Introduction

Being obsessed with something is a part of everyday life for the people not only in America, but all over the world. Americans will find something they love and won't let it go. This obsession may last until the next craze occurs, or it may last their entire life. This could be anything from a person they know, to a certain place, to an activity. Having an obsession shows that people are allowed to express their thoughts and feelings, gives them something to enjoy, and makes them feel like they are part of something.

Biography: Who "invented" them? Who influenced them?

Throughout the course of Nickelback's history, some things have changed, but at least one thing has remained the same. No matter who it was or what they were going through, the band has been made up of four guys. Brought together in 1996, the original four were two brothers, their cousin, and one of their friends. Chad Kroeger became the vocalist for the band and his brother, Mike, played bass. Their cousin Brandon was their drummer and the friend of theirs, Ryan Peake, also sang and played guitar for the band. Very shortly after the band formed the drummer, Brandon, left the group because he wanted to pursue things other than music. Mitch Guidon took over, but only for a short period of time. In 1998, Nickelback's drummer had changed for the second time. Mitch Guindon left the group, and a long time friend of the Kroeger brothers, Ryan Vikedal, replaced him. In 2005, the drummer was replaced yet again. The group claimed that he no longer cared about the music, while the three of them were still very dedicated. There were also problems with him receiving money that he was not supposed to. When Ryan Vikedal finally left the group, the former drummer of 3 Doors Down, Daniel Adair, took his spot. Today Daniel is still a member of the band, along with the original three... Chad, Mike, and Ryan. Hopefully he is not part of the curse, and can stay with the band for the rest of their career. The band has been influenced by bands such as Creed, 3 Doors Down, and Saliva, but they still have a sound that is all their own. According to an interview with lead singer Chad Kroeger, ZZ Top also influenced them. He stated that him and his fellow band memebers liked them, but they had no idea ZZ Top liked them. All of a sudden one day, the classic rock trio came up to them told them that they should all do something together because they really liked Nickelback's sound. The guys are also influenced by major producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange who has helped them with a lot of their work (Kroeger, Chad).

History: What's their story?

Nickelback was first created in 1995 in Hanna, Canada. The original four band was made up of four guys... two brothers named Chad and Mike Kroeger, their cousin Brandon, and a friend named Ryan Peake. Before they decided to start their own band, Mike had worked as a cashier at Starbucks. This is where the name "Nickelback" originated. Nearly everytime Mike handed the customers their change back, he would say "here's your nickel back". The four guys played locally in their town for quite some time. After a while, they decided that having a band of their own was more than just something fun to do. They realized that they wanted to take it further and had hoped to make something of themselves. The only problem was that they had no money to get them anywhere. Luckily, Chad and Mike's stepfather allowed them to borrow some money so that they could move to Vancouver, and hopefully find a little more business. A friend of the band had a recording studio which he allowed them to use. Before the end of 1996, they recorded a disk with seven songs, named Hesher, which quickly got them more work. Very shortly after this, they produced their first real CD, Curb. Four years later at the turn of the century, they released their second major album, The State. The three albums were all brought to the world while trying to create a name for themselves and trying to become more popular. To do this, of course they had to do some work of their own, but a lot of it was done without them even knowing. Chad stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that once they got added to one little radio station in Canada, they got added to another and another, and it just kept growing (Q&A: Nickelback Talk Tough) . During this time they were also performing a large amount of small shows, creating a new website for themselves, and more. The boys were very busy, but in only a little while later in 2001, they released yet another album called Silver Side Up. This CD had their first song on it that became very well known. The song was called How You Remind Me. Many believe that they were well off before, but this album really pushed them to become what they are today. Between that album and the next one, Chad joined with Josey Scott, a member of Saliva, to create a soundtrack for the Spiderman movie. Right after they finished that in 2003, Nickelbacks first widely popular disk, The Long Road, was heard across the U.S., and even beyond that. As they go on, the band becomes more well known and is listened to more and more by all sorts of people. Their next album, which came out in 2005, was named All The Right Reasons. Up until 2007, it had remained part of the Billboard Top 30 hits. During it's run, it sold over 7 million copies, only in the United States. There were also more sold in other parts of the world. Nickelback's most recent CD, Dark Horse, just came out in 2008, and is so far doing wonderfully. They have began their Dark Horse tour in February, and will conclude it in August. The tour goes just about everywhere between California and England. So far Nickelback has had great success with the release of their seven albums, and is continuing on with their career (Nickelback).

Geography: Where are they from?

Nickelback originated in a very small town called Hanna, located in Alberta, Canada. In order to grow and become what they were hoping for, the group had to move. With the help of Chad and Mike's step father, they took themselves to Vancouver, a Canadian city in the western province, British Columbia. Their albums are sold mainly in the United States and Canada, but are also available all over the world. Nickelback is now on tour for their Dark Horse album in a wide variety of places. They are going to Germany, Ireland, England, and most of the 50 states, including New York, Alabama, Ohio, Washington, and California.

Technology: How does it work?

Being a band, Nickelback uses quite a few different instruments. This is how the band works and how it is put together. In other words, it is the "technological" part of the group.

When Chad Kroeger is playing guitar along with doing vocals, he uses a variety of different kinds. He has been seen playing Gibson and Epiphone electric guitars, as well as Yamaha and Fender acoustic ones. Chad is most often seen using guitars that are created by Paul Reed Smith, such as the Singlecut and 513 Models.

Bassist Mike Kroeger is simple compared to the other guys in the band. He mainly only uses two guitars, which are Spector and Lakland five string electric bass guitars.

Drummer Daniel Adair uses a very wide spectrum of different drums and cymbols. The main one that he plays with is the X Series. His drumset has a "Black Ice" finish on it along with Satin hardware. Adair uses his own signature drums sticks, and has many different cymbols, pedals, and drum heads.

Guitarist Ryan Peake also uses quite a few different kinds of guitars for different performances. A few that he uses more often than others are Gibson Les Pauls, Gibson Explorers, and Gibson Flying V's. Peake uses a double neck electric guitar by Gretsch to play Nickelback's "Someday", and uses his fathers old Gibson acoustic guitar to play "Photograph".

To keep all of their guitars working properly, Nickleback uses a guitar technician by the name of Tim Dawson. Tim sometimes also performs with the band. (Chad Kroeger)

"Someday"

(Someday).

Artistic: What are the aesthetic characteristics?

When you think about it, basically everything about Nickelback is "artistic" from the way they design their album covers, to the words that come out of their mouths. The music that they produce is the thing that sticks out the most because it allows them to express themselves as a group, and also to relate to their listeners. Nickelback fan Rich Dietz says "It's amazing how closely some of their lyrics relate to my life. Their songs are about those days when you were young and crazy, getting in trouble, how you want a famous life, that first love, losing the girl you're crazy about... everything" (Dietz). Four out of five people surveyed stated that they use lyrics from songs to relate to their lives. Nickleback lyrics are a top choice among listeners because their meanings are straightforward and very easy to relate to.(Nickelback Lyrics)