The State (album)

The State is the second studio album by Canadian rock band Nickelback. "Leader of Men" was the lead single, followed by "Old Enough", "Breathe", and "Worthy to Say". The album held a peak position of No. 130 on the Billboard 200. It also reached a peak position of No. 3 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums chart in 2000. The State was the band's first album to be certified Gold in both Canada and the United States. It later went Platinum in Canada in April 2002 and in 2008 in the US.

Background

The State was recorded in early 1998, with the band investing $30,000 into the record. On September 1, 1998, The State was released independently with a blue album cover. The original release was limited to 5,000 copies. 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. In early 2001, the band played its final dates with Everclear. In March 2001, Nickelback won its first Juno Award for Best New Group.

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

Singles

Single information
"Leader of Men" Template:Smalldiv
"Old Enough" Template:Smalldiv
"Breathe" Template:Smalldiv

Personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.

Nickelback

• Chad Kroeger – lead vocals, guitar
• Ryan Peake – guitar, backing vocals
• Mike Kroeger – bass
• Ryan Vikedal – drums (credited)
• Mitch Guindon – drums (not credited, but performed on the album)

Production

• Dale Penner – producer, engineer
• Nickelback — producer
• Dave Ashton — second engineer
• GGGarth Richardson — mixing
• G.E. Slavin Creative Design — graphic design in Coquitlam, British Columbia
• Brett Zilahi — mastering at Metalworks in Mississauga, Ontario
• Ken Grant — executive producer

Release history

Release	Date
Original
Re-release

Charts

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Chart (2000–2001)	Peak position
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)	199

2002 year-end chart performance for The State

Chart (2002)	Position
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)	97

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).