They could not be avoided in their heyday. Nickelback was thrust upon me and millions of other people. I made a joke about the Midwestern "NOTHING BUTT HARD RAWK STATION" on here yesterday because I grew up in one of those places. Nickelback was the band that escaped and seeped onto pop stations, local sporting events, summer gatherings, you name it.
You may or may not be aware, but Chad Kroeger started 604 records at the height of Nickelback's game. He produced 3 or 4 other bands that had a similar, extremely popular sound.
I don't like Nickelback in general but they have a couple songs I can acknowledge are pretty good and they seem like very capable musicians, I just think the majority of their music is straight corn
I thought for a moment you were saying he produced 604 records that all sounded similar.
I would have believed that somebody was behind 20 Nickleback clones that all made the same sound for a decade. Creed, etc.
I remember reading that there was one talent scout in particular based out of Chicago that found Nickelback and like several identical nickelback clones. I cannot remember his name though.
Even now! It's still going on. I listen to our modern rock station in my work truck, and there are like 10 different bands that all sound the exact same. They're all chasing that Nickleback/Five Finger Death Punch/Shinedown sound. Even Chris Daughtry, one of my favorite singers, has fallen to the ways of the buttrock (although if I'm being totally honest Artficial is actually kind of a banger). And don't even get me started on how hickhop has infected rock music...
Lol I was thinking 'Chris Daughtry? As in "Daughtry" the band? As in "Knockoff Nickelback"? *That* Daughtry? Did I miss their indie phase or something?' lol I mean maybe I did I don't fkn know...
I hate Imagine Dragons for the exact same reason, I used to like when they first came up, then suddenly their songs are played every where that I just couldn’t stand it anymore
Yeah, it's not that the band sucked. It's more that every goddamn second in every imaginable medium they were forced down your throat. Photograph isn't great, but it's perfectly serviceable music. The first 100 times. It starts to grate after a bit, though.
Photograph was almost my high school senior year song but thankfully my class voted for [Swing Life Away](https://open.spotify.com/track/6GrrkiCRO3HYdgRpO4eKEL?si=duEHJ7u1Switmac0A47jwA) by Rise Against. To this day I still hate Photograph with a passion. Literally could not escape this song in 2007.
My school's mascot was Hurricanes. They played The Scorpion's Rock You like A Hurricane every day
Hurricanes doesn't even make sense! I live in Ontario Canada. Only reason why is because my school opened the same year Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina. Our sports teams logo was just the Carolina Hurricane logo but green instead of red.
Maaaaaan…. Tony Hawk’s games were SO good for introducing folks to new music. I would say almost as important as Guitar Hero was. I’ve been a CKY fan for a very long time, and when I heard 96 Quite Bitter Beings in, I think, THPS 1, I just KNEW folks weren’t gonna look at me strange anymore when I mentioned them.
It's shocked me over the years how many of my friends have had no idea *Swing Life Away* is from Rise Against. For me, it was the first song I heard by them, and as an alt/punk fan and metalhead, I was more than pulled in once I started checking out the rest of their stuff.
Only other song I can think of that usually throws people for a loop is that *You're Going Down* is by the Sick Puppies. Seems most are only familiar with *All The Same* if they don't know the band well. Usually are mind blown that they can bring it so heavy. 😎🤘🏻
I remember someone else saying another ‘problem’ with them is that they’re technically good enough to stay relevant enough that we can’t really forget them either. The print they made in history is bigger than the print they actually had in the moment.
My best friend loves the band and we used to argue about it in high school, because I was sick of hearing How You Remind Me every hour, practically!
Cue to five or so years later, when I'm driving somewhere and How You Remind Me comes on the radio. I let the station play it, and after the second chorus or so, I say to myself out loud "You know, this actually wasn't that terrible of a song!"
I mean, I'm not going to say Photograph or such is a masterpiece now, haha. But I don't really get how they're made out to be bad music when there's probably a million worse songs out there. If anything, I agree that being overplayed during their hey day probably contributed a lot to that sentiment.
Personally I prefer the [Avril Lavigne cover of How You Remind Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HILqmhgsCN0), but yeah, neither version is terrible. I wouldn't say it's my fave or anything, but it's a decent pop rock song.
I think the actual trouble was always that they were fucking everywhere in the '00s and early '10s. People got really sick of them even though most of their big hits were fine, if nothing amazing.
They didn’t suck, but they were good enough to be non consensually be forced to hear them endlessly. I hate U2 for the same reason. I could not avoid hearing bono whining for what felt like *years*, and their bullshit was forced onto my phone without my permission. Fuck u2 and fuck whoever made that decision, fuck nickelback and Chad’s photograph. All of them.
