This year marks the 10th anniversary of grunge, an occasion the rock press has duly noted by plastering Kurt Cobain’s face across as many magazine covers as possible. But the legacy of flannel and Big Muff distortion is also being celebrated in the far more unlikely environs of Top 40 radio, where almost all of the year’s rock crossover hits have been descendants of Seattle circa ’91. You may not hear much Nirvana in Creed, 3 Doors Down, or Staind, but they will make you wonder whatever happened to Seven Mary Three, Candlebox, and all those other Pearl Jam–listening one-hit wonders who never quite got the punk side of the alterna-rock equation.
If Staind are this year’s biggest rock surprise, Vancouver’s Nickelback are a close second. On the strength of their breakthrough single, "How You Remind Me," the heretofore unknown band’s second album, Silver Side Up (Roadrunner), debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart a few months back. With its quiet verse, loud chorus, and dark melodic undertow, "How You Remind Me" has all the hallmarks of vintage grunge. But what really makes it work is the standout vocal performance of frontman Chad Kroeger, who brings the song to a climax with an anguished howl: "I’ve been wrong, I’ve been down, been to the bottom of every bottle/These five words in my head scream, ‘Are we havin’ fun yet?’ "
The great grunge paradox is that it is fun, despite its glum sentiments. The rest of Silver Side Up isn’t much cheerier, but it rocks with an old-fashioned lack of artifice: no electronics, no rapping, and a steadfast devotion to melody rather than aggression. Not only are Nickelback practically from Seattle (Vancouver is about a two-hour drive north), they also had the good fortune of working with producer Rick Parashar, the man behind the holy grail itself, Pearl Jam’s Ten (Epic). Add in Kroeger’s curly blond mane and retro goatee — not to mention the decline of rap metal — and you’ve got a can’t-miss proposition.
Kroeger is not quite the drama queen that Staind’s Aaron Lewis is, but he does share Lewis’s penchant for candid lyrics and preoccupation with the underside of blue-collar life. Based on a sordid tale of domestic violence straight off a Dixie Chicks record, the opening "Never Again" might be too literal; same with "Too Bad," a Staind-style litany of the evils of parental neglect. Kroeger’s storytelling abilities improve as the disc goes on, though, and the band follow suit. "Money Bought" is hotly percolating disco grunge about a rich girl gone bad; "Where Do I Hide" is stomping Zep blooze on the run from the law.
Until recently, a pure grunge band like Nickelback would have had to dress their angst in metal clothing in order to get invited to the big rock party. Long-time Creed buddies Sevendust are a familiar name on the metal-festival circuit, but they also have a pop side. On their new Animosity (TVT), they add an interesting twist to the quiet-verse/loud-chorus formula: they prefer violent, teeth-gnashing verses and forcefully melodic choruses. But coming off the huge success of the acoustic ballad "Angel’s Son" (performed by singer Lajon Witherspoon and the former members of Snot as a tribute to that band’s late singer), they’re not averse to toning things down a little.
Sevendust’s previous CD, Home (TVT), yielded a couple of exciting pop-metal hits, and there’s at least one winner here: "Trust," which synthesizes the brutality and pop smarts of prime Korn and Deftones into something nonetheless unique. It’s a sign that they haven’t gone entirely grunge, despite the switch from veteran metal producer Toby Wright to Vertical Horizon/Fuel guy Ben Grosse. Still, almost every song has a chorus that would fit on the Nickelback album.
As the most visible black frontman of the new-metal generation and one of its few pure singers, Witherspoon has often been praised for his vocal abilities. Lyrics, however, are not a strong suit — "Trust" remains a headscratcher despite even with the disc’s sharpest hooks. Witherspoon’s duet with Staind’s Aaron Lewis, "Follow," is full of similarly unrefined angst, but Lewis’s emotionally raw performance carries the tune, just as he does on so many of his own songs. The angrier the band get, the more convincing they are, as the mosh-inciting opener, "Tits on a Boar," attests. Sevendust may not be ready for a Nickelback-style pop crossover, but their mixture of metal rage and neo-grunge tunefulness remains compelling.
Nickelback headline Avalon next Thursday, November 29. Call (617) 262-2424. Sevendust open for Fuel this Sunday, November 25, at the Palladium in Worcester. Call (508) 797-9696.
