Customer Reviews

Silver Side Up

5 star:		(161)
4 star:		(90)
3 star:		(44)
2 star:		(46)
1 star:		(80)

 

 

With a huge success from "How You remind Me," Nickelback have shot from the west coast of Canada to being a big name in music today. Here's the track breakdown for "Silver side Up":

1. Never Again: A song about domestic violence. This is the most pissed off I've ever heard these guys. 9/10

2. How You Remind Me: The single that launched them to the top of the charts. Need I say more? 10/10

3. Woke up this morning: Love the guitar solo here. Fairly good rock song. 9/10

4. Too Bad: The next single. A bit angrier than How You Remind Me, but still as catchy. 10/10

5. Just For: Really Hard, and doesn't that opening guitar sound kinda like "Smells Like Teen Spirit"? 8/10

6. Hollywood: Nothing really stands out here, I usually skip this. 6/10.

7. Money Bought: Some great lines in this one. 8/10

8. Where Do I Hide: My personal fave. Harder than the singles, but Nickelback sounds better like this. 10/10

9. Hangnail: My second fave on the CD, for all the same reasons as the first. 10/10

10. Good Times Gone: A switch to slow rock , but still as good as the rest of the songs. This features Ian Thornley, the lead singer of Big Wreck, on guitar. 9/10

In general, if you buy this CD for "How You Remind Me", you may be in for a bit of a surprise. However, if you can stand harder music, this is a good album.

I am a new Nickelback listener so I cannot tell you about their development as a band up to this point, but I can tell you that this CD is a terrific CD and has really led them to be listened to by a larger audience. I am sure that most people who listen to contemporary music and even those who don't have heard their sond How You Remind Me and Too Bad. These are two great songs, definitely enough reason to buy this CD. But there are many other good songs on it also such as harder ones like When I Woke Up This Morning and Nevermind. Admittedly they're are a seemingly extraneous songs, but overall the CD is a teriffic CD.

I have to agree with anothe reiewer that said after the first listen they weren't impressed,but upon later listenings they were. I am also in that same category. I wasn't too impressed with 'The State'. It had some good songs on it,but began after a while to seem repetitve. In fact the first time I hear 'How You Remind Me' I thought it was some song on 'The State' that i hadn't heard. When I heard Nickelback was coming out with another cd I figured I'd get it for 'How You Remind Me' the same way I got 'The State' for 'Leader of Man'. Upon my first listening of the cd I wasn't too impressed,but now after hearing the album numerous times I can say that it is an awesome cd. Not one to be missed.

So this band isn't original... who cares? Sorry to inform you all but pretty much everything has been done before. Theres no mix of metal, grunge, blues or anything else left; unless you want to start a country-rap band, then be my guest. I'm sure it will sound great....

Anyway, like I said, this is a good cd, plain and simple. Some of the tracks are quite grungy, which is good in my opinion. My favorite tracks are "Look What Your Money Bought", "Just For", and "Woke Up This Morning".

This album is really good! They have a lot of catchy tunes but some of them you have to listen to a few times for them to grow on you. Overall I gave the CD four stars because it rocks but their other album "the state" is better. If you like 3 doors down, Incubus and Creed, then this is right in your genre. So go buy it already! :p

After listening to this album once, i can't say i was over impressed, probably the greatness of how you remind me overlooked the rest of the album and made it seem quite plain. four hours later the albums is still going strong on repeat and keeps geting better.
Each song has its own sound and the pace keeps up with the powerful and energetic sound and theres the voice too match it.
Labelled as post-grunge or as some are saying alt/nu-grunge, this is impressive and unlike some of the latest 'grunge' efforts all tryin to copy eddie vedder, this sets standards for new grunge bands and also adds some originality to the scene.
Best five songs have to be how you remind me, [radio friendly, quality and addictive describe this]
Never again [great vocals, wicked riffs, superb]
Just For [ Another wicked riff , reminds me of teen spirit abit and the vocals seem a bit staind'ish]
Hollywood [ some neat vocal effects add to another great song]
Good Times Gone [ possibly the most balladish song on the album and also the longest, ends the album on a very high note.]
overall some people may say this album is the same because all the songs are in your face rock, no extra fast or slow songs or very heavy stuff..........but the quality is here without a doubt and thats why a high 5 is on order!

cya! gonna check out their first album 'state'

What is this unoriginal [junk]. This is like a compilation of really bad pearl jam B-sides. What is this band doing on roadrunner records.

