Nickelback乐队

　　[歌手简介]

　　Canada's Nickelback started life as a cover band in Hanna, 215 kilometres northeast of Calgary. Eventually, they got tired of playing other people's songs and singer/guitarist Chad Kroeger put together a bunch of original songs, borrowed 4,000 bucks off his stepfather, and went to big city Vancouver to record them in a friend's studio. Based on the results, Kroeger's guitarist brother, Mike, and pal bassist Ryan Vikedal all relocated to Vancouver in 1996; that same year, they recorded and released the EP Hesher and full-length Curb independently and embarked on a series of cross-country tours. The group's singer had spent two years selling advertising for a soccer magazine and now applied some of the skills he had learned to his band. He asked his friends to fax and phone radio stations to request their first single until it was played often enough for Nickelback to pick up fans on their own.

　　In late 1998, the band decided their managers were unable to bring them to the next level andstarted managing themselves. Mike Kroeger handled all the distribution, brother Chad handled all the radio tracking, and Ryan Vikedal handled all the bookings. The group had also invested $30,000 into a new album. The State was released independently in January 2000 during a slow rock period when Canadian content requirements were increased and local rock radio began desperately seeking out homegrown product. What they found was Nickelback's single "Leader of Men." Nickelback toured ceaselessly for The State and 200 shows later, the band had gone from virtual unknowns to playing in front of over a million people alongside the likes of Creed, 3 Doors Down, Fuel, and more. The band's post-grunge commercial appeal wasn't lost on the record industry and The State was snapped up by Roadrunner/Island, Def Jam in the U.S., and EMI in Canada. It eventually sold an impressive 500,000 copies.

　　Many of the songs that comprised the next album, Silver Side Up, were written even before The State was released in America and road-tested in front of eager audiences on cross-country treks. The other significant change about this set of songs was Chad Kroeger's conscious decision to write his lyrics in a more direct manner rather than the metaphoric and vague lyrics of previous releases. "Too Bad" was about the father who was never around when Chad and his brother were growing up. "Never Again" is a song inspired by broken homes. "How You Remind Me," the first single from the album, was written at rehearsals shortly before the band went into the studio.

　　To record the album, the band decided to work with producer Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog) at the same studio as The State, Vancouver's Green House. The album was completed in five short weeks and the 13 tracks were mixed by Randy Staub (Metallica, U2). The combination of Parashar and Staub, Nickelback's growing popularity, and the quality of the songs sent Silver Side Up into the sales charts around the world, spearheaded by the hit single "How You Remind Me." It was only the second time in history since the Guess Who's "American Woman" that a Canadian band had been number one on both the Canadian and U.S. rock charts at the same time.

　　After their initial mainstream exposure, Kroeger produced Vancouver natives Default and colaborated with Saliva singer Josey Scott for the Spiderman soundtrack. In the summer of 2002, the band re-released Curb since it had fallen out of print years before.

　　Nickelback最早成立于加拿大的小城Hanna，最初的成员是Chad Kroeger(主唱/吉他手)，他的兄弟Mike Kroeger(贝斯手)，他们的表兄弟Brandon，以及他们的好朋友Ryan Peake(吉他手)。他们开始演唱一些歌星的歌曲。1996年，Chad Kroeger向他的继父借了4000块钱跑到了温哥华一个朋友的录音室里录制歌曲，其间，Brandon离开了乐队，他们的朋友Ryan Vikedal接任了鼓手一职。这一年，他们发行了一张EP唱片《Hesher》，并且发行了一张独立专辑《Curb》，并且开始了巡回演出，但是当时他们一点名气都没有，他们花费大量时间去散发宣传材料和广告，以及发动亲戚朋友向电台打电话要求播放他们的歌曲，从而使乐队得到一定程度上的宣传，并且拥有了自己第一批较为固定的歌迷。

　　1998年，他们解雇了自己的经纪人，原因是他们的经纪人并不能宣传推广他们，并且不能把他们带到一个更高的地位。之后的时间里，乐队由Mike Kroeger主要负责财务方面，Chad Kroeger主要负责音乐方面，Ryan Vikedal则负责日程安排等。之后他们投资三万元来制作他们的第二张专辑。2000年初，第二张独立专辑《The State》正式发行。当时的加拿大摇滚音乐几乎完全被国外的摇滚乐所占领，他们急需寻找自己本土化的摇滚乐。正在这时候，加拿大人发现了Nickelback乐队，这使他们迅速窜红，他们的巡回演唱会也成为了音乐界的热点。

　　成名了的Nickelback乐队开始投身新专辑《Silver Side Up》的制作，在这张2001年发行的新专辑中，Chad Kroeger在歌词方面一改过去的含糊不清和隐喻，表达得更为直接，歌曲的创作也充满了灵气也更为成熟，有的歌曲源于生活中的经历，有的歌曲则只是在排练的瞬间就创作完成。而在新专辑中还有Rick Parashar和Randy Staub两位一流制作人来掌舵，所以《Silver Side Up》也成为了Nickelback在美国最为成功的专辑，该专辑曾经排在Billboard 200排行榜的亚军位置，并且诞生了多首摇滚单曲榜的冠军单曲，专辑销量超过了500万张。此后，Chad Kroeger又先后为电影《蝎子王(Scorpion King)》《蜘蛛侠(Spiderman)》《超胆侠(Daredevil)》创作了歌曲并参与制作原声带。2003年，Nickelback 的第四张专辑《The Long Road》正式发行。

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