For a new rock station that claims to have edge, CFNY Edge 102 sometimes picks a song to spin that doesn't make any sense to me. Currently on high rotation when it has no business being on the station is Nickelback's "Photograph".
First, I should fully disclose my relationship with Nickelback. Following their release of "The State", I was a very big fan. "Breathe", "Old Enough" and "Worthy To Say" were top notch tunes and rocked. I was excited when I got a chance to see them on the small stage at Molson Park during an Edgefest and I returned the next year to see them close the show on the big stage.
"How You Remind Me" was the song that altered Nickelback's path. It was really, really poppy and sounded as much at home on CHUM-FM as it did on CFNY Edge 102. It ended 2002 as the most played song of the year on North American radio. Then, the following album contained a cover version of "How You Remind Me" called "Someday", and Nickelback consummated their marriage to pop-rock ballads that soccer moms dig. Their new "How You Remind Me Of Someday" is "Photograph", and it's not rock. It's not even a cool rock ballad like Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" or Staind's "Outside". It's just a cheesy ballad produced for mass appeal and commercial objectives.
This is why I find it puzzling that CFNY Edge 102 has embraced it so. Is it because the band is Canadian? Is it because they played previous Nickelback songs? Is it because their audience really likes "Photograph"?
"Photograph" is the new "The Reason". Actually, it's not nearly that bad. Compared to "The Reason", "Photograph" is "Smells Like Teen Spirit". That's frightening.