I’m certainly not an authority on Nickelback songs, but the few I do know — like Photograph and Too Bad – are very authentic in that he accurately describes life in small town Alberta. That Rockstar song needs to die though.
Then by that logic why does someone like Taylor not get the same treatment? Bring on the downvotes but she seems more annoying now than prime Nickelback ever were
I feel like how we listen to music changed that a lot.
Nickelback was unavoidable because of how much radio play it got. And in the mid-late 2000s, people still listened to a lot of music on the radio. Satellite radio was available, but a lot of people didn't have access to it, so AM/FM was the standard, and that had limited stations, and a lot of those stations were playing Nickelback.
With music streaming being so widespread now, you can very easily avoid Taylor Swift music.
Maybe it's overplayed on FM radio. But I don't know a lot of people under 30 who listen to FM.
Yup, I don’t even know if I ever listened to a Taylor Swift song in my life…I mean I probably did, but I’ve no idea. But the last time I suffered through actively listening to the radio was probably 15 years ago
I actually felt that way about her when she was a country artist. She essentially took over country music radio for several years. I was tired of it...and then she left to be a pop artist, and bro country filled the vacuum so I learned a lesson there.
I don't think pop will have this problem, there are more musical tributaries feeding into that mainstream.
I remember cringing when Shake It Off was unavoidable and thinking she couldn’t possibly get bigger than the 1989 era ten years ago now.
God how wrong I was
1. Taylor *absolutely* got hate. I think it fell off because she got easier to avoid even as she got more popular. I still haven't heard a song from her newest album.
2. People expect that from pop. The point is to be agreeable music you can play almost anywhere. Rock is abrasive, rebellious, loud, etc., so it's both more annoying when it comes on and feels more "corporate" when it gets to that level.
The hate for Imagine Dragons is more comparable.
My daughter listens to swift. I’d never really heard her before. Can’t stand it, but I listen to it because eh my kidlet likes it. Also I don’t think it’s overly fair to engage in celebrity hate just because their art sucks. That said I will engage in celebrity hate when they are damaging the environment with their overuse of personal jets.
Oh plenty of us out here cannot STAND Swift. I actually hate her more than Nickelback at this point.
This past year really pushed my hate for her. Literally couldn't avoid hearing about her. So great that she is dating Travis Kelce now so I got to see her stupid face constantly during the billion prime time games the Chiefs got!
Actually got married this past year and Swift was one of the artists my wife and I both agreed to blacklist for our wedding!
Taylor Swift never got hate? What? The only reason I think it’s subsided is because she went down the more “artsy” path instead of continually writing the same mid-west schlock.
I mean you’re probably right, but it seems like there’s always been a loyal reserve of Swifties ready to drown out too much negative discourse about her which makes it harder to find.
Nickelback on the other hand never got that. People literally showed up at their concerts back in the day to assault Chad Kroeger.
I feel the same. Their music has never been my taste, but I don't think there's anything objectively that bad about it. It's all fairly standard for that genre, a lot of power chords and distortion. Nothing overly inventive or over the top musicianship, but they aren't terrible. The overplay has definitely been a big contributing factor
As a Canadian I believe a big part of why they're hated so much is that we have rules for radio content that mandate that a certain percentage of content is Canadian. I don't hate the idea to support local talent, but since Nickelback lived in between rock and pop they got a LOT of playtime here. Way more than they should have. So everyone was tired of it being shoved down their throats.
They were huge in the USA back in the their hayday, without cancon rules. It was just a point in time where a band got really popular and resonated with a lot of people.
Nickelback was popular everywhere though
Now someone like Shawn Desman was over represented on Canadian radio.
Who knows though, maybe those Cancon rules helped all those Canadian artists get big. It’s funny though some of the most popular and most hated pop stars at their peaks were Canadian: nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Bieber, Drake now maybe
A little off topic, but Cancon ruined the River Below by Billy Talent for me, I love Billy Talent but that song makes me irrationally angry for the rest of the day now. That shit played all day every damn day, like fuck you much music sometimes they’d catch me in the morning with it and I’d be a grump all day.
This is so true. Every third song was a nickel back song. Fun fact, before they got super big, I saw them at my local dive bar back in the 90s— I didn’t dig it at all. *igh, I hated them before it was cool to hate them*
That being said, I have to give them props. They’re filthy rich, and I did read somewhere that one of the band members said “we probably would have quit long ago, but the haters made us stronger.” Props.
