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The Long Road

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This article is about the Nickelback album. For other uses, see Long Road (disambiguation).
The Long Road
Studio album by
Nickelback
ReleasedSeptember 23, 2003
RecordedDecember 2002–April 2003, Greenhouse Studios and Mountainview Studios, British Columbia, Canada
Genre
Length40:27
59:47 (bonus tracks)
LabelRoadrunner
Producer
Nickelback chronology
Silver Side Up
(2001) 		The Long Road
(2003) 		All the Right Reasons
(2005)
Singles from The Long Road
  1. "Someday"
    Released: July 28, 2003[4]
  2. "Figured You Out"
    Released: November 3, 2003[4]
  3. "Feelin' Way Too Damn Good"
    Released: March 15, 2004[5]
  4. "Because of You"
    Released: September 6, 2004[4]

The Long Road is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Nickelback, released on September 23, 2003. Recorded at the famed Greenhouse Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia,[6] it is the band's final album with Ryan Vikedal as drummer, and features a notable change in style towards more aggressive guitar riffs and the inclusion of double bass drumming. The album is the first collaboration with producer Joey Moi; who engineered their previous album, Silver Side Up, and produced the band's next three albums.

Composition

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Most of the album's songs were an experiment from the band into writing heavier downtuned riffs in either B or C tuning.[7] On tracks such as "Flat on the Floor", "Because of You", and "Throw Yourself Away"; Vikedal implemented the use of double bass drumming.[8] Despite this; the album features several prominent acoustic segments on songs such as "Someday", "Believe it or Not", and "Should've Listened". Kroeger's lyrics often revolved around topics ranging from breakups, self-harm, sex, and personal motivation. Kroeger wrote the lyrics to "Throw Yourself Away" about Melissa Drexler's infamous 1997 infanticide at her high school prom.[9]

During the band's appearance at Bizarre Festival in Weeze, Germany, on August 16, 2002; "Figured You Out" made its first live appearance.[10]

"Someday" later made an appearance as a part of Nickelback's appearance on MTV Unplugged in London on September 3, 2003.[11][12]

Commercial performance

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The album debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and sold 200,000 copies in its first week of release.[13] The album was quickly certified platinum by the RIAA on October 24, 2003; eventually being certified double-platinum on March 6, 2004.[14] The album was later certified 3× Platinum in the United States on March 10, 2005; having sold 3,591,000 copies as of April 2011.[15] It has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and was the sixth bestselling album of 2003, having also sold over 2 million copies internationally.[16] It was later ranked No. 157 on Billboard's 200 Albums of the Decade.[17]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic62/100[18]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[19]
E! OnlineB−[20]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[21]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[22]
The Guardian[23]
Now[24]
Q[25]
Rolling Stone[26]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[27]

The album received polarizing reviews from critics, journalists often praised the heavier musical direction and aggressive guitar riffs, but criticized the album's misogynistic lyrics.[28][29] The album was nominated for Rock Album of the Year at the 2004 Grammy Awards.[30][31]

Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly praised the album for its musical compositions, lauding the angrier direction and Vikedal's strong drumming on numerous tracks, claiming "The band hammers each song home with a single-minded fervor, cannily melding metal, grunge, and melody. As a singer, Kroeger possesses that rarest of latter-day rock-star commodities: an instantly identifiable voice imbued with passion and edge".[32]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album a modest review, criticizing Kroeger's songwriting but also praising the production of the album in addition to the band's darker change in musical direction, claiming "Nickelback courts it through their audience-pleasing grunge pastiche, which treats the style as just another variation of hard rock".[33]

Tour

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The band embarked on tour in support of the album with Trapt and Three Days Grace hired as opening acts. Theory of a Deadman were later hired as an opening act in November 2003 replacing Trapt.[34] The tour included 45 North American dates, 25 European dates, three Japanese dates, and five Australian dates, the second longest tour to date from the band.[35] Prior to the second European leg, opening acts Theory of a Deadman and Three Days Grace were replaced by 3 Doors Down and Puddle of Mudd.[36] Following the tour, on January 2, 2005, Nickelback unexpectedly fired Vikedal after a minor royalty disagreement, replacing him with 3 Doors Down drummer Daniel Adair.[37] Kroeger later sued Vikedal to prevent him receiving any further royalties from the band's music, though the matter was later settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.[38][39]

Use in other media

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Personnel

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Credits adapted from album's liner notes.[43]

