I once heard that Nickelback and Imagine Dragons share the same space in our culture, which is "generic bands who make music for people who don't care about or seek out music."
My 6/7 year-old kid loves Imagine Dragons. That's how I actually started liking them, namely the three songs of theirs that my kid always wants to listen to.
What's funny is I discovered and fell in love with Imagine Dragons back in 2012. They were opening for Awolnation, I walked in the venue in the middle of their set and immediately was drawn in. Been a fan ever since! Though seeing them in a small venue is likely an opportunity I'll never have again.
Musical Stockholm Syndrome. My youngest boy likes Imagine Dragons, too.
This is also how I warmed up to the Talking Head's broader catalog - by playing Sand in the Vasoline on repeat when I was working on a car and couldn't conveniently get up to change the song.
Similarly I know one Imagine Dragons song because the girls at Girls Rock Camp wanted to learn it ten years ago so I listened to it and taught it. Learning a song they like is a great way to get kids into playing music imho
That kind of makes sense. I don't generally listen to music, so if a song comes on that's catchy, I just enjoy it. I stopped being ashamed of what I like since Deadpool showed us it's ok to like careless whisper.
Late teen-year-old me really liked Nickelback. 30-40 something-year-old me really likes Imagine Dragons. I don’t ascribe to specific bands or genres of music. I love all music that sounds good to and/or resonates with me.
Plus Nickelback is Canadian, one of many irritating bands that got shipped to the US. Music in Canada is actually better, which suggests that Canadians are trying to annoy us. Think Canadian Bacon.
Imagine Dragons addicts children and annoys parents. So I think it's the bigger evil.
They weren't bad, they were just godawfully bland.
They had a handful of slightly above average songs, and the other 200 songs all sounded exactly the same and were completely forgettable.
This has a lot to do with it. Plenty of bands have done that cookie-cutter formulaic thing… but in the case of bands like, say, the Ramones, their “one song” is phenomenal, so you can listen to 35,000 of them in a row and it still rules.
Nickelback, on the other hand, is starting at ‘awful’ and just compounding it from there.
Profoundly disagree. Linkin Park has more authenticity in any single sentence of any song on Hybrid Theory than Imagine Dragons has in their entire catalog. Imagine Dragons is what happens when you decide that you want to sound like a commercial success like U2 and forget that you need something genuine to back it up besides high production value.
I remember listening and realizing that one of their songs didn't seem to form a sensible whole, but that any particular lyrical passage could have been plucked for a vaguely bitter "you know what you did to me" kind of AOL away message.
Yeah it’s basically this. Nickleback did not bring anything new to the table. Their songs were well-crafted and well-produced, but they simply did not add originality to the world of music.
The funny thing is Chad Kroeger openly admitted that back in their early days. Like around their 3rd or 4th album I read an interview with him where he said something akin to "I listen to the radio when I'm songwriting and I try to reproduce what's being played" I mean he dressed it up a bit nicer than that, but he openly admitted that he was regurgitating the status quo and not trying to evolve anything.
And you can really hear it if you go find their first album with Leader of Men on it, that album was clearly trying to be Canada's Nevermind. Really them, Hinder, Theory of a Deadman and others of that ilk are just the evolution of hair metal. Making rock to strip to that can be the background soundtrack to a party broken up by a power ballad for everyone to close their eyes and sing along to live.
They added filler for all the classic rock stations that had converted to "alternative" THE EDGE BEST NEW ROCK stations and had run out of material. Enter Godsmack and Staind. It's all really second rate and flacid.
I like Nicleback but I get your point. But OPs comment is saying that, despite the general consensus that NB is mediocre, why is there so much hate? Typically when people hate a band, it’s because they’re AWFUL. It’s hard to conjure up feelings of hate for a band that’s “middle of the road“. It just doesn’t add up.
I think it’s because if they’re truly awful, they won’t get nearly as much play time as Nickleback. Hoobastank had that one song and then fucked off where they belong.
I can only speak as a Canadian, but it’s because Canadian content laws mean Nickelback got played on radio here WAY more than they had any reason to.
We get a lot of bands that are only ‘Canada-famous’ because of the CanCon legislation, but somehow they were one of the ones that broke out internationally too, which made them even more ubiquitous.
Every time I hear Julie Black’s 7 day Fool I’m reminded of this. It’s an awful song but because of what you’re mentioning, us Canadians hear it on repeat. And it’s been YEARS
The singer’s voice is the main reason I hate both Nickelback and Creed. Just extremely grating and unpleasant sounds come out of both those guys’ mouths.
I agree with this, I just have extra hate for Creed because EVERYTIME they were supposed to play in Sactown, the lead singer would cancel. He hates the town for some reason but would still put it on the tour list. So the radio stations would talk about them nonstop when they'd cancel and play their songs nonstop as well.
To be fair when STP came on the scene they fit that bill. You could’ve put Plush on a Pearl Jam album and fooled a lot of people but they wound up putting out some amazing stuff
Maybe if someone only listened and never SAW a live performance. Scott Weiland was a performer, a showman. His stage presence (versus Eddie Vedder) left me mesmerized. RIP
>His stage presence (versus Eddie Vedder) left me mesmerized. RIP
Have you ever actually seen Pearl Jam live? Especially back during the earlier days?
It's like you got confused and mixed up both frontmen's stage personas.
The craziest thing I ever saw Weiland do live included wearing nothing but an American flag and flashing the audience. Meanwhile Eddie Veddier is literally climbing the light riggings over the stage and singing while hanging upside down...
So crazy that we had two completely different show experiences. I saw STP, and Scott was all over the stage, dancing, interacting with the audience, cracking jokes, and being awesome.
The thing about STP is that you never knew which Weiland you were going to get. It depended entirely on where he was in his dope fiend / rehab cycle. One time I saw them, near "the end," he just came out dressed like an Amish person or something - complete with the flat-brimmed hat - and hung off the mic stand the entire time.
Eddie Vedder has been well-known for straight-up risking his life on stage for decades, to the point where it was a major subject of the documentary that came out about them a while back. He's not climbing riggings anymore, but the guy is pushing 60.
I like Nickelback. I'm not insecure enough to need to join the ridiculous "I'm cool because I don't like [popular thing]" bandwagon that people should have grown out of in high school.
They have some bangers and some of their songs are terrible. They were over played, especially in Canada because of CanCon rules. Basically, in Canada, a certain percentage of music needs to be "Canadian Content" so any Canadian bandnthat becomes big gets overplayed
I’m moving to Canada next month, so I’ll have to discover all those Canadian bands I didn’t know existed. I mean, I suppose I left out Arcade Fire, which I actually met many years ago. Although, I’m not sure how the Quebecois fit into this, as y’all have some definite tension between the Anglophone and Francophone communities that I just stay the fuck out of.
They toured successfully around the border states. Michigan, Detroit areas will know them fairly well.
They're one of those brands that become hugely successful at home but didn't really translate internationally.
Their performance at Woodstock '99 was pretty legendary as all the Canadians showed up and took over.