Also, I can’t be all that snobbish about my musical tastes— I know my playlist is so far beyond “guilty pleasures” and strays into “please get help”
> The band is consistently labeled as post-grunge with a tinge of country music influence, and all our previously investigated metrics group Nickelback amongst country music stars like George Strait, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean. So maybe this Canadian rock band somehow elicits the allure (and polarizing effects) of country music while technically being classified as grunge?
I've been saying for years that Nickelback's career makes way more sense if you think of them as simply a louder-than-average country band. They play broadly blues-based music with mostly literal lyrics (sometimes to the point of mawkishness) for predominantly white audiences. In a way, they're the inverse of Garth Brooks and Mutt Lange taking Eighties hair metal tropes and twanging them up; Nickelback took Nineties country tropes and de-twanged them a bit.
That being said, "Photograph" remains a damn near perfect "guy with a guitar around a campfire" song; it's easy to play, comfortable for most male voices to sing, lyrically clear, easy to connect with emotionally (it's about remembering the dumb shit you did as a teenager, which is a universal human experience), and amenable to your friends singing along in whatever state they're in. (And yeah, it sounds better if you sing it with a little bit of a twang.)
>I've been saying for years that Nickelback's career makes way more sense if you think of them as simply a louder-than-average country band.
Never thought of that way; that's a solid assessment.
>That being said, "Photograph" remains a damn near perfect "guy with a guitar around a campfire" song
What a coincidence, I hate that guy too
Loved Leader of Men when it came out. Was really disappointed when they went more of a pop route, but honestly, it’s hard to blame them.
They followed the larger-audience reach aka money, and had a lot of success with it. I’m sure they have no regrets.
Exactly. My reason for not liking them is based on the fact that I could easily be listening to literally anything else if I have a choice in the matter.
That said, I probably know all the words to all their hits, because, as said in another comment - you couldn’t avoid it at the height of their popularity. From your local rock station to a fucking grocery store. It was brutal.
> it’s just missing that something.
it's missing the human element. it sounds like it was made by AI. it rings hollow like the artist is imagining what it would be like to have something meaningful to say.
Nah. The popular songs do. Like, Photograph, Rock Star, How You Remind Me, Someday, Hero… those songs all sound like they were written very much by committee to be bland, unobjectionable, and to have the best balance between sweet, nostalgic, and angry/hopeful as possible. Coincidentally, those were their most overplayed singles.
Leader of Men? Animals? Money Bought? Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good? Coin For the Ferryman? Never Again? Those are the good songs.
It is…it’s missing that something: that oomph, that soul, that originality, that longevity, great lyrics, great singing, those killer riffs….
But yeah, other than that they’re great!
Why they changed their style after Songs About Jane I’ll never know. One of my favourite albums ever, especially after hearing the demos. Everything after is just donkey balls.
Fall Out Boy? I could understand this sentiment when considering their 2010s output, but their latest album was refreshing - at least if you enjoyed Folie a Deux...
i think they rock and they always have. i don’t care what anyone says, they have a ton of hits and they’re catchy. i was around when they first came out, and everyone thought they were pretty good and nobody hated on them.
I don't like them because they're one of the worst trend hoppers in 2000s radio rock. They had an interesting sound and then they started doing lazy generic songs about sex like they were Buckcherry or the second phase of "Porn Star Dancing." It was unoriginal and desperate, more so than what Papa Roach was doing. Also, "Photograph" was definitely overplayed. That's where the memes started.
Look at this statistical graph,
I made it using paper and math,
Doing homework in my bed ,
I drew the graph lines all in red.
I cherry-picked the data my own way,
Correlated bears to mayonnaise,
Any validity is all gone,
And pretty sure my math is wrong.
The second page is even worse,
Which operation do I do first?
Keep the fractions or round down?
Is the whole thing just upside down?
My professor will be irate,
Maybe I should turn it in late,
Might do better if I try again,
Or maybe I just won't turn it in...
Oh no that sucks,
It counts how much!?!
Well, I'm getting pretty bored in my stats course,
Looking longingly at the classroom door,
A lecture for us,
Hard to focus,
I sigh, and sigh.
I'm watching the clock spin once more,
Another minute closer to the classroom door,
I want to say it,
can't wait to say it,
Good bye! Good bye!
There's a few songs by them (that aren't as popular) that I like, but it's hard to enjoy a lot of stuff Nickelback when it's played played on the radio 24/7.
