Nickelback: Tracks slated for popular game Rock Band

Love it or hate it, Nickelback Canadian rock band is about to make a debut on the popular video game Rock Band.
By Billboard magazine named band of the decade but worst band in the world by readers of U.K.'s Word magazine, the alternative rockers will have six tracks available Tuesday to download and play using Rock Band's complement of plastic instruments.
Harmonix and MTV Games announced Friday the tracks will be available in the Rock Band Music Store on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.
The Nickelback Pack 01 -- which hints that more track packs will follow -- will include: Burn It to the Ground and This Afternoon from the 2008 album Dark Horse; Photograph and Rockstar from 2005's All the Right Reasons; Figured You Out from the 2003 album The Long Road; and Never Again from 2001's Silver Side Up.
The songs will cost about $2 each or about $10 for all six.
Rock Band and its sequel Rock Band 2 have sold millions of units worldwide since the first game hit stores in 2007.
More than 1,500 songs from 400 artists are available in the game's online music store, and players have downloaded more than 70 million songs.

Nickelback loved, loathed

Tickets for Thursday’s Nickelback return to the Fargodome aren’t sold out, but they’re not easy to get.
Fargodome General Manager Rob Sobolik said that as of last week, two tickets together couldn’t be purchased.
But for every one of those 12,500-some screaming Nickelback fans out on Thursday, there are probably just as many critics of the group making just as much noise.
Nickelback is one of the best-selling bands of the past decade, moving more than 30 million albums, prompting Billboard to name it band of the decade.
Still, detractors never miss a chance to take a hit at the British Columbia-based quartet.
A review in the Ottawa Sun called a recent show “nothing but a massive Nickelback group hug” for “fans who don’t care how sexist, stupid or emotionally arrested Nickelback’s music is, indulged their taste for songs about getting wasted or porn actresses in one predictably nasty, dirty and horribly predictable rock show.”
Safe to say the reviewer didn’t have a good time.
One group of non-fans who had a good time at the band’s expense were the organizers of a Facebook campaign who collected more fans for a pickle than the band had.
“I get really offended when people don’t like Nickelback because I like them so much,” says Darion Olson.
The 17-year-old from Dilworth, who claims to be the group’s No. 1 fan, will be in the crowd and screaming loud.
She became a fan when her stepfather took her and her sister to the group’s Fargodome show in January 2006. That show drew around 8,000.
“I’ve been a fan ever since,” Olson says, adding that she saw them at the Alerus in July 2007. “I’m infatuated with them. I love Chad Kroeger. I think he’s gorgeous.”
Looks may be a significant part of the appeal, since the group has a sizeable number of female fans.
For Marnie St. Germain, 38, the attraction is less about the sights and more about the sound.
“I just love their music,” she says, adding that she’ll be at the show though her 14-year-old daughter is upset she has to stay home to baby-sit.
Recently St. Germain’s been digging the group’s newest pop single, “This Afternoon.”
“It’s a good summer song,” she says, “great for listening to on the boat.”
She’s familiar with one of the popular criticisms – that Nickelback songs all sound alike.
“So do a lot of other bands,” she says.
Some haters even synched up “Someday” and “How You Remind Me” to follow the similarities, calling it “You Remind Me of Someday.”
Mike “Big Dog” Kapel, DJ at Q98 and FM 105.1, says some of the vocal haters used to be fans but have cooled to Kroeger and Co.’s mellower tunes like “Photograph” and “Far Away.”
“The hatred stems from the fact that they started off as a hard-rock band,” he says. “Some metal heads I know still admit that first Nickelback album is really good.”
But after seeing the chart-topping success of “How You Remind Me,” Nickelback followed the ballad formula to mainstream success, he says.
He compares the band to the Goo Goo Dolls, which started off as more of a punk band but broke out with ballads, or Metallica, which shifted from heavy metal to classic rock with what is called “The Black Album.”
“I was really into them early on,” says Erik Stenehjem. “Their first three albums are really awesome.”
Though he’s still a fan, the 21-year-old doesn’t know if he’ll catch the show at the dome, though he said they put on “a heck of a show” at the Alerus.
Lately, he says, they’ve been too “safe” with their music.
“They’ve been really focused on selling albums than pushing the envelope,” he says.
“You hear the ‘sell-out’ argument and all that, but at the end of the day, they carry a good tune,” says fan Travis Kurtz, who has already seen them about five times.
“I’ve hopped on the hate bandwagon there a little bit,” admits Kapel, “but their songs are so catchy, it’s hard not to get sucked in a little bit. Especially that new one. ‘This Afternoon’ is a catchy little ditty for a summer afternoon of drinking.”

Nickelback Tickets are available online on GigSport.

Nickleback named top group of the Decade.