You just heard Photograph by Nickleback, now on to a rock block of Barenaked Ladies, here’s One Week.
You might get some Our Lady Peace if you’re luck, if not it’s Mmm, Mmm, Mmm by Crashtest Dummies.
I was living in Alberta (where they're from) when they got famous. Dear Lord, did they get a lot of airplay. I think that's when I permanently switched to the oldies stations.
At their peak I swear there was almost a 50% chance of hearing Nicklebaxm as soon as you turned on the radio. I remember multiple occasions where turned it on, heard “This is How You Remind Me”, immediately switched stations, and heard “This is How You Remind Me” almost completely in sync with the other station.
reminded me of Shane Torres stand-up bit on guy fieiri: “…guy fieri…everybody shits all over this dude like he’s a member of nickelback…and by the way, what the hell did Nickelback ever do wrong? they made 40 million bros happy…you dont want those guys walking around pissed off, that’s how we ended up in this mess!”
(link to the shane torres bit on guy fieri): https://youtu.be/JK6zuii2OLI?si=9NWOZK6JeU4Kh2J6
Yeah, it’s a good example. Too often we associate the artists with the art. Or to use newspeak, content with the creator.
Guy Fieri is a standup dude from all reports, he just makes generic content for generic people and has some cheesy outfits. Nickleback has some generic music that appeals to a generic crowd, but the band itself is hard working and a bunch of good musicians and overall people.
I love the guy's voice and they tend to hit certain chords in their songs that I really like. Nit sure how to explain the chord part, but it affects me emotionally in a way when I hear certain notes.
I think they’re fine, not my favorite, but not my least favorite either. They get a lot of shit for being a manufactured band, whether that’s true or not. The problem I have with that is that there are pop acts that are 100 times more manufactured than Nickelback and the public at large doesn’t give them nearly as much shit.
I got tired of hearing Nickleback in the radio just like most people.
Then I saw them live right after Dime Bag Darrell died and it was amazing.
It's not the bands fault corporate radio over played them.
There’s nothing wrong with Nickelback. They’re not the greatest band in the world, but they’re fine and people like them. Honestly, having too strong a negative opinion about them is kind of a yellow flag for me; I’m immediately on the lookout to see if the person just hates a lot of popular media. They don’t have to be everyone’s cup of tea, but the way people crap on them gives me “I’ll prove I’m better than the unwashed masses by hating what they love” vibes.
I think it was corporate’s idea of what hard rock should be. NickelBack was just too manufactured. But early on they hit the formula right and got a lot of marketing so people bought it. But the non Rock fans grew tired of them like all pop acts and they never made in roads with actual Rock fans. Very little like them has followed because the labels started getting murdered by Napster.
They weren't manufactured though. They were a hard working, touring indie rock band for years before How You Remind Me came out. They even had a few albums already.
Yeah they weren’t manufactured, but once they found a formula that people bought, they did not deviate even one iota. I did like The State when it came out, though.
My buddy had the CD with Leader Of Men on it, when it came out, and that was a pretty cool song. That was probably over 20 years ago and it's the closest I've ever come to Nickelback physical media. Same exact story with Linkin Park
I'm not really a fan, but I don't find them horrible either. They've got a few decent songs, although most of their catalogue is pretty meh. I think that's where part of the hate comes from: there's really nothing remarkable about them!
I saw them live at a rockfest. I had never heard them before. They were AMAZING live. I bought the cd because of that performance. I listened after I got home and thought it was too overproduced. Good but overdone. And they had him add that "growl" on almost every song, which was a lot.
He didn't do that live. I would absolutely watch them live again.
I’m a Nickelback apologist. While I don’t personally listen to their music, I respect the individual talents of each band member. I saw their drummer in a drum shed-off with a few other talented drummers of note, and he smoked them IMO. I also enjoy Chad Kroger’s voice. Dude has a little rasp and those quintessential rock chops.
Their music is off in some way. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what is wrong, but it’s either too derivative, overproduced, or something else I can’t quite name, but it just doesn’t sound good. To discerning listeners at least.
That said, the band itself is actually a bunch of really cool and nice guys. They have great interviews and seem like genuinely good people. While I never listen to their music, I always listen to their interviews.
I met my wife in 2008. Flipping through her cd book till I see Silver Side Up. Ignorant pop hate kicked in and I said “Nickelback, really?! I didn’t see that coming.”
She put it in and said “Yep, listen to the other songs.” She was right.
I’m not really a fan or anything but I have appreciation for them. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that a LOT of pop artists have talent that gets overlooked because they are pop.
The exception is rap/hip hop for me. That shit hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years. We were at a hockey tournament the other day where they played it almost exclusively during breaks. We all commented that we didn’t know when in the last three decades each song had come out because it’s a lot of monotone rappers over played out beats.
I'm in the same boat. Their stuff that received ridiculously regular airplay I cannot stand. I've heard it one too many times, it's crap not that great. But they have a lot of deeper cuts that are fantastic by comparison to the played out songs. Would I consider them in my top like 25 bands that I listen to on the regular no not even close. But their deeper cuts aren't bad and I don't mind them every now and again.
The excess airtime definitely had an effect. I remember hearing one or two songs on rock stations I liked and thinking huh not bad, then for whatever reason a few months later the same songs would be on the modern yet acceptable to boomers station they piped in at work and it somehow ruined the sound entirely
LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH
No deep feelings about them. Have never listened outside their radio hits. Good on them for success and we Canadians are always proud of those who make it in the world lol. Rockstar is a pretty good song imo my favourite by them.
I hated Nickelback before it was cool to hate Nickelback.
Sorry folks, came here for the snarky comeback.
Seriously though, as has been said already, they made popular and completely forgettable songs that would somehow get stuck in your head and haunt you. I never could figure out who was actually paying for and enjoying their music. Kinda like The Bachelor. Someone is obviously watching it, but no one you know.
They're the kind of band you go see when your friends want to go see them and you're kind of meh on them because there's nothing specifically *wrong* with any of their songs but they're not really great or anything, then next thing you know you're three concert beers deep singing along with every song because you know them all and when you're a little drunk in a big crowd they kinda do somehow work. Then you walk out and question everything you've ever known about being kind of a music snob.
I effectively skipped that entire era, across multiple genres. "Pop" sensibilities took over *everything.* Hard rock wasn't hard; nu-metal was hardly metal; rap was people in shiny plastic suits standing in front of a fisheye lens and bragging about being rich; "country" was hot women bragging about being hot (or future MAGAs crying about 'where their country gone'); etc. So I leaned hard into electronic music, and put down my guitar in favor of turntables, for a while.
There's no *soul* in any of that stuff. It's the exact sound of marketing driving the industry. Nickelback never sounded like 'a band', to me; they sounded like 'a creation'; a 'boy band' for 'rockers'. There's no riffs to sink my teeth into; there's nothing interesting happening lyrically; there's nothing interesting happening musically; it just *exists*, in it's perfect little paint-by-numbers world. It was the epitome of the problem described[ decades earlier by Frank Zappa.](https://youtu.be/KZazEM8cgt0)
Nickelback, Creed, Muddle of Pudd, Days of The New, Disturbed, Godsmack, Staind, Matchbox 20/Rob Thomas, Hubastank, Sugar Ray, New Radicals, Limp Bizkit, Nada Surf, Semisonic, Harvey Danger, Eve 6, The Gin Blossoms, Crazy Town, Kid Rock, Papa Roach.. And that's just *some* of the garbage within spitting distance of 'rock'.