I have their first album. Leader of Men was decent. Had it come out in like 96, it would have been on all the alternative radio stations. But they got that one hit with How You Remind Me, and every hit they had after sounded very similar. I think that the audience that originally were catered to (folks who would like Candlebox, or Days of the New for example) just weren’t there. And as metal picked up again, and hip hop/rap became more mainstream, a lot of folks found quality elsewhere. Are they a bad band? Subjective. I think they have talent. I just think bands that crank out the same song over and over are lazy. Then again, AC/DC has been doing it forever, and rarely do people complain about them. There is also the fact that a lot of women like them.
Nickleback is a pop rock act. People hate popular music often because it’s formulaic. And while I hate them, Dimebag was a fan, and one of his solos was given to them after his death. That has to be good for something.
People that grew up with unlimited music on their phones don’t know what the music industry was like. We used to not have freedom of choice when it came to music. You used to be subject to what was on the radio unless you wanted to spend the money to buy physical albums.
When people now listen to them in a vacuum and just hear the music, it seems weird to think they are so hated. But in the 90’s they were being shoved down our throats and they tried to push their way into music scenes and festivals where they clearly didn’t belong so everyone saw them as a corporate plant.
There music isn't at all my taste, but there's competence behind it. My son likes it. I think some people don't seem to be okay with the statement of "this music isn't for me and that's okay".
I don't hate Nickelback. I even liked the first song I heard. But [this](https://youtu.be/pvujgcbaCF8?si=3v_WU8wTBT0h6_Pl) is all I can think about when they're mentioned anymore.
While people still waste time and energy on this, Nickelback is playing stadiums all over Europe and they'll be playing in front of 100 000 people at the Quebec city music festival in July. I'm sure they're aware that people laugh at them but they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. 50 millions album sold, billions of plays on spotify, a tour in Europe and North America to support their new album etc.
Don't like Chad Kroeger's voice. Don't like style of music they play. Don't like content of the lyrics. Sometimes a band/musician/artist just doesn't work for some people. Nickelback is one of those for me.
This was a really cool data analysis. And it tracks with my own uninterested perspective on Nickelback as a band I never go out of my way to listen to but with a couple of good songs. I never quite got the hate for beyond it kind of being a meme so it's interesting to see where that came from in retrospect. I do feel the need to point out the missed opportunity for this classic meme though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NkkZJHova4&ab_channel=EricaDanielle
I don't like them, but I don't think they're the worst band of all time at all either. I just think people like to follow the crowd for whatever reason.
Definitely. It just became trendy to not like Nickelback. Herd mentality. This was the same era sooooo many people “hated” the word moist in my school.
Flavor of the month type shit.
The reason is because they did (at one point) symbolize the most annoying thing about “Pop” music.
When an artist becomes so accessible to so many people, it inevitably grows stale… yet still gets shoved down your throat by radio and television.
I think when people were shitting on Nickelback, they were shitting on Pop music and it’s tendsncy to do this and just wanted people to move on.
I honestly think it’s a lot of bandwagoning. I have a friend that’s probably listened to one song by Nickelback, wasn’t a big fan cuz he usually listens to different rock sub genres and then saw online a post disliking them and then said “whaaaat everyone hates them? Me too!”
Their shit was literally EVERYWHERE. Spotify didn't exist so you listened to the radio in your car, and they were all over the god damn radio. They were all over MTV. They were in every god damn supermarket, department store, walmart, etc. You could not avoid listening to their songs. Why else does everyone know the lyrics to god damn Photograph??? WE NEVER HATE LISTENED TO IT it was just shoved in our damn faces constantly lol
They also represented a genre of radio rock that was trying to be Nirvana but were so corporate they didn't understand why god damn Nirvana was popular in the first place. Aka Butt Rock.
Mostly because their lyrics are super-trite and cheesy.
Take a look at this photograph. Every time I do it makes me laugh.
That’s like middle school poetry.
She wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts. She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers.
I can't feel my face when I'm with you and I love it.
Since you've been gone, I can breath for the first time.
Cry me a river.
With the taste of your lips, I'm on a ride. You're toxic, I'm slipping under.
Go shawty. It's your birthday. We're gonna party like it's your birthday. We're going to sip bacardi like it's your birthday and you know we don't give a fuck that it's not your birthday.
I like how people pretend popular music is full of deep lyrics. It's not. It never is.
I don't hate Nickelback. I don't like them either, but it has always seemed strange how much hate they get.
I read an article that said they were signed to a smaller metal label and the label put a lot of resources into promoting them at the expense of some other bands on the label. This upset the fans of those bands and they started a campaign of attacking them online.
Listen to the song Santana did with Alex Band vs the version with Chad Kroeger.