Nickelback is the top group of the decade, according to Billboard magazine. Rapper Eminem has been named the top artist of the decade, and 'N Sync garnered the title album of the decade for its bestselling No Strings Attached (2000). Nickelback was the highest-ranking band of the decade, finishing behind solo artists Eminem, 50 Cent, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Nelly and Usher, for overall impact and importance. Despite a distinct lack of critical acclaim, the rock band from Hanna, Alta., has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide.

A pickle beats band Nickelback in Facebook contest

NEW YORK - Does a pickle or the Canadian band

Nickelback have more fans? It may be a joke but the answer might not have the band laughing — a pickle.A group on Facebook called "Can this pickle get more fans than Nickelback?" hit its goal over the weekend, notching up 1.4 million fans. The post-grunge band Nickelback had 1.38 million fans on Facebook but this number has since topped 1.4 million.
The group was started earlier this month by a Facebook user called Coral Anne as a joke, with the band's name deliberately spelt wrongly on the page to get around copyright infringement.

The teenager wrote that the page was inspired by another Facebook page called "Can this onion ring get more fans than Justin Bieber?" which she had found amusing.Canadian singer Bieber, 15, who was discovered on YouTube, is enjoying enormous success with singles from his debut album "My World.""This is all strictly intended for humor and nothing more or less," she wrote. "I am not using this page to endorse any hate towards the band Nickelback ... I do not wish Nickelback or any other bands any ill will and hope they would see the same humour in making this page as I have." Nickelbackcould not be immediately reached for comment.

Nickelback Confessions of a new Nickelback fan

Nickelback concert saying you're going is like kicking a sack of puppies.
People are going to hate you for it.
But I have been converted.
To make any friends I'm not likely by saying the Canadian supergroup absolutely, totally, rocked out at the Boondall Entertainment Centre last night.
In fact, I might lose some.
But Nickelback know what their fans want and make no apologies for it.
This was NASCAR turned into a rock concert. There were fireworks. There were girls in bikinis on big screens. There were mullets. There were more fireworks. At one point, no fewer than six band roadies armed with cannons fired Nickelback t-shirts into the crowd while throwing out cups of beer.
The tone for this extravaganza of machismo was set early when, following an eardrum busting crack of fireworks, the band opened with the sexy, or some might say grossly offensive, pumping rock of Something in Your Mouth.
This was followed by the mellower Because of You before one of Nickelback's big hits, Photograph ("Look at this photograph..."), unsurprisingly a crowd favourite.
Next Figured You Out ("I like your pants around your feet") was dedicated to the ladies who, despite what anyone may think, seemed to love the dirty lyrics, with the majority of female fans rocking out to Chad Kroeger's chainsaw voice.
Sufficiently rested by a string of slower paced songs, the guys then launched into their 2006 hit country rock Rockstar ("Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar") and then moved into the hard rocking Sad But True, Burn It To The Ground and a monster drum solo which saw drummer Daniel Adair genuinely looking in pain after 10 minutes solid playing.
Finally the band closed with a collection of crowd favourites, including How You Remind Me followed by a reverse to the 2002 hit Too Bad ending with an encore of 2003's Someday and 2008's Animals.
Of course it couldn't be over without another gigantic fireworks and flame display with what looked like a New Year's Eve collection detonated all at once.
I'm surprised Boondall stayed standing.
Simply put Nickelback were performers, absolute stand out performers, engaging the crowd in showy gestures like the call and response ("We say Nickel, you say Back!") and talking extensively with the audience, weaving a narrative through their performance.
It made everyone, even those of us who'd arrived feeling dubious, feel like a diehard fan
It was stadium rock at its absolute best. Anyone who has ever watched a hair metal video clip (Poison, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses) would love the excess, the bravado, the noise. And let's not forget the fireworks.

Gig date set for Nickelback

Nickelback to grammy award winning rock band are set to play Dubai.
The Canadian rockers will perform a one off full arena set at the Gulf Bike Festival in February 2010.
With their European tour the gig is set to concide.
The Gulf Bike Festival will showcase the latest in bikes, apparel, accessories, custom designed bikes and motorcycle related products, set to delight rev heads across the emirates. It also includes a host of live entertainment.
The concert takes place on February 5.

Nickelback and Staus Quo in Dubai

In Febryary the veteran stadium rockers will hit town with Canadian favourites Nickelback.
Dig out your faded denim, people. Aerosmith aren't the only golden oldies loving the UAE.
Vintage stadium rock gods Status Quo will be hitting Dubai between February 4-6 with with Canadian favourites Nickelback by their sides.
Both bands will perform as part of the Gulf Bike Festival.
The show also features, two live music stages, a FMX Stunt Arena, Super Motto Circuit, Quad Zone and bike park.
The Gulf Bike Festival is recognised as the largest of its kind and showcases the latest in bikes, ATVs, apparel, accessories, custom-designed bikes and motorcycle related products from all major international brands from Europe, the USA, Canada, Italy and Japan.