The State is the second studio album by Canadian rock band Nickelback. "Leader of Men" was the lead single from this album, followed by "Old Enough", "Breathe", and "Worthy to Say". The album held a peak position of number 130 on the Billboard 200. The album also held a peak position on Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums charts position number 3 in 2000. The album was the band's first album to be certified Gold in both Canada and in the United States. It later went Platinum in Canada in April 2002 and then went Platinum in 2008 in the United States.

The State
second re-issue cover
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 1, 1998
September 1999 (first re-release)
March 7, 2000 (second re-release)
RecordedJanuary–February 1998; Burnaby, British Columbia
GenrePost-grunge[1]
Length38:51
Labelself-released
EMI Music Canada (first and second reissues)
Roadrunner (third reissue)
ProducerDale Penner
Nickelback chronology
Curb
(1996)
The State
(1998)
Silver Side Up
(2001)
Singles from The State
  1. "Leader of Men"
    Released: March 4, 2000
  2. "Old Enough"
    Released: October 2000
  3. "Breathe"
    Released: November 20, 2000
  4. "Worthy to Say"
    Released: December 2000
Alternate cover
2000 re-release cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[3]

Background

The State was recorded in early 1998, with the band investing $30,000 into the record.[4] On September 1, 1998, The State was released independently with a blue album cover. The original release was limited to 5,000 copies.[5] In September of the next year, it was reissued on EMI Canada, with a re-formatted version of the original cover (the words "Nickelback" and "The State" were originally in yellow, in the same size near the right edge of the cover; on the EMI reissue, the word "Nickelback" was made into a bigger font and "The State" rendered in white at the top of the cover). In 2000, it was reissued again on EMI Canada, this time with different artwork featuring a young boy in a jail cell. This was also the artwork used on the American, European, and Australian releases on Roadrunner Records. In 2000, The State reached the Billboard 200 peaking 130. To support The State, Nickelback toured with Creed, Sevendust, 3 Doors Down, and Stone Temple Pilots.[citation needed] In early 2001, the band played its final dates with Everclear.[citation needed] In March 2001, Nickelback won its first Juno Award for Best New Group.[citation needed]

The album had four singles: "Leader of Men", "Breathe", "Old Enough", and "Worthy to Say".[6] "Leader of Men" and "Breathe" both charted on the top 10 Mainstream Rock Tracks.[7]

Track listing

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

No.TitleLength
1."Breathe"3:57
2."Cowboy Hat"3:55
3."Leader of Men"3:30
4."Old Enough"2:45
5."Worthy to Say"4:06
6."Diggin' This"3:01
7."Deep"2:48
8."One Last Run"3:30
9."Not Leavin' Yet"3:44
10."Hold Out Your Hand"4:07
11."Leader of Men (Acoustic)1"3:23
Total length:38:51
Japanese exclusive bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Little Friend2"3:49
Total length:42:40

Singles

Single information
"Leader of Men"
"Old Enough"
"Breathe"

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.[8]

Release history

Release Date
Original September 4, 1999 (1999-09-04)
Re-release March 7, 2000 (2000-03-07)

Charts

Chart (2000–2001) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] 57
UK Albums (OCC)[10] 128
US Billboard 200 130
US Top Independent Albums 6
US Top Heatseekers 3

Year-end charts

2001 year-end chart performance for The State
Chart (2001) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[11] 199
2002 year-end chart performance for The State
Chart (2002) Position
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[12] 97

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[14] Platinum 1,000,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] Silver 60,000*

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

Appearances

  • The song "Old Enough" was featured on the soundtrack to the film Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 in 2000.
  • The songs "Diggin' This" and "Hold Out Your Hand" were featured in the film The Forsaken in 2001.
  • The song "Leader of Men" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Soul Assassin in 2001.
  • The song "Breathe" was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Clockstoppers in 2002.

Notes

1. Incorrectly titled "Leader of Men (Accoustic)" on the back insert of the original 1998 release.

2. Song from Curb (1996).

References

  1. ^ a b Griffith, JT. The State at AllMusic. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  3. ^ The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 584.
  4. ^ "It's not grunge!". Archived from the original on October 30, 2001.
  5. ^ "Jan 2002: Nickelback strikes gold".
  6. ^ "Rock On The Net: Nickelback". www.rockonthenet.com.
  7. ^ "That Time Nickelback Sued and Ousted Its Drummer".
  8. ^ The State (booklet). Roadrunner. 2001.
  9. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  10. ^ "Nickelback | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  11. ^ "Top 200 Albums of 2001 (based on sales)". Jam!. Archived from the original on November 6, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  13. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Nickelback – The State". Music Canada.
  14. ^ "American album certifications – Nickelback – The State". Recording Industry Association of America.
  15. ^ "British album certifications – Nickelback – The State". British Phonographic Industry.