's performance of "This Afternoon" on Wal-Mart Soundcheck.[17]

The album won numerous accolades at the 2009 Juno Awards, winning three out of five of its nominated awards including "Rock Album of the Year".

Dark Horse was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 9, 2008, only three weeks after its North American release. The album also remained in the top 20 on the Billboard 200 for weeks after its release.[18][19] The album was certified two times platinum in April 2009.[19] Burn it to the Ground was also nominated for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 52nd Grammy Awards but lost to AC/DC.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Chad Kroeger. 

Track Title Music Length
1. "Something in Your Mouth"   Kroeger, Robert John "Mutt" Lange 3:38
2. "Burn It to the Ground"   Kroeger 3:47
3. "Gotta Be Somebody"   Kroeger 4:13
4. "I'd Come For You"   Kroeger, Lange 4:22
5. "Next Go Round"   Kroeger 3:45
6. "Just to Get High"   Kroeger 4:02
7. "Never Gonna Be Alone"   Kroeger, Lange 3:47
8. "Shakin' Hands"   Kroeger, Lange 3:39
9. "S.E.X."   Kroeger 3:55
10. "If Today Was Your Last Day"   Kroeger 4:08
11. "This Afternoon"   Kroeger, Lange 4:34
Wal-Mart exclusive bonus track
  1. "This Afternoon" (Original Performance Series) - 4:26

Reception

The album received mostly negative reviews from professional critics, shown by an average of 49 out of 100 on the review aggregator Metacritic.[20] However, it has also received some positive reviews and won the Juno Award for Album of the Year, a category whose nominees are the top five selling Canadian releases of the year.[21] Some have criticized the originality of the album, saying its songs have similar themes to Saving Abel and souljaboytellem.com.[20]

Stephen Thomas Erlewin of Allmusic gave Dark Horse 1.5/5, writing, "Nickelback are a gnarled, vulgar band reveling in their ignorance of the very notion of taste, lacking either the smarts or savvy to wallow in bad taste so they just get ugly, knocking out knuckle-dragging riffs that seem rarefied in comparison to their thick, boneheaded words."[1] Entertainment Weekly reviewer Leah Greenblatt wrote, "It's hard not to be put off by the execrable lyrics of album opener "Something in Your Mouth" (the song is basically kryptonite for feminists)."[4] PopMatters criticised the band's release, giving it 3/10 and saying it was a step down from previous albums: "Dark Horse finds the group at a creative low point. Each song sounds like an older, better Nickelback hit, and Kroeger only once displays his prior songwriting strength with the sad-bastard portrait."[8] The Guardian awarded the album 1/5, being particularly negative of the band's cliché style; "Nickelback's music reaffirms every sex-and-stupidity cliche hard rock can offer."[5]

Rolling Stone gave the album a positive review, complimenting its production. ""Mutt" Lange lightens Nickelback's dreary post-grunge plod, applying guitar shimmer to prom ballads and detonating big beats under frat-party shouts and raplike vocal parts."[9] Whilst ChartAttack credited the band's success to knowing its target audience: "Chad Kroeger is a genius because he knows exactly what people want and precisely how far he can go. He turned out an extremely racy album that's loaded with songs about gettin' drunk and doin' it all without breaking any taboos, and with enough love and moral authority to grease its passage into the mainstream. Rejoice, North America. This is your world."[22] Billboard also praised the album's content:; "The bulletproof Nickelback provides affordable fun that promises good returns in hard times."[23]

Chart performance

Chart (2008) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 2
U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums 1
U.S. Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums 1
U.S. Billboard Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums 1
Canadian Albums Chart 1
Australian Albums Chart 3
New Zealand Albums Chart 3
UK Albums Chart 4
Germany Albums Chart 4
Austrian Albums Chart 5
Swiss Albums Chart 5
Russian Albums Chart 11
Irish Albums Chart 19
Dutch Albums Chart 25
Italian Albums Chart 26
Belgium Albums Chart 35
Finnish Albums Chart 50

Worldwide certifications and sales

  • USA: 2x Platinum[19]
  • Canada: 5x Platinum[24]
  • Australia: 2x Platinum
  • New Zealand: Platinum[25]
  • UK: Platinum[26]
  • Germany: Gold[27]
  • Sweden: Gold[28]

