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, 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 would produce all of the band's releases from 2003 to 2012.
Composition
Most of the album's songs were an experiment from the band into writing heavier downtuned riffs in either B or C tuning. On tracks such as "Flat on the Floor", "Because of You", and "Throw Yourself Away"; Vikedal implemented the use of double bass drumming. 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.
During the band's appearance at Bizarre Festival in Weeze, Germany on August 16, 2002; "Figured You Out" made its first live appearance.
"Someday" later made an appearance as a part of Nickelback's appearance on MTV Unplugged in London on September 3, 2003.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, it managed to sell 200,000 copies in its first week of release. The album was quickly certified platinum by the RIAA on October 24, 2003; eventually being certified double-platinum on March 6, 2004. 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. It has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and was the sixth bestselling album of 2003, having also sold over 2 million copies internationally. It was later ranked #157 on Billboards 200 Albums of the Decade.
Critical reception
The album received moderate reviews from critics, journalists often praised the heavier musical direction and aggressive guitar riffs, but criticized the album's misogynistic lyrics. The album was nominated for Rock Album of the Year at the 2004 Grammy Awards.
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".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album a modest review, criticizing Kroeger's lyrics for being overly misogynistic 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".
Tour
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 of 2003 replacing Trapt. The tour included 45 North American dates, 25 European dates, 3 Japanese dates, and 5 Australian dates, the second longest tour to date from the band. 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. Following the tour, on January 2nd 2005; Nickelback unexpectedly fired Vikedal after a minor royalty disagreement, replacing him with 3 Doors Down drummer Daniel Adair. 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.