Mainstream rock often doesn't go over well with rock-critic types. They complain that it's derivative, cliché-filled, and lacking any sort of an edge that would make it challenging and/or interesting for anything more than a casual listen. It's for some of those very reasons that bands like Nickelback are incredibly popular. They're like the rock 'n' roll equivalent of comfort food. If you don't think too much about what you're consuming, you'll find that it warms your soul and makes you feel good. Never mind what the cool kids say. Millions of people in Middle America love comfort food and their mainstream rock.
Mississippi-spawned quintet Saving Abel is one of those incredibly successful mainstream rock acts and wouldn't you know it, they're touring right now with Nickelback and Seether. They'll do a string of headline dates March 21-29 before heading out again with Nickelback and Seether for most of April, and will hook up again with Nickelback--as well as Papa Roach and Hinder--for much of the summer.
No matter how impressive all that is, possibly even more stunning is the fact that Saving Abel was a featured Who's Next: Users' Choice act, which means, you picked 'em. I'd personally like to reward you for your incredible foresight in judging the commercial potential of a rock act by showing you Saving Abel's exclusive rooftop acoustic performance of "18 Days," which just happens to be the band's current hit single. Check it out.
Back stage at their gig last weekend at New Jersey's IZOD Center, the boys in Saving Abel were presented with a gold album for their self-titled Virgin Records release. In this day and age a new act shipping 500,000 copies of their debut, through touring and radio airplay, is nothing to sneeze at. Driving much of those sales was the single "Addicted," which has hit platinum for sales of 1 million copies. Speaking of "Addicted," the band also performed that track exclusively for Yahoo! Music. Check it out.
If that wasn't enough Saving Abel for you, sit down and strap yourself in for the exclusive interview with the band. Shockingly, they never do reveal the identity of the young lady with the tramp stamp who is featured on their album cover, but you still may find it interesting. And while you ponder that, consider this: do you think mainstream rock acts like Saving Abel get a bad rap from rock critics or are they getting what they deserve?