Tour

Personnel

Nickelback

Production personnel

  • Mutt Lange – production
  • Joey Moi – production, mixing on "Gotta Be Somebody", "Never Gonna Be Alone" and "This Afternoon"
  • Randy Staub – mixing
  • Zach Blackstone – mixing assistance

Additional production personnel

  • Chris Lord-Alge – mixing on "I'd Come for You"
  • Nik Karpen – mixing assistance on "I'd Come for You"
  • Keith Armstrong – mixing assistance on "I'd Come for You"
  • Mike Shipley – mixing on "If Today Was Your Last Day"
  • Brian Wohlgemuth – mixing assistance on "If Today Was Your Last Day"
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Olle Romo – editing, additional engineering
  • Scott Cook – editing, additional engineering

Release history

Region Date Label Catalogue
Australia 15 November 2008 Roadrunner CD RR 8028-2
Europe 17 November 2008
North America November 18, 2008

References

  1. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Review: Dark Horse". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jxfexzekldje. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  2. ^ McCoy, Heath. "Dark Horse no Back in Black'". Blender. http://www.blender.com/guide/new/55373/dark-horse.html. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  3. ^ Sheffield, Rob. "Dark Horse no Back in Black". Calgary Herald. http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=7ff3766f-750c-461a-ac5e-da004c9168ed&p=1. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  4. ^ a b Greenblatt, Leah. "Review: Dark Horse". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20239823,00.html. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  5. ^ a b Sullivan, Caroline. "Rock review: Nickelback, Dark Horse". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/nov/14/nickelback-dark-horse-review. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  6. ^ Lewis, Randy. "Album review: Nickelback's 'Dark Horse'". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2008/11/album-review-ni.html. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  7. ^ Bimm, Jordan. "Review: Dark Horse". NOW Magazine. http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/discs.cfm?content=166093. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  8. ^ a b Sawdey, Evan. "Album review: Nickelback's 'Dark Horse'". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/66323-nickelback-dark-horse/. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  9. ^ a b Eddy, Chuck. "Review: Dark Horse". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/24024304/review/24196452/dark_horse. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  10. ^ Rayner, Ben. "Review: Dark Horse". The Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/538569. Retrieved 13 June 2009. 
  11. ^ "Active and Mainstream Rock". FMQB. http://www.fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16697. Retrieved 2008-11-16. 
  12. ^ http://fmqb.com/Article.asp?id=16697
  13. ^ http://www.allaccess.com/top40-mainstream/cool-new-music
  14. ^ a b "Major Nickelback Announcement". Roadrunner Records. 25 September 2008. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/news/story.aspx?newsitemID=19507. Retrieved 27 September 2008. 
  15. ^ Ankeny, Jason; Loftus, Johnny. "Robert John "Mutt" Lange > Biography". allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hjfqxqt5ld0e~T1. Retrieved 22 November 2008. 
  16. ^ http://www.videostatic.com/vs/2009/01/shot-nickelback-nigel-dick-director.html
  17. ^ "Nickelback - CD: Dark Horse (with Exclusive MP3 Download". Wal-Mart. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10721070. 
  18. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/riaa/index.jsp Latest Platinum Album Certifications]. billboard.com. Accessed on 15 December 2008.
  19. ^ a b c "Gold and Platinum Database Search". http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=Dark%20Horse&artist=nickelback&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 15 December 2008. 
  20. ^ a b "Nickelback: Dark Horse (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. 2 February 2009. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/nickelback/darkhorse?q=nickelback. Retrieved 2 February 2009. 
  21. ^ Nickelback Win Three Junos
  22. ^ http://www.chartattack.com/reviews/62848/nickelbacks-dark-horse-for-dark-times
  23. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/reviews-album/dark-horse-1003895507.story
  24. ^ http://www.cria.ca/gold/0709_g.php
  25. ^ http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp
  26. ^ http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/page/News?news_id=87840
  27. ^ http://www.musikindustrie.de/gold_platin_datenbank0/
  28. ^ http://www.sverigetopplistan.se/

External links

Nickelback
Chad Kroeger · Ryan Peake · Mike Kroeger · Daniel Adair
Brandon Kroeger · Ryan Vikedal
Studio albums
EPs
Compilations
Singles
Videos
Tours
Early Years Tour · Silver Side Up Tour · The Long Road Tour · All The Right Reasons Tour · Dark Horse Tour
Related articles







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