I bought the CD "Silver Side Up" tonight. I had previously heard "Never Again", "How You Remind Me", & "Too Bad" through MP3 downloads, but WOW for 10 songs this CD is awesome.
Never Again - Hard but keeps me entertained throughout
How You Remind Me - Great catchy tune w/ a soft side too it
Woke Up This Morning - Another great hard tune
Too Bad - Shows their sensitive side BEST SONG ON THE CD!
Just For - Great Hard tune which shows their ability to rock!
Hollywood - Catchy beginning riff that'll have ya singing it all day
Money Bought - Amazing drums & vocals some high powered music!
Where Do I Hide - Guitar just screams like hell! HELL YEAH!
Hangnail - Fluid throughout the song!
Good Times Gone - Softest tune on the CD still amazing

So if you haven't bought the album get it. The State, Hesher, & Curb were amazing but you ain't heard nothin' yet!!

I first got into Nickelback at the release of How You Remind Me which instantly became one of my top songs. I didn't actually buy Silver Side Up until June of this year. That's a decision I regret. I should have bought this album when it first came out because it's fantastic. When I first heard Nickelback doing How You Remind Me I thought it might have been Staind, which is not a difficult mistake to make. However, listening to this album, Nickelback is a very unique album with not only a unique sound but unique lyrics that not only please the ears but satisfy the libido. Well, maybe not the libido bit, but it is awesome.

Never Again - A look at domestic violence. One of the faster songs on the album and very good. I'm giving this a 4/5 because I do not like the singing throughout the whole song, only part of it.

How You Remind Me - The first single from the album and the song that made me want to buy this album. It's catchy and radio-ready, and its difficult not to love this song about decaying relationships. I give this a 5/5. It is one of my favorite tracks on the album.

Woke Up This Morning - Another song about decaying relationships and probably my least favorite track. The opening is probably the most disappointing part and the bridges lose the rock feel to them. The chorus is the saving grace of this track, which jumps right back into the feel of How You Remind Me. A pity the whole track isn't like that. I give this a 3/5.

Too Bad - A catchy radio-ready song that will be stuck in your head long after hearing it. You might have heard this one on the radio. I did before getting this album but I never knew that it was a Nickelback song, I just knew that I loved it. This is a 5/5 and is one of the top songs on the album.

Just For - Probably the most disturbing song on the album, the lyrics blend well with the guitar playing and once again Chad Kroeger impresses me with his range. This song gets a 4.5/5 and would probably get a 5 if it weren't so disturbing.

Hollywood - Great song even though the lyrics are probably the least original on the album. Not to say that they were copied its just that Nickelback isn't the first group to sing about Hollywood. The guitar playing is the best thing about this track and even though I love it, it still is one of my least favorite songs. I give this a 3.5/5, it gets in just ahead of Woke Up This Morning because this singing is great.

Look What Your Money Bought - A very nice song, the guitar playing is great and you have to love Chad's voice. The lyrics are interesting but nothing that will get stuck in your head like Hangnail or How You Remind Me. This gets a 4.5/5, mainly because it just sounds so damn good, lyrics aside.

Where Do I Hide - One of the best songs on the album. Great guitar, excellent lyrics, nice singing. An easy 5/5.

Hangnail - My favorite track on the album. Fantastic singing, catchy lyrics and a chorus you wont be able to forget. Chad was in the 'zone' when he did this one, thats for sure. As far as I'm concerned this track should get a 10/5, but thats not really fair.. so it gets a 5/5. This is a fantastic song.