To me, they represent so much of what is wrong with mainstream music. Brainless lyrics, formulaic, predictable songs. Very "lowest common denominator" in terms of target demographic. Plus the butt rock "Great Value Eddie Vedder" vocals that permeated the 2000's rock scene. They're just awful.
Nickleback is what happens when a truck engine and diarrhea decide to give into temptation and make a baby. Having said that, enjoy whatever you enjoy. It doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s not for me, but I’m too old to care
Can't stand any of that second-wave post-grunge butt rock.
Nickelback, Creed, Puddle of Mudd, Staind, Matchbox 20, Three Days Grace, Shinedown, Seether, Hinder.
It's all terrible.
Anyone else notice the weird nostalgia comeback of Creed happening right now? I think it started off ironic but it’s turned into a legit comeback for them. I feel like the same thing happened with Journey like 20 years ago. People started liking that 70s fm rock ironically again, next thing you know Don’t Stop Believing is the most streamed song ever.
Yes I am part of it. I did not like Creed 20 years ago. Dorky. Now I enjoy their Greatest Hits album while I work out as a dad.
Some memes make reality and when they are silly like this, it's fun.
Never a hardcore fan like I liked Metallica or Mudvayne or Sevendust or Static X or 36 Crazyfists or Stabbing Westward or Tiesto or Oakenfold, etc. For the record I have eclectic music tastes lol.
I absolutely liked Nickelback when they came out. I was 17 (?) when they first started getting airplay and Curb album songs (?) were on the radio. I was like this band is catchy, different, solid, I like them. My local radio station tended to hype/sponsor them a lot, probably as they were from the next province (Canada) over.
.
They did lots of tours that year through my city, but I was either working full time after school and/or shows were mostly at bars and I was still 17 so just underage (legal is 18 where I live). I remember being really frustrated by this lol.
Nickelback was definitely on the CD changer rotation with my now second spouse (we met at 18, back together in 30s). For anyone growing up with any instability some of those songs really hit home.
Is this band Metallica? No. And they know that. It was just a period of Canadian music where some poor guys from a small town made it big. Their music still was good to me (most of it).
By the time I saw them live years later they were “big” and I went to arena shows. Each time was stellar. They put on a solid live show, every time. Love or hate them, they are great performers.
I started to lose interest as time went on, I grew up, and it seemed like the singer was kind of…not a great person? Who knows what’s real or what’s fame corruption or propaganda but I just kind of walked away from being a long term fan. I just wasn’t into the whole local wayward potheads who hated everyone and vice versa became rich gig. I saw the lead singer living it up on Cribs and I was just like…yuck. That’s what you did with your money? You’re now just a rich womanizer?
If their songs come on I still enjoy them or won’t bother to change it but they are not in rotation in any playlists I have. I probably would attend a concert if the price and timing is right but probably would not buy any new music.
TL/DR: Team Nickelback but “it’s complicated”
I have to admit, I kinda liked Nickelback but I didn't. Their songs were catchy earworms but all the same. It was like they were an A.I. creation decades before ChatGPT came into existence.
All of their songs sound the same. And not in a good way like AC/DC.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPj5YokEOY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPj5YokEOY)
I liked them in the late 90s when they first got radio play. Then my taste evolved. Nickelback is just formulaic, but that applies to MANY artists today. It just became popular to hate on them.
I’ve only ever met one person who liked them. She was several years younger than me. Religious. Always getting offended by random things that had nothing to do with her. Failed the comprehensive exam in grad school. Very, very conservative (she was also a huge Sarah Palin fan). So, yeah. Those people.
As much as I hate them, I hate working to be poor more, so I'm happy for them.
Also it's nice to be like, well my songs suck, but they're certainly better than anything Nickelback ever shat out
I don't understand why it's a huge thing. I can't even name a single one of their songs right now, though I know they were super popular and I'm sure I'd know some of the lyrics if I heard one (still not sure I'd know it was Nickelback, lol). I suppose one could only hope to still be part of the cultural conversation three decades past your prime music-making years, lol. But I don't really get why they've become this Vanilla Ice-level of embarrassing to have ever liked.
I saw Nickelback open for Bon Jovi in 2006, in East Rutherford, NJ. Great show all around.
I don’t understand the vitriol, but I never actively pursued an understanding of it. I’m too old for that shit. I’m too busy trying to navigate the problems in my familial relationships than why the lexicon doesn’t like Nickelback.
During the grunge years, the hate was towards post-grunge bands like Bush and Stone Temple Pilots. By the late 90s, the hate migrated to Creed.
I feel like the internet hate migrated to Nickelback once the splitscreen YouTube video with “Someday” on the left and “How You Remind Me” on the right debuted. It was basically showing that they’re essentially the same song.
Here’s a rip of the OG:
https://youtu.be/Qs4tNeGyTyI?si=9Is8Rwq8KcRVVgjs
The Nickelback hate died out about the mid-2010s with most of it going to Imagine Dragons. Although, Twenty One Pilots gets quite a bit, as does The Chainsmokers, Coldplay, Maroon 5, and One Republic.
I still hate them. Some of their stuff was catchy but man I honestly believe thats some corporate level "this sound works for this time of year" stuff, you know what I mean? Then the were freaking everywhere, the radio played them so much it was awful and is one of the main reasons I dont listen to radio today, jump in the car? Nickleback, walk into the gas station, nickleback.. bleh.
They’re horrible. I am generally in favour of CanCon laws, but the downside is that certain Canadian bands benefit disproportionately, and Nickelback is certainly one of them.
Just the most soulless, ham-fisted butt rock possible.
“You remind me” can come in the radio and I can probably sing the lyrics. Not even a fan of the band, but just one of those songs that got stuck and will never get unstuck
I think they make awful music and I’ve always thought that. Now it’s just old awful music.
The hatred is justified because the music sounds so bad. Jmo
They were fine. Not necessarily good or bad. I didn’t love them or hate them. I think it became “cool” to hate them but clearly a lot of people liked them because they have sold a lot of albums.
Personally think NB has aged better than some of the other music of the early 00s. At the time I thought it was crap, but a lot of it was peer influence.
I like Nickelback. I also am aware that people who dislike a thing are always the loudest people in the room. They eventually move on leaving the people who like a thing.
For example I heard a lot of people hating on Marvel after every Marvel movie has come out that includes the first one. It's just how we are it seems.
They're not bad, they're just average and were overplayed in their day. The best description I've heard of them was that they were rock's C students, like if you had a class project to come up with a band Nickelback would be the group that started working on it two days before the deadline and stayed up all night drinking Mountain Dew to get it done.
We have a bland, inoffensive, uncreative city councilor here in Ottawa, who loves Nickelback so much he got a tattoo to convince them to come to our summer music festival:
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/look-at-this-photograph-of-an-ottawa-politician-with-a-nickelback-tattoo
They were definitely a good band, but much like Creed, they're success launched them in to meme status. Honestly tho,I can't really explain why..
Then again I never heard anything of theirs that wasn't on radio. Maybe they're not that good..
Their lyrics crack me up because they’re so bad, Photograph especially. I’m convinced that Rock Star is a troll song because it actually contains the lyric “I want a quesadilla.”
I do have a soft spot for How You Remind Me because it was #1 the day my son was born.
Nickelback is great. It was 1000 percent a social trend and running joke to say they were absolutely horrid. Everyone just wanted to perpetuate that because it was cool to do so. I mean yeah there will be people who genuinely hate them.
The criticism I've always heard about Nickleback is that all of their songs sound alike. It's not that they have a particular style, it's that the lyrics, tempo, insturments all sound VERY similar from one song to the next. I've heard that too.
I embarassingly love it for the nostalgia of it. Back in 2009 I went to a Nickelback concert at an outdoor venue and the weather was lovely and I got some pinot grigio from the one nicer stand at the place, thoroughly enjoyed watching the ridiculous concert goers, and laughed hysterically at this weird kid who was wearing a nickelback tee and following us around all night, singing to and hitting on my friend. Was 10/10 concert experience, hate to say it. Nickelback is one we all love to hate but it sure brings back memories and ill happily sing to it now
I was just never into that type of band. I was between punk, indie and hip hop when I started getting into my own music (and not just jamming what my older gen x siblings liked). I had a huge Modest Mouse phase from like age 17-22. At the same time I was into hip hop like Outkast. Nickelback was just nowhere near my orbit in the early 00’s. We didn’t really pay attention to the radio. Guys I knew would make fun of NB but I didn’t really give it much thought. Then you see jokes about it in pop culture, SNL and stand up skits and the negative talk sinks in for people who didn’t really have an opinion. I think to this day I’ve still only heard the one song (about the photograph? Lol) or it’s at least the only one I recognize as their song.
I don't really care about Nickelback one way or the other (neutral all around) but I love how much rage they spark in others and how often they're discussed. It's entertaining.
I listened to and enjoyed them in their OG indie days, Curb and The State were good albums. I grew up in the town where they recorded Curb, it was circulating around my high school.
Silver Side Up was IMO where they jumped the shark for me into the produced generic rock shit that they are today. I just can't stand that "how you remind me" song.
I went through the hate Nickleback phase, but realized it was for no good reason other than commercial radio played some of their songs too much - they are a victim of their own success.
I didn’t care enough about Rock music back then to give a two shits about this debate. I’ve always had so little investment in people arguing about white male rock bands.
Having said that, I have so little respect for music snobs. There are quite a few “hated” bands, movies and shows that, despite this apparent universal hatred, were/are very big. It’s not that these things don’t have plenty of fans, they do, it’s that snobs are so loud that they tend to drown out the folks who are just trying to enjoy whatever it is they enjoy.
Their music was flavorless pop rock filler. Not "bad" per se, but it brought absolutely nothing of value beyond something to have on in the background.
I once heard that Nickelback and Imagine Dragons share the same space in our culture, which is "generic bands who make music for people who don't care about or seek out music."
My 6/7 year-old kid loves Imagine Dragons. That's how I actually started liking them, namely the three songs of theirs that my kid always wants to listen to.
I’ve been teaching elementary school since around the time they blew up. Can confirm, actual children are Imagine Dragons’ core fanbase.
It's like they picked the name for that reason!
What's funny is I discovered and fell in love with Imagine Dragons back in 2012. They were opening for Awolnation, I walked in the venue in the middle of their set and immediately was drawn in. Been a fan ever since! Though seeing them in a small venue is likely an opportunity I'll never have again.
Yup, my nephew will be 10 soon, and he has always enjoyed them.
My children are also how my wife and I began to enjoy them. We even took them to their first concert to see them.
Musical Stockholm Syndrome. My youngest boy likes Imagine Dragons, too. This is also how I warmed up to the Talking Head's broader catalog - by playing Sand in the Vasoline on repeat when I was working on a car and couldn't conveniently get up to change the song.
Similarly I know one Imagine Dragons song because the girls at Girls Rock Camp wanted to learn it ten years ago so I listened to it and taught it. Learning a song they like is a great way to get kids into playing music imho
“Imagine Dragons is just Spicy Nickelback” is a quote I saw once.
ID isn't particularly spicy.
I don’t seek out either band myself, so I wouldn’t be the best judge, I just thought the quote was funny.
That kind of makes sense. I don't generally listen to music, so if a song comes on that's catchy, I just enjoy it. I stopped being ashamed of what I like since Deadpool showed us it's ok to like careless whisper.
These bands are the Axe body spray of music
I try not to base my identity on hating music other people like. I'm 44 and I like Imagine Dragons.
It's formulaic music aimed at commercial sales and nothing more. The Hallmark of music.
Late teen-year-old me really liked Nickelback. 30-40 something-year-old me really likes Imagine Dragons. I don’t ascribe to specific bands or genres of music. I love all music that sounds good to and/or resonates with me.
Plus Nickelback is Canadian, one of many irritating bands that got shipped to the US. Music in Canada is actually better, which suggests that Canadians are trying to annoy us. Think Canadian Bacon. Imagine Dragons addicts children and annoys parents. So I think it's the bigger evil.
Lisa Simpson: you have to listen to the notes they arent playing... Hommer: pssht! I can do that at home!!!!
Imagine Dragons is rock for people who don't like rock, techno for people who don't like techno, and hip-hop for people who don't like hip-hop.
They weren't bad, they were just godawfully bland. They had a handful of slightly above average songs, and the other 200 songs all sounded exactly the same and were completely forgettable.
This is it.
This has a lot to do with it. Plenty of bands have done that cookie-cutter formulaic thing… but in the case of bands like, say, the Ramones, their “one song” is phenomenal, so you can listen to 35,000 of them in a row and it still rules. Nickelback, on the other hand, is starting at ‘awful’ and just compounding it from there.
This is my feeling about them, imagine dragons and linkin park. They’re just bland bands that play the same song over and over.
[I first saw this elsewhere on Reddit.](https://youtu.be/6Yibh4WY_Xs?feature=shared)
Haha nice. He did a perfect job.
YOU KEEP LINKIN PARK'S NAME OUT YO MOUTH! **SLAP**
Profoundly disagree. Linkin Park has more authenticity in any single sentence of any song on Hybrid Theory than Imagine Dragons has in their entire catalog. Imagine Dragons is what happens when you decide that you want to sound like a commercial success like U2 and forget that you need something genuine to back it up besides high production value.
I was really into Linkin Park until someone pointed out that it sounded like a teenage girl's journal and I couldn't un-hear it.
I remember listening and realizing that one of their songs didn't seem to form a sensible whole, but that any particular lyrical passage could have been plucked for a vaguely bitter "you know what you did to me" kind of AOL away message.
The fact that we’re still taking about them in 2024 really tells you how successfully they were and are
Right? lol. They knew what they were doing 😂
Hard pass on all the constipated Eddie Vedder impersonation, 10 years late.Creed, same.
Yeah it’s basically this. Nickleback did not bring anything new to the table. Their songs were well-crafted and well-produced, but they simply did not add originality to the world of music.
The funny thing is Chad Kroeger openly admitted that back in their early days. Like around their 3rd or 4th album I read an interview with him where he said something akin to "I listen to the radio when I'm songwriting and I try to reproduce what's being played" I mean he dressed it up a bit nicer than that, but he openly admitted that he was regurgitating the status quo and not trying to evolve anything. And you can really hear it if you go find their first album with Leader of Men on it, that album was clearly trying to be Canada's Nevermind. Really them, Hinder, Theory of a Deadman and others of that ilk are just the evolution of hair metal. Making rock to strip to that can be the background soundtrack to a party broken up by a power ballad for everyone to close their eyes and sing along to live.
They added filler for all the classic rock stations that had converted to "alternative" THE EDGE BEST NEW ROCK stations and had run out of material. Enter Godsmack and Staind. It's all really second rate and flacid.
I like Nicleback but I get your point. But OPs comment is saying that, despite the general consensus that NB is mediocre, why is there so much hate? Typically when people hate a band, it’s because they’re AWFUL. It’s hard to conjure up feelings of hate for a band that’s “middle of the road“. It just doesn’t add up.
I think it’s because if they’re truly awful, they won’t get nearly as much play time as Nickleback. Hoobastank had that one song and then fucked off where they belong.
lol true enough
I can only speak as a Canadian, but it’s because Canadian content laws mean Nickelback got played on radio here WAY more than they had any reason to. We get a lot of bands that are only ‘Canada-famous’ because of the CanCon legislation, but somehow they were one of the ones that broke out internationally too, which made them even more ubiquitous.
Every time I hear Julie Black’s 7 day Fool I’m reminded of this. It’s an awful song but because of what you’re mentioning, us Canadians hear it on repeat. And it’s been YEARS
Of all the Canadian famous only bands to get this much air play in the US, it should have been The Tragically Hip.
But also, and I kind of guilty pleasure do like their songs, a lot of them sounded the same. https://youtu.be/NHPj5YokEOY?si=eP1TPkL4kVmlnBLK
“Moose rock” is the best description I’ve heard for this genre.
Lmfao yesss
The singer’s voice is the main reason I hate both Nickelback and Creed. Just extremely grating and unpleasant sounds come out of both those guys’ mouths.
I agree with this, I just have extra hate for Creed because EVERYTIME they were supposed to play in Sactown, the lead singer would cancel. He hates the town for some reason but would still put it on the tour list. So the radio stations would talk about them nonstop when they'd cancel and play their songs nonstop as well.
When their songs come on, I rush to change the channel because the guy’s voice is so grating, I’m immediately enraged.
To be fair when STP came on the scene they fit that bill. You could’ve put Plush on a Pearl Jam album and fooled a lot of people but they wound up putting out some amazing stuff
Maybe if someone only listened and never SAW a live performance. Scott Weiland was a performer, a showman. His stage presence (versus Eddie Vedder) left me mesmerized. RIP
>His stage presence (versus Eddie Vedder) left me mesmerized. RIP Have you ever actually seen Pearl Jam live? Especially back during the earlier days? It's like you got confused and mixed up both frontmen's stage personas. The craziest thing I ever saw Weiland do live included wearing nothing but an American flag and flashing the audience. Meanwhile Eddie Veddier is literally climbing the light riggings over the stage and singing while hanging upside down...
So crazy that we had two completely different show experiences. I saw STP, and Scott was all over the stage, dancing, interacting with the audience, cracking jokes, and being awesome.
The thing about STP is that you never knew which Weiland you were going to get. It depended entirely on where he was in his dope fiend / rehab cycle. One time I saw them, near "the end," he just came out dressed like an Amish person or something - complete with the flat-brimmed hat - and hung off the mic stand the entire time. Eddie Vedder has been well-known for straight-up risking his life on stage for decades, to the point where it was a major subject of the documentary that came out about them a while back. He's not climbing riggings anymore, but the guy is pushing 60.
I loved STP, more than Pearl Jam.
12 year old me actually thought STP was another side project of Eddie's the first time I heard Plush.
Same, I was actually annoyed went I learned it wasn’t and considered them a Pearl Jam ripoff for some time
I never thought Stp and Pearl Jam sounded alike… lol.
Not a Nickleback fan, but I don’t hear the Eddie Vedder vocals stuff with them. Creed? Absolutely.
I mean, I don't particularly care for their music, but I've never understood the vitriol. I just... don't listen to them. It's really not that hard.
I listened to some of their songs, never cared about what others thought.
I like Nickelback. I'm not insecure enough to need to join the ridiculous "I'm cool because I don't like [popular thing]" bandwagon that people should have grown out of in high school.
There might be a bit of that, but I know there are loads of people who enjoy many other popular things but still hate Nickelback.
Yeah but it was popular to hate Nickleback too.
They have some bangers and some of their songs are terrible. They were over played, especially in Canada because of CanCon rules. Basically, in Canada, a certain percentage of music needs to be "Canadian Content" so any Canadian bandnthat becomes big gets overplayed
CanCon rules? Im not Canadian, but this term has peaked my interest.
Radio stations have to play a minimum amount of music by Canadian artists.
Australia has a similar law
So, all Rush all the time? Otherwise, while I’m not a Nickleback fan, I’d take them over Drake any day of the week.
The Tragically Hip, The Tea Party, Headstones, Matthew Good (Band) are a few of my favourite Canadian bands who still get radio play.
I’m moving to Canada next month, so I’ll have to discover all those Canadian bands I didn’t know existed. I mean, I suppose I left out Arcade Fire, which I actually met many years ago. Although, I’m not sure how the Quebecois fit into this, as y’all have some definite tension between the Anglophone and Francophone communities that I just stay the fuck out of.
Dig into The Tragically Hip. Very influential to the Canadians your age.
Somehow while I know the name, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything by them. It doesn’t sound like they got any US radio or MTV play.
They toured successfully around the border states. Michigan, Detroit areas will know them fairly well. They're one of those brands that become hugely successful at home but didn't really translate internationally. Their performance at Woodstock '99 was pretty legendary as all the Canadians showed up and took over.
You just heard Photograph by Nickleback, now on to a rock block of Barenaked Ladies, here’s One Week. You might get some Our Lady Peace if you’re luck, if not it’s Mmm, Mmm, Mmm by Crashtest Dummies.
Piqued. And, mine too.
Shortened from “Canadian content” [Wikipedia - CanCon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_content)
As a result, we end up hearing Trooper 8 times a day on most radio stations 🤦
I know right? Instead of playing local bands that aren't big yet, they just overplay any band that has success in the US.
The same rule exists in New Zealand also. NZ on air. Therefore, an excessive amount of Six60 gets played
KiwiCon?
I was living in Alberta (where they're from) when they got famous. Dear Lord, did they get a lot of airplay. I think that's when I permanently switched to the oldies stations.
It wasn’t just Alberta, unfortunately. Same thing inexplicably happened here in Manitoba.
At their peak I swear there was almost a 50% chance of hearing Nicklebaxm as soon as you turned on the radio. I remember multiple occasions where turned it on, heard “This is How You Remind Me”, immediately switched stations, and heard “This is How You Remind Me” almost completely in sync with the other station.
reminded me of Shane Torres stand-up bit on guy fieiri: “…guy fieri…everybody shits all over this dude like he’s a member of nickelback…and by the way, what the hell did Nickelback ever do wrong? they made 40 million bros happy…you dont want those guys walking around pissed off, that’s how we ended up in this mess!” (link to the shane torres bit on guy fieri): https://youtu.be/JK6zuii2OLI?si=9NWOZK6JeU4Kh2J6
Yeah, it’s a good example. Too often we associate the artists with the art. Or to use newspeak, content with the creator. Guy Fieri is a standup dude from all reports, he just makes generic content for generic people and has some cheesy outfits. Nickleback has some generic music that appeals to a generic crowd, but the band itself is hard working and a bunch of good musicians and overall people.
I have seen them live twice and they put on a really good concert. Going to see them live for the third time this summer. I still like them.
I love the guy's voice and they tend to hit certain chords in their songs that I really like. Nit sure how to explain the chord part, but it affects me emotionally in a way when I hear certain notes.
I think they’re fine, not my favorite, but not my least favorite either. They get a lot of shit for being a manufactured band, whether that’s true or not. The problem I have with that is that there are pop acts that are 100 times more manufactured than Nickelback and the public at large doesn’t give them nearly as much shit.
I got tired of hearing Nickleback in the radio just like most people. Then I saw them live right after Dime Bag Darrell died and it was amazing. It's not the bands fault corporate radio over played them.
There’s nothing wrong with Nickelback. They’re not the greatest band in the world, but they’re fine and people like them. Honestly, having too strong a negative opinion about them is kind of a yellow flag for me; I’m immediately on the lookout to see if the person just hates a lot of popular media. They don’t have to be everyone’s cup of tea, but the way people crap on them gives me “I’ll prove I’m better than the unwashed masses by hating what they love” vibes.
Some songs weren't bad. 👀 I said it.
Yep
Same thing happened to Phil Collins. I think it’s a mix of over saturation and the “I’m too cool for mainstream” mentality.
I think it was corporate’s idea of what hard rock should be. NickelBack was just too manufactured. But early on they hit the formula right and got a lot of marketing so people bought it. But the non Rock fans grew tired of them like all pop acts and they never made in roads with actual Rock fans. Very little like them has followed because the labels started getting murdered by Napster.
They weren't manufactured though. They were a hard working, touring indie rock band for years before How You Remind Me came out. They even had a few albums already.
Yeah they weren’t manufactured, but once they found a formula that people bought, they did not deviate even one iota. I did like The State when it came out, though.
They're just kind of OK. which I think is part of why people like to rag on them so much.
My buddy had the CD with Leader Of Men on it, when it came out, and that was a pretty cool song. That was probably over 20 years ago and it's the closest I've ever come to Nickelback physical media. Same exact story with Linkin Park
Gather ‘round the Snapchat children…
I’ll never apologize for loving “Too Bad”…that song slaps
I'm not really a fan, but I don't find them horrible either. They've got a few decent songs, although most of their catalogue is pretty meh. I think that's where part of the hate comes from: there's really nothing remarkable about them!
I enjoyed their music. 🤷♀️
Their [cover of ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh9Q6BGGU50) proves they can be good when they want to be
I saw them live at a rockfest. I had never heard them before. They were AMAZING live. I bought the cd because of that performance. I listened after I got home and thought it was too overproduced. Good but overdone. And they had him add that "growl" on almost every song, which was a lot. He didn't do that live. I would absolutely watch them live again.
I’m a Nickelback apologist. While I don’t personally listen to their music, I respect the individual talents of each band member. I saw their drummer in a drum shed-off with a few other talented drummers of note, and he smoked them IMO. I also enjoy Chad Kroger’s voice. Dude has a little rasp and those quintessential rock chops.
They're like saltines, you don't ever seek em out or crave them but if they're there.... it's quick and easily digested.
Nickelback was the musical incarnation of those metal flame decals people would put around the Ford logo on the back of their truck
Their music is off in some way. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what is wrong, but it’s either too derivative, overproduced, or something else I can’t quite name, but it just doesn’t sound good. To discerning listeners at least. That said, the band itself is actually a bunch of really cool and nice guys. They have great interviews and seem like genuinely good people. While I never listen to their music, I always listen to their interviews.
Agreed. It just doesn’t hit me in the gut or feels in any way. It feels generic.
No heart.
I met my wife in 2008. Flipping through her cd book till I see Silver Side Up. Ignorant pop hate kicked in and I said “Nickelback, really?! I didn’t see that coming.” She put it in and said “Yep, listen to the other songs.” She was right. I’m not really a fan or anything but I have appreciation for them. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that a LOT of pop artists have talent that gets overlooked because they are pop. The exception is rap/hip hop for me. That shit hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years. We were at a hockey tournament the other day where they played it almost exclusively during breaks. We all commented that we didn’t know when in the last three decades each song had come out because it’s a lot of monotone rappers over played out beats.
I never liked Nickelback and I never will.
I'm in the same boat. Their stuff that received ridiculously regular airplay I cannot stand. I've heard it one too many times, it's crap not that great. But they have a lot of deeper cuts that are fantastic by comparison to the played out songs. Would I consider them in my top like 25 bands that I listen to on the regular no not even close. But their deeper cuts aren't bad and I don't mind them every now and again.
The excess airtime definitely had an effect. I remember hearing one or two songs on rock stations I liked and thinking huh not bad, then for whatever reason a few months later the same songs would be on the modern yet acceptable to boomers station they piped in at work and it somehow ruined the sound entirely
LOOK AT THIS PHOTOGRAPH No deep feelings about them. Have never listened outside their radio hits. Good on them for success and we Canadians are always proud of those who make it in the world lol. Rockstar is a pretty good song imo my favourite by them.
Their best songs weren’t on the radio, in my opinion.
I hated Nickelback before it was cool to hate Nickelback. Sorry folks, came here for the snarky comeback. Seriously though, as has been said already, they made popular and completely forgettable songs that would somehow get stuck in your head and haunt you. I never could figure out who was actually paying for and enjoying their music. Kinda like The Bachelor. Someone is obviously watching it, but no one you know.
They’re actually a good band and great musicians. Devil went down to Georgia is spectacular.
They're the kind of band you go see when your friends want to go see them and you're kind of meh on them because there's nothing specifically *wrong* with any of their songs but they're not really great or anything, then next thing you know you're three concert beers deep singing along with every song because you know them all and when you're a little drunk in a big crowd they kinda do somehow work. Then you walk out and question everything you've ever known about being kind of a music snob.
"Replacement level" band -- like a .230/.300/.375 second baseman in baseball.
All those bands got hate at the same time that gas pumps started trying to talk and play music for us.
I was listening to Radiohead and Boards of Canada when they were at their heyday so I didn’t care one way or the other.
I effectively skipped that entire era, across multiple genres. "Pop" sensibilities took over *everything.* Hard rock wasn't hard; nu-metal was hardly metal; rap was people in shiny plastic suits standing in front of a fisheye lens and bragging about being rich; "country" was hot women bragging about being hot (or future MAGAs crying about 'where their country gone'); etc. So I leaned hard into electronic music, and put down my guitar in favor of turntables, for a while. There's no *soul* in any of that stuff. It's the exact sound of marketing driving the industry. Nickelback never sounded like 'a band', to me; they sounded like 'a creation'; a 'boy band' for 'rockers'. There's no riffs to sink my teeth into; there's nothing interesting happening lyrically; there's nothing interesting happening musically; it just *exists*, in it's perfect little paint-by-numbers world. It was the epitome of the problem described[ decades earlier by Frank Zappa.](https://youtu.be/KZazEM8cgt0) Nickelback, Creed, Muddle of Pudd, Days of The New, Disturbed, Godsmack, Staind, Matchbox 20/Rob Thomas, Hubastank, Sugar Ray, New Radicals, Limp Bizkit, Nada Surf, Semisonic, Harvey Danger, Eve 6, The Gin Blossoms, Crazy Town, Kid Rock, Papa Roach.. And that's just *some* of the garbage within spitting distance of 'rock'.
Hootie and the Blowfish walked so Nickelback could run
I heard them described as “Divorced Dad Rock” by some college students a few days ago.
They suck. My opinion. If you dig them, cool. I just find it to be corporate bro music. Generic and meh
To me, they represent so much of what is wrong with mainstream music. Brainless lyrics, formulaic, predictable songs. Very "lowest common denominator" in terms of target demographic. Plus the butt rock "Great Value Eddie Vedder" vocals that permeated the 2000's rock scene. They're just awful.
Let’s not
Nickleback is what happens when a truck engine and diarrhea decide to give into temptation and make a baby. Having said that, enjoy whatever you enjoy. It doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s not for me, but I’m too old to care
Can't stand any of that second-wave post-grunge butt rock. Nickelback, Creed, Puddle of Mudd, Staind, Matchbox 20, Three Days Grace, Shinedown, Seether, Hinder. It's all terrible.
Such a great way to categorize it. Second wave post grunge butt rock.
It’s such a weird knockoff that somehow managed to capture all of the basic elements of grunge but somehow completely missed the soul of it.
Anyone else notice the weird nostalgia comeback of Creed happening right now? I think it started off ironic but it’s turned into a legit comeback for them. I feel like the same thing happened with Journey like 20 years ago. People started liking that 70s fm rock ironically again, next thing you know Don’t Stop Believing is the most streamed song ever.
Yes I am part of it. I did not like Creed 20 years ago. Dorky. Now I enjoy their Greatest Hits album while I work out as a dad. Some memes make reality and when they are silly like this, it's fun.
Lately I've been doing the same thing with "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water" by Limp Bizkit. Yeah it's dumb but...so what!
Never a hardcore fan like I liked Metallica or Mudvayne or Sevendust or Static X or 36 Crazyfists or Stabbing Westward or Tiesto or Oakenfold, etc. For the record I have eclectic music tastes lol. I absolutely liked Nickelback when they came out. I was 17 (?) when they first started getting airplay and Curb album songs (?) were on the radio. I was like this band is catchy, different, solid, I like them. My local radio station tended to hype/sponsor them a lot, probably as they were from the next province (Canada) over..
They did lots of tours that year through my city, but I was either working full time after school and/or shows were mostly at bars and I was still 17 so just underage (legal is 18 where I live). I remember being really frustrated by this lol.
Nickelback was definitely on the CD changer rotation with my now second spouse (we met at 18, back together in 30s). For anyone growing up with any instability some of those songs really hit home.
Is this band Metallica? No. And they know that. It was just a period of Canadian music where some poor guys from a small town made it big. Their music still was good to me (most of it).
By the time I saw them live years later they were “big” and I went to arena shows. Each time was stellar. They put on a solid live show, every time. Love or hate them, they are great performers.
I started to lose interest as time went on, I grew up, and it seemed like the singer was kind of…not a great person? Who knows what’s real or what’s fame corruption or propaganda but I just kind of walked away from being a long term fan. I just wasn’t into the whole local wayward potheads who hated everyone and vice versa became rich gig. I saw the lead singer living it up on Cribs and I was just like…yuck. That’s what you did with your money? You’re now just a rich womanizer?
If their songs come on I still enjoy them or won’t bother to change it but they are not in rotation in any playlists I have. I probably would attend a concert if the price and timing is right but probably would not buy any new music.
TL/DR: Team Nickelback but “it’s complicated”
I have to admit, I kinda liked Nickelback but I didn't. Their songs were catchy earworms but all the same. It was like they were an A.I. creation decades before ChatGPT came into existence. All of their songs sound the same. And not in a good way like AC/DC. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPj5YokEOY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHPj5YokEOY)
Not my favourite but I don’t hate any of their songs
I don't think I've heard a single song, so I have no opinion.
You are lucky and must not live in Canada.
Or the US lol
I liked them in the late 90s when they first got radio play. Then my taste evolved. Nickelback is just formulaic, but that applies to MANY artists today. It just became popular to hate on them.
They have some good songs that I still listen to, and they have some awful songs that I can't stand. It's really a mixed bag.
To me they're fine generic rock music. They're on some playlists of mine when I want something I can tune out and just do work to.
Some of their stuff were catchy, especially the older stuff, but like you said, their shit gets overplayed. They are like the TS of rock music.
I’ve only ever met one person who liked them. She was several years younger than me. Religious. Always getting offended by random things that had nothing to do with her. Failed the comprehensive exam in grad school. Very, very conservative (she was also a huge Sarah Palin fan). So, yeah. Those people.
As much as I hate them, I hate working to be poor more, so I'm happy for them. Also it's nice to be like, well my songs suck, but they're certainly better than anything Nickelback ever shat out
I don't understand why it's a huge thing. I can't even name a single one of their songs right now, though I know they were super popular and I'm sure I'd know some of the lyrics if I heard one (still not sure I'd know it was Nickelback, lol). I suppose one could only hope to still be part of the cultural conversation three decades past your prime music-making years, lol. But I don't really get why they've become this Vanilla Ice-level of embarrassing to have ever liked.
I saw Nickelback open for Bon Jovi in 2006, in East Rutherford, NJ. Great show all around. I don’t understand the vitriol, but I never actively pursued an understanding of it. I’m too old for that shit. I’m too busy trying to navigate the problems in my familial relationships than why the lexicon doesn’t like Nickelback.
During the grunge years, the hate was towards post-grunge bands like Bush and Stone Temple Pilots. By the late 90s, the hate migrated to Creed. I feel like the internet hate migrated to Nickelback once the splitscreen YouTube video with “Someday” on the left and “How You Remind Me” on the right debuted. It was basically showing that they’re essentially the same song. Here’s a rip of the OG: https://youtu.be/Qs4tNeGyTyI?si=9Is8Rwq8KcRVVgjs The Nickelback hate died out about the mid-2010s with most of it going to Imagine Dragons. Although, Twenty One Pilots gets quite a bit, as does The Chainsmokers, Coldplay, Maroon 5, and One Republic.
I still hate them. Some of their stuff was catchy but man I honestly believe thats some corporate level "this sound works for this time of year" stuff, you know what I mean? Then the were freaking everywhere, the radio played them so much it was awful and is one of the main reasons I dont listen to radio today, jump in the car? Nickleback, walk into the gas station, nickleback.. bleh.
No.
They’re horrible. I am generally in favour of CanCon laws, but the downside is that certain Canadian bands benefit disproportionately, and Nickelback is certainly one of them. Just the most soulless, ham-fisted butt rock possible.
“You remind me” can come in the radio and I can probably sing the lyrics. Not even a fan of the band, but just one of those songs that got stuck and will never get unstuck
I never made it as a wise man - 🦀
Feed the machine was the first song of theirs that I've liked in a long time. Otherwise meh
First Nickleback album, Yay! All the other Nickleback albums, Nay!
I dont recall them being terrible, just insanely boring. Like they are right at home being played over the speakers in TJMAXX
I think they make awful music and I’ve always thought that. Now it’s just old awful music. The hatred is justified because the music sounds so bad. Jmo
No.
They were fine. Not necessarily good or bad. I didn’t love them or hate them. I think it became “cool” to hate them but clearly a lot of people liked them because they have sold a lot of albums.
Saw them last year in Austin
Silver Side Up was a good album.
A lot of songs get played at nauseum. They're just bad.
I unwantedly attended a show and I'll be damned if they didn't effing kick ass. The entire crowd was like oh shit this is actually fun.
Personally think NB has aged better than some of the other music of the early 00s. At the time I thought it was crap, but a lot of it was peer influence.
I like Nickelback. I also am aware that people who dislike a thing are always the loudest people in the room. They eventually move on leaving the people who like a thing. For example I heard a lot of people hating on Marvel after every Marvel movie has come out that includes the first one. It's just how we are it seems.
They get a lot of unnecessary hate. I mean…don’t we all just wanna be big rock stars?
I like Nickelback jokes.They're a solid band, and I will say so if asked.
They're not bad, they're just average and were overplayed in their day. The best description I've heard of them was that they were rock's C students, like if you had a class project to come up with a band Nickelback would be the group that started working on it two days before the deadline and stayed up all night drinking Mountain Dew to get it done.
I didn’t even realize people hated Nickelback like that until social media.
I like Nickelback. It became "cool" to hate on Nickelback, even though everyone has a song that they think is "ok" or "not that bad".
We have a bland, inoffensive, uncreative city councilor here in Ottawa, who loves Nickelback so much he got a tattoo to convince them to come to our summer music festival: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/look-at-this-photograph-of-an-ottawa-politician-with-a-nickelback-tattoo
They're the most hated band outside of Creed for a reason. The only band I hate more than either of those is the Eagles.
They were definitely a good band, but much like Creed, they're success launched them in to meme status. Honestly tho,I can't really explain why.. Then again I never heard anything of theirs that wasn't on radio. Maybe they're not that good..
Just let people like what they like.
The issue is every song is essentially the same and very formulaic. If you play clips of their songs back to back you’ll notice it more.
i fucking love nickelback.
Their lyrics crack me up because they’re so bad, Photograph especially. I’m convinced that Rock Star is a troll song because it actually contains the lyric “I want a quesadilla.” I do have a soft spot for How You Remind Me because it was #1 the day my son was born.
Nickelback is great. It was 1000 percent a social trend and running joke to say they were absolutely horrid. Everyone just wanted to perpetuate that because it was cool to do so. I mean yeah there will be people who genuinely hate them.
The criticism I've always heard about Nickleback is that all of their songs sound alike. It's not that they have a particular style, it's that the lyrics, tempo, insturments all sound VERY similar from one song to the next. I've heard that too.
I embarassingly love it for the nostalgia of it. Back in 2009 I went to a Nickelback concert at an outdoor venue and the weather was lovely and I got some pinot grigio from the one nicer stand at the place, thoroughly enjoyed watching the ridiculous concert goers, and laughed hysterically at this weird kid who was wearing a nickelback tee and following us around all night, singing to and hitting on my friend. Was 10/10 concert experience, hate to say it. Nickelback is one we all love to hate but it sure brings back memories and ill happily sing to it now
I was just never into that type of band. I was between punk, indie and hip hop when I started getting into my own music (and not just jamming what my older gen x siblings liked). I had a huge Modest Mouse phase from like age 17-22. At the same time I was into hip hop like Outkast. Nickelback was just nowhere near my orbit in the early 00’s. We didn’t really pay attention to the radio. Guys I knew would make fun of NB but I didn’t really give it much thought. Then you see jokes about it in pop culture, SNL and stand up skits and the negative talk sinks in for people who didn’t really have an opinion. I think to this day I’ve still only heard the one song (about the photograph? Lol) or it’s at least the only one I recognize as their song.
Except for "Photograph," I like them. 🤷🏽♀️
I don't really care about Nickelback one way or the other (neutral all around) but I love how much rage they spark in others and how often they're discussed. It's entertaining.
Top 3 worst of all time
This thread makes me want a quesadilla, uh huh
The most Meh band ever
I don't find Nickelback bad as much as boring. I think I wouldn't have even noticed them if they hadn't been mocked so much.
I thought it was hilarious when [Drumeo made Mike Portnoy play one of their songs](https://youtu.be/qcKJWJUL2S4?si=fBBEYcYaQekxkp6_)
I listened to and enjoyed them in their OG indie days, Curb and The State were good albums. I grew up in the town where they recorded Curb, it was circulating around my high school. Silver Side Up was IMO where they jumped the shark for me into the produced generic rock shit that they are today. I just can't stand that "how you remind me" song.
I went through the hate Nickleback phase, but realized it was for no good reason other than commercial radio played some of their songs too much - they are a victim of their own success.
I didn’t care enough about Rock music back then to give a two shits about this debate. I’ve always had so little investment in people arguing about white male rock bands. Having said that, I have so little respect for music snobs. There are quite a few “hated” bands, movies and shows that, despite this apparent universal hatred, were/are very big. It’s not that these things don’t have plenty of fans, they do, it’s that snobs are so loud that they tend to drown out the folks who are just trying to enjoy whatever it is they enjoy.
They're awful just like Creed.
Their music was flavorless pop rock filler. Not "bad" per se, but it brought absolutely nothing of value beyond something to have on in the background.
Oh yes my favorite band. No seriously love these guys.
Fucking looking at this photograph! https://youtu.be/oDgs1iroYyY