"Side of a Bullet" is

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...

's seventh and final single from the album ''

All the Right Reasons ''All the Right Reasons'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Nickelback, released on October 4, 2005, on Roadrunner Records. It is the band's first album with former 3 Doors Down drummer Daniel Adair, who replaced Ryan Vikedal in Ja ...

''. The song was released only to U.S. rock stations. "Side of a Bullet" charted on the U.S.

Mainstream Rock Chart Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

, peaking at number 7, giving Nickelback their fourth top-ten hit on the chart from ''All the Right Reasons''.

Background

The song is a tribute to

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), known professionally as Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal music, heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founde ...

who was shot and killed on stage while performing in Columbus, Ohio, with

Damageplan Damageplan was an American heavy metal band from Dallas, Texas, formed in 2003. Following the demise of their previous group Pantera, brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott wanted to start a new band. The pair recruited former Halfor ...

. It features aggressive guitars and double bass drumming. The lyrics for "Side of a Bullet" focus on the murder of Darrell, the anger at the perpetrator Nathan Gale and the aftermath thereof. The guitar solo combines outtakes by Darrell originally meant to be used on the

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

albums ''

Vulgar Display of Power ''Vulgar Display of Power'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera. Released on February 25, 1992, through Atco Records, it was the band's second collaboration with producer Terry Date, after having worked with him on ...

'' and ''

Far Beyond Driven ''Far Beyond Driven'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on March 21, 1994 in the UK and March 22 internationally by Elektra Records and East West Records. Pantera's fastest-selling album, it peaked at n ...

''. Darrell's girlfriend Rita Haney and his brother

Vinnie Paul Vincent Paul Abbott (March 11, 1964 – June 22, 2018) was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, ...

gave Nickelback permission to use the outtakes. At first Nickelback wanted to have Paul playing on the track but he declined by stating that Nickelback's drummer,

Daniel Adair Daniel Patrick Adair (born February 19, 1975) is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work with Nickelback and his previous work with 3 Doors Down. He also works with the Canadian band Suspect and the instrumental fusion band Martone. ...

, performed just as well as he could.

Track listing

Personnel

;Nickelback *

Chad Kroeger Chad Robert Kroeger (, Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is best known for being the lead singer, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nic ...

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Ryan Peake Ryan Anthony Peake (born March 1, 1973) is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter who is best known as the rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the Canadian rock band Nickelback. He has been with the band since their incepti ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

Mike Kroeger Michael Douglas Henry Kroeger (born June 25, 1972), known professionally as Mike Kroeger is a Canadian musician, best known as the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Nickelback. Formed in his hometown of Hanna, Alberta in 1995 with ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, backing vocals *

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, backing vocals ;Additional personnel *

–

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melody, melodic passage, instrumental section (music), section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, classical, electric guitar, electric, or acoustic guitar. In 20th and ...

(sample) ;Technical * Ryan Andersen – digital editing * Richard Beland –

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

* Zach Blackstone – mixing assistance * Kevin Estrada – photography *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering *

Joey Moi Joey Moi (born August 9, 1975) is a Canadian record producer, audio engineer, mixer, songwriter, and musician. He is known for his work with the rock groups Nickelback and My Darkest Days, and country music acts Chris Lane, Dallas Smith, Florida G ...

– production,

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

digital editing In mass communication, digital media is any communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronic d ...

Randy Staub Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and " Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008) ...

– mixing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2005 songs 2007 singles Nickelback songs Songs written by Chad Kroeger Songs written by Daniel Adair Songs written by Mike Kroeger Songs written by Dimebag Darrell Commemoration songs Pantera Heavy metal songs Roadrunner Records singles Song recordings produced by Joey Moi