Recording Nickelback [ tickets ]'s latest album, "Silver Side Up," was admittedly a little creepy for the band's guitarist Ryan Peake.

"We recorded in a room that we've been told was haunted," Peake said. "I always say there's ghosts in the machine: the tape machine that they had there would work when it wanted to, and didn't work when it didn't want to. It would get all finicky and crazy on us. Two hours later it would fire upon its own. That is not cool...."

Nickelback had its share of frustrations and joys during the recording of "Silver Side Up" (Roadrunner Records). The Canadian band opted to record to computer--using the software Pro Tools--instead of on tape. Peake, a traditionalist, wasn't fond of this.

"You get great-sounding albums [when recording to tape]. It can be a little finicky sometimes, [but] I like the warmth. You get a clean, warm sound going to tape. Digital just seemed a little sketchy because they're trying to reproduce everything that analogue [tape] does. That's why you always see that extra bass button on the CD player. It's trying to reproduce more of that low-end sound."

Peake gave in, however, and learned to enjoy the process--except for one aspect.

"We had a little bit of a scare. When we were doing [the song] "Hangnail," the hard drive crashed on it. We had all the bass and drums and main guitar parts done. That's pretty much like the tape machine catching on fire. We sent it back to the manufacturer, and thank God he could resurrect most of the stuff on the hard drive."

Nickelback--Peake, singer-guitarist Chad Kroeger, bassist Mike Kroeger and drummer Ryan Vikedal--teamed up with a pair of well-known studio veterans to create "Silver Side Up." Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Temple of the Dog) produced the album, and Randy Staub (Metallica, U2) mixed it.

"[Staub] just walked in, and when he got the mix up, it sounded like it's got some balls on it. It's huge, bassy and fat. Man, it was very cool working with that guy."

Peake added, "That dispelled all my digital myths. It was very reassuring."

Upon its release, "Silver Side Up" made the record books. The first single, the passionate rock song "How You Remind Me," hit No. 1 on the U.S. and Canadian rock charts at the same time. It was the second time in history that a Canadian band had accomplished that. The first was the Guess Who with its 1970 hit, "American Woman."

Peake explained that he is proud of "How You Remind Me" because it shows Nickelback's penchant for cleverly injecting harmony into its songs.

"Chad, because a lot of his stuff is autobiographical, he can't help but be a little passionate about singing. ... I've always been a fan of trying to complement what's going on. I try to be tasteful about it, not just putting in gratuitous harmonies. I think that it should fit the song and fit the mood. That's what I've liked about playing with Chad. When he brings up something like that, something easy I can grab on to, I get it.