Guest Blogger: Matt F2

Nickelback is a rock band from Canada. The band has been together since 1995. Their music has been classified as hard rock, alternative metal, and alternative rock. They released their first album in the United States in 1999. Their seventh and current album, “Here and Now”, was released in November 2011. The band has won many awards and has had many songs reach the Top 10 in the Billboard Hot 100. “Here and Now” has already produced two singles, “When We Stand Together” and “Lullaby”. According to Billboard, the album has some songs that feature great guitar work, such as “This Means War”, and some love songs like “Lullaby” and “Trying Not to Love You”. These songs, along with “When We Stand Together”, which has lyrics that really make us think about our world, produce a great mix of styles on one album. In “When We Stand Together”, they make you think about how we ignore things going on around us. Nickelback suggests that we should unite and work together to make the world better. Check out these lyrics from the song: They tell us everything's alright And we just go along How can we fall asleep at night When something's clearly wrong When we could feed a starving world With what we throw away But all we serve are empty words That always taste the same We must stand together There's no giving in Hand in hand forever That's when we all win “Lullaby” is a love song, where the male singer is trying to talk to his girlfriend. He can’t reach her, but really wants to let her know that she is not alone and understands how she feels. He says that, “I'm telling you that / Its never that bad” and she should “give it one more try”. The song makes you feel good that he is trying to make her feel better, and maybe it will work out. I agree with the Billboard review that says “Here and Now” is a “well-crafted” album. The EW review suggests Nickelback is silly and bored, but I still think “Here and Now” is a good album. I would recommend this album to those who like other Nickelback songs.