Track listing

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Standard Edition

All lyrics are written by Chad Kroeger except where noted; all music is composed by Nickelback except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Flat on the Floor"2:02
2."Do This Anymore"4:03
3."Someday" (lyrics by C. Kroeger, Mike Kroeger and Ryan Peake)3:27
4."Believe It or Not"4:07
5."Feelin' Way Too Damn Good"4:16
6."Because of You"3:30
7."Figured You Out"3:48
8."Should've Listened"3:42
9."Throw Yourself Away"3:55
10."Another Hole in the Head"3:35
11."See You at the Show"4:04
Total length:40:27
Japan bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Someday (Acoustic)"3:20
13."Slow Motion"3:32
Special Edition
No.TitleLength
12."Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (Elton John cover) (lyrics by Bernie Taupin; music by Elton John)3:44
13."Yanking Out My Heart"3:36
14."Learn the Hard Way"2:55
Other tracks and B-sides
No.TitleLength
12."Love Will Keep Us Together"2:17
13."Too Bad (MTV Unplugged)" 
14."Where Do I Hide (MTV Unplugged)" 
15."Leader of Men (MTV Unplugged)" 

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[70] 3× Platinum 210,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[71] Gold 15,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[72] 5× Platinum 500,000^
Germany (BVMI)[73] Gold 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[74] Gold 7,500^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[75] Gold 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[76] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[77] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "The Long Road - Rolling Stone - 11/13/03". Rolling Stone.
  2. ^ Martins, Jorge (September 17, 2024). "10 Divisive Post-Grunge Albums From the 2000s That Are Actually Great". Ultimate Guitar. Archived from the original on September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  3. ^ "NICKELBACK – The Long Road: Metal Express". 23 September 2003.
  4. ^ a b c "FMQB Airplay Archive: Modern Rock". FMQB. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  5. ^ "Reviews: Singles". Music Week. March 6, 2004. p. 25.
  6. ^ Reesman, Bryan (November 1, 2013). "In The Studio With Nickelback". Mix.
  7. ^ "10 Nickelback Lyrics that Would fit Metal Songs". Loudwire. 21 April 2023.
  8. ^ "In the Studio With Nickelback". November 2003.
  9. ^ "Nickelback - Throw Yourself Away lyrics".
  10. ^ "Nickelback Setlist - August 16, 2002: Bizarre Festival - Flughafen Niederrhein, Weeze, Germany". setlist.fm.
  11. ^ "Nickelback - Live MTV ( Acoustic )". YouTube. 11 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Nickelback on tour The Long Road Tour: pg. 11".
  13. ^ "Fansided: People Finally Realize Nickelback Sucks As Album Flops".
  14. ^ "RIAA Gold & Platinum - Nickelback". Recording Industry Association of America.
  15. ^ Grein, Paul (13 April 2011). "Week Ending April 10, 2011. Albums: Adele Is Everywhere". Chart Watch. Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  16. ^ "Billboard 200: Week of October 11, 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  17. ^ "Best of the 2000s: Billboard 200 Albums". Billboard.com. Showing 141-160. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  18. ^ "The Long Road Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  19. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. The Long Road - Nickelback > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  20. ^ "E! Online - Music - Nickelback "The Long Road"". Archived from the original on 2006-09-19. Retrieved 2017-08-10.
  21. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  22. ^ Sinclair, Tom (September 26, 2003). "The Long Road". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  23. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (September 19, 2003). "Nickelback, The Long Road". The Guardian. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  24. ^ Liss, Sarah (September 25, 2003). "NICKELBACK THE LONG ROAD". Now. Archived from the original on 2005-02-22. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
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  30. ^ "2003 GRAMMY WINNERS".
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  34. ^ "Theory Of A Deadman Pushes For Its Own Identity". Billboard.
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  36. ^ "Hopes High for 3 Doors Down/Nickelback". 29 May 2004.
  37. ^ "Betrayed Nickelback Drummer".
  38. ^ "Nickelback's Former Drummer Ryan Vikedal Sued and Dismissed".
  39. ^ "Chad Kroeger Wants His Nickels Back From Ex-Drummer". MTV. Archived from the original on June 11, 2023.
  40. ^ "The Punisher (2004) - Soundtrack". IMDb.
  41. ^ Whiteley, Liam (10 April 2021). "AFL North Melbourne v West Coast Round 15 2005". YouTube. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  42. ^ "Should've Listened - Travis Tritt". SecondHandSongs.
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  62. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 2003". austriancharts.at. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
  63. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
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  69. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums" (PDF). Billboard. p. 166. Retrieved May 18, 2021 – via World Radio History.
  70. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2003 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association.
  71. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Nickelback – The Long Road" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  72. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Nickelback – The Long Road". Music Canada.
  73. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Nickelback; 'The Long Road')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  74. ^ "New Zealand album certifications – Nickelback – The Long Road". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  75. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('The Long Road')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
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