Good Times Gone - Another great song. It's the best song on the album for clearly hearing Chad's voice. It's got a country feel to it, but despite that, I still enjoy the song to no end. This song wont blow you away with yelling or loud guitar playing, its just a relaxed and remorseful look back in the past. A 4.5/5. Loses that .5 because of the countryish feel.

Overall this album is a 44/50 which is something like a 4.5. I give this album a 4 based on length however, which comes in around fourty minutes. Fortunately that fourty minutes is filled to the brim with excellent music and this album is definitely worth you're money.

Okay, I know this band has gotten a lot of criticism from various music fans for reasons ranging from: they are a rip-off of Creed (even though they have been around longer than Creed and have not experienced a Spiritual Rebirth) to the fact that the lead singer looks like Jesus (LOL), to the fact that some claim all of their songs sound alike. Well, even if there is overlap, the songs are good, and good songs make good overlap. So personally, I like these Canucks and even though I usually don't listen to this sort of music, I find SILVER SIDE UP to be a refreshing addition to my CD-collection. The music ranges from angry to angsty and is filled with powerful guitar riffs and lyrics which actually do deal with serious issues (ie: domestic abuse, dead-beat dads) or which just plain penetrate the more typical issues of doomed relationships (ie: HOW YOU REMIND ME.)

NEVER AGAIN: Nickelback's angry tirade against domestic violence. Some of the lyrics are a little corny, but it is nice to hear a guy get so riled up over wife-beating. Very nice, suspenseful riffs touched with this eerie noise in the background, which seems to foreshadow the tragic ending to this song.

HOW YOU REMIND ME: For some reason, no matter how much the radio overplays this song, it still works for me. It is by turns mournful and tender. "It must have been so bad, 'cause livin' with me must have damn near killed you" is probably the best line on this album. This one could probably work as a domestic abuse song as well.

WOKE UP THIS MORNING: An angry song directed at a complicated and failing relationship. At first, I wasn't too crazy about this one, but now I have really gotten to like the chorus.

TOO BAD: A song about the dad who abandoned Chad Kroeger and his brother when they were kids. Rather than being angry, the song seems to take the approach of showing that it is the father who has, in fact, lost out by missing his children's growing up.

JUST FOR: Both angry and sad, this song is about the anger a guy has at the ex-boyfriend (husband, father) who broke or emotionally messed up his current girlfriend (sister, mother).

HOLLYWOOD: This one starts out with some powerful guitar chords. To be honest, this is one of the weaker tracks on the album. I still haven't figured out precisely what it's about. I think it is probably saying something about the superficial nature of Hollywood.

MONEY BOUGHT: Starts out with some kind of ominous guitar chords. Seems to be about the pointlessness of money and a girl who has a lot of it but is empty inside. Catchy verse-starters like, "Cherry stem in her mouth, she can tie in a knot. Every trick she has is one of ten that she's got." This song is edgy and tough.

WHERE DO I HIDE: One of the more anguish-filled tracks on the album. Seems to be about aiding and abetting a criminal. The chorus and middle-verses get kind of emotional with lines like, "I remember that summer like yesterday. And I remember his mother, as he's dragged away."

HANG-NAIL: Yet another angry song about a bad relationship. I really like this one. You can really get into the chorus and the verses. Easy to see why it was such a big hit.

GOOD TIMES GONE: Probably my least favorite track on the album. Also the longest. Seems to be lamenting the loss of the band's uncomplicated childhood in Alberta, Canada. Starts out sounding like a folk-song, sounds a little like Irish music. Ends with the noise of boots storming out and a random soft chuckle from Chad Kroeger, as though maybe he is occasionally happy after all (!!!)

Overall, this is a pretty strong album, the type of thing you can listen to when you are working-out, doing paperwork, or basically anything that doesn't require being calm or keeping still. It is edgy and powerful, depressing, but not teen-angsty. Grunge-metal but not derogatory at all. I commend this band for the amount of hardwork it took for them to reach this level of success, and I look forward to hearing more from them. They are certainly much better than our other neighbors from the North such as punk-pop star Avril Lavigne!