NICKELBACK — Feed the Machine (review)

NICKELBACK — Feed the Machine album cover Album · 2017 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
martindavey87
There was a whole different hype going into Nickelback’s eighth studio album, 2017’s ‘Feed the Machine’. Rather than the usual pop ballads, the first single released, the title track no less, was instantly touted for how heavy it was, and you could instantly hear a shift in focus and determination with this album. Were we about to see a whole new Nickelback?

Well, okay, obviously not.

But seriously, this album is fantastic. If previous release, 2014’s rather disappointing ‘No Fixed Address’ was the band ticking every mainstream pop radio checklist, then ‘…Machine’ sees the Canadian quartet do away with that attitude and firmly focuses on strong song-writing, excellent performances and solid lyrics. Whether it was going to get them on mainstream radio or not, they had a vision, and with this release they executed it to perfection.

The musicianship is really on top form here, with the band at times displaying musical prowess almost on par with some of the more technical metal bands. Frontman Chad Kroeger’s fantastic voice is on top-form, and the lyrics are some of the deepest, and, well, “heaviest” the band had written in a long time. There’s lots of shredding for the guitar nerds, and the production is absolutely spot-on. Even the ballads (yes, of course there’s a few), seem more driven by solid song-writing, rather than pleasing pop radio listeners.

Highlights include the title track itself, ‘Feed the Machine’ (which I’m sure has certainly won over some of the metal crowd, but that’s just my opinion), as well as ‘Must Be Nice’, ‘Coin For the Ferryman’, ‘Silent Majority’, the monstrously heavy ‘The Betrayal (Act III)’ and the deeply powerful ‘Home’.

But honestly, this whole album is just one highlight after another. “Focused” and “determined” are two words that keep coming to mind, but it’s really like the band had a vision to release a record that would show there’re more than just a radio-friendly pop band. And while I’m under no illusion that they’ve won over their haters, the artistic merits of ‘Feed the Machine’ speak for themselves, and prove that Nickelback are indeed, a fantastic hard rock band, more than deserving of the fame and success that they’ve had.
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