Dark Horse by Nickelback

Nickelback’s new album, “Dark Horse,” is a hard case for music fans and critics alike to decipher – their slow ballad-type songs shouldn’t even be allowed onto the worst adult contemporary stations out there, but the actual rock songs have super-hot electric guitar and sexy lyrics blasting forth, making them impossible to turn off at first listen.

Unfortunately, if you were to listen to more than one of these energetic tunes, it becomes apparent that all this album is about is sex and women. While that may be an attractive topic to many of the band’s listeners, it also goes far to alienate a lot of possible audience members. Literally half the album is on this topic, with “Next Go Round,” “Shakin’ Hands” and “S.E.X” leading this race.

In the style of Bon Jovi’s “New Jersey,” they end the album with “This Afternoon,” a lazy, laid-back tune about having crazy, impromptu parties with all your friends in the middle of the day.

The songs that shouldn’t see the light of day on any radio stations include “I’d Come For You” and “Never Gonna Be Alone.”

“Burn It To The Ground” and “Just To Get High” then join the frivolous-lifestyle-of-a-rockstar race and make the general gist of the CD is one of contrived flippancy, which is too much to handle in album form. The songs, like the first hit, “Gotta Be Somebody”, should be great to appreciate in the form of slowly-released singles, though.

It’s disappointing that this album starts to grate on the ears after a few listens, because it was really impressive the first time round, and I thought it had restored my lost hope in a once-unique band, but the fact is it’s overdone, overplayed and underwritten. Wait to hear the songs repeatedly in clubs and bars all over instead of buying the CD.