Artist Research- Nickelback

Nickelback

Nickelback is a canadian rock band from Hanna

, Alberta. The band was formed in 1995 by Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Ryan Pea

ke and then-drummer Brandon Kroeger. Nickelback rates as the 11th best seeling music act of the 2000’s and is the 2nd best selling foreign act in the US. The band has sold 21,000,000 album copies in the U.S.

History

The band is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The name nickelback originates from the nickel in chnage that Mike Kroeger gave customers at his job at Starbucks. He would often say, “Here’s your nickel back”.The band s signed to EMI in Canada an Roadrunner Records For the rest of the world.

Their first release was a seven Track EP called Hesher in 1996. That same year they also recorded thir furst album called Curb. “Fly” was nickelbacks first ever single.

Nickelbacks next album The State was released in 1998. From that album came two singles “ Leader of men” and “Breathe” they were very Successful and resulted in the album being certificated gold in Canada and the United States.

In 2001 Nickelback released their third album Silver Side Up. This album contained the single ‘How you remind me’ which was a huge success. It came #1 on the American and Canadian charts. It also was #1 in the U.S’ Mainstream, Modern rock and pop charts. Then in 2003 they release their fourth album The Long Road. The lead single in that album was called ‘Someday’. The album also went on to sell 5 million copies worldwide. Nickelback’s fifth album was All the Right Reasons released in 2005. This album produced 5 singles that went on to the top of the charts. The singles were ‘Photographs’, ‘Savin me’, ‘Far away’, ‘If everyone cared’ and ‘Rockstar’.
In 2008 the album Dark Horse was released. ‘Something in your mouth’ a single from the album reached #1. Out of this album 8 singles were released, all of them successful.

• Discography
• 
  
• Curb (1996)
• The State (1998/2000)
• Silver Side Up (2001)
• The Long Road (2003)
• All the Right Reasons (2005)
• Dark Horse (2008)

My Final Song Choice

I am going to be working on my own.

My final song choice is going to be Nickelback's This Afternoon From the album Darke Horse. This album was released on March 23rd 2010.

I have chosen this song because it relates to my life. Its a happy song about hanging out with friends and having fun. Also because i really like the band and this particular song.

Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis
The Script
Breakeven Music Video

What is the relationship between music & visuals?
There is a slight relationship between the visuals and the music in this video. This video is about a couple who broke up and how the girl has moved on from the relationship but the boy is still hurt and grieving. This is demonstrated at various times in the video. For example approx. 1 minute and 36 seconds into the video there is a scene where the girl is leaving the boys house this shows her walking away from the relationship. Another time where this is shown is at approx. 2 minutes 40 seconds which is a scene where the couple is holding hands and slowly let go and go separate ways. The different moods between the guy who is still sad and the girl who has moved on form the relationship is also shown in the video. When the camera is focusing on the male character the colour of the shot is black and white this is used to show his sadness and grief. However when the camera is focusing on the female character the shot is in full colour and is bright to show that she is happy and has moved on.

Are there close-ups of the Artist and star image motifs?
Throughout the video there is performance based scenes of the band performing on a stage in front of a crowd. There is also a shot that shows a tattoo on the male characters shoulder. The tattoo is of a shamrock and has the words ‘Irish Power’ on it. This represents the bands nationality which is Irish.

Is there any reference to the notion of looking?
In the video there are a few scenes where the main singer/male character of the music video looks directly into the camera. At approx. 3 minutes 16 seconds he sings into the camera. There is also another shot where the guy looks straight into the camera as though he is looking into the girls eyes. This shot is at approx. 2 minutes 01 seconds into the video.

Are there any intertextual references?
Personally I find that this video is a very typical break up video. There are flashbacks to when the couple were together and then scenes of the present times where the guy is still heart broken.

Possible songs for my music video

1st option

Artist: 30 seconds to mars

Song name: Closer to the edge

Album:This is war

Reason: I chose this song because i really like the beat and the lyrics.

2nd option

Artist:The Script

Song Name:Dead man walking

Album:Science & Faith

Reason: Its not a typical love song but still a love song.



3rd option

Artist:Nickelback

Song name: This afternoon

Album: Dark horse

Reason:The song has a really fun beat.

The Gadget Show

In todays Media Lesson we watched The Gadget Show on channel 5. The particular episode we watched was one where the two presenters were given the challenge of creating a music video.

One of the presenters Suzi had to create a high budget music video for Fightstar's song "The English Way" using professional technology whilst the other presenter Jason had to produce a low budget music video for one of Har Mar Superstar's songs using standard HD hand-held cameras.

Suzi produced a performance based music video and Jason produced a Story based music video.

My Musical Taste

Explain and ilustrate with examples your personal musical preferences.

Personally I enjoy listening to all types of music. However there is one particular band that stands out for me, Train. Train is an American rock band from San Francisco, California formed in 1994. Their first album ‘Train’ was released in 1998 with the hit ‘Meet Virginia’. Their second album ‘Drops of Jupiter’ was released in 2001 and brought the band a massive amount of popularity. The album also went double platinum in the United States and Canada and is the bands best selling album to date. Their third album ‘My private nation’ released in 2003 made it platinum with the hit ‘Calling all Angels’. The band then released a fourth album in 2006 called ‘For Me, It’s you’. However this album was not commercially successful and so ‘Train’ went on a three year break.


Train re-united in 2009 and released their latest album ‘Save Me San Francisco’. The first single from the album ‘Hey Soul Sister’ became the bands most successful single so far.

I also really enjoy listening to ‘The Script’. ‘The Script’ is an alternative rock band from Dublin, Ireland. The bands most recent album was released on the 13th of September 2010. The album is called ‘Science & Faith’. The first single from the album is called ‘For the first time’.