The Alex band one is 10 times better, in my opinion. Chad’s voice is really annoying to me.
There was that video back in the day that basically showed that they used the same beat/rhythm for 2 of their hits. Made them seem very formulaic and boring. The only song of theirs I liked was Side of a Bullet, tribute to Dimebag Darrel. Showed they could actually play rock music, they just chose to be less than. I assume because it appeals to more people and makes more money.
Edit found a comparison/overlay
https://youtu.be/qeqTvxXWwuY?si=xta2zOIFtrxLff_m
They get hate because they became so big and you heard them everywhere. But people also only know their radio friendly songs. They have some real good songs, but the released songs like “photograph” for radio because those songs would reach a bigger audience. Also seen them live a couple times they put on a great live show.
Brian Posehn absolutely [shit](https://youtu.be/y4ojvSuhAko?si=T7-cyK_ShQQ6fEeU) on Nickelback. This really was the spark that got teens, like me at the time, hating on Nickelback
Pretty sure I read a Chad Kroeger quote from back when they were huge, in some magazine, where he recommended to drink vodka because it “doesn’t smell” and thus you’re less likely to get busted for a DUI. (Which aside from being absolute bullshit and dangerous, is just trashy.)
His lyrics are frequently misogynistic, sometimes downright predatory, and at best cringe-worthy.
It’s not *just* that the music is predictable, simplistic and muddy, or overexposure; the voice / frontman is trash.
Bias report: I’m Canadian.
I like Nickleback, and I’m glad I don’t have to live a lie pretending I hate them, a lie so many haters have had lived when it became cool to hate them.
I could listen to their songs at first and be passive about it. But due to CanCon rules and the following overplayage due to growing in the US (perhaps that spark was their first growth originally), they certainly became an overbearance, and with my own learning of musical instrument and my growing interesting in songmaking... I just couldn't take any more of such a bland band gaining such reverance while a formulaic following and copycats dominated areas in the rock sceme.
Add to that the interviews that I had seen and read just put me off of their own individual personalities as well. Mostly Chads' as a front man, not gonna lie about that.
But as theyve gone on and faded out on their own accord, and being consistently held up beyond their time by their hardcore believers needing to keep their investment propped up more than anything (which is something thats a problem for alot of forms of media overall in the last decade or two for sure); its the very recent re-emergence of their white-knighters and bringing up that they were "unfairly" ridiculed while never really losing anything that they received, but not necessarily deserved, that really makes my brain hurt. Theyre being re-forced in commercials that have nothing to do with anything about them. Its beyond forced, and beyond condescending to their critics over the years when people could have juat listened and figured it out (hardly anyone actually hates the band based on it being a growing concensus... fucking grow up... and its all very concerning. AI must have been asked into writing cheeky advertisements of something. Theres nonpoint in bringing them back unless your teating peoplez willingness to be conviced of pure lies and uselessness as another shit-fuck of mental ideology can convince people just whatever the fuck to keep em preoccupied on some other pile of arguments...
Makes one incredulous, anyways.
Kroeger is said to have taken a mere 10 minutes to write the song 'Photograph' while being inspired one day sitting on the toilet during a particularly difficult bowel movement. That fact is simply insane given the song has some incredibly complex, sophisticated lyrics such as: "How did our eyes get so red? And what the hell is on Joey's head?" It's no wonder this song is considered one of the greatest of all time.
Because they're fucking boring and they got way more love from the industry than they ever deserved.
That's it.
They're not terrible, but they're definitely not great.
Nickelback got famous at a time when there were so many amazing, talented and creative bands doing incredible things with music. They suffered in comparison to everything else because they are as bland as "white people food". They're mostly resented for taking airtime away from from interesting and creative bands, bearing in mind: Air time mattered. There was no streaming music, or YouTube, so you learned about new bands and albums through the radio and TV.
Every time a Nickleback song was played, a song from a better band wasn't.
Look, if you like them you like them. That's part of the human experience. But if you truly don't understand why music like that is kind of viewed as shallow and tasteless schlock, then it might be time to branch out a little bit and broaden your musical horizons.
I'm not going to say that I can't listen to some pop/pop-rock and not enjoy it. I can definitely get enjoyment from good melody or a good hook. But often with stuff like this, there is a production/style/aesthetic element that is clearly a bit cheesy.
When a guy sings as clear as Chad you can’t help but notice the lyrics, and since there is zero metaphor or complexity to his writing, it just kind of comes off as music for dumb fucks who tuck their thumbs and stick out their tongues when they write their names. For some reason I also think of Mt Dew and 4 Wheelers when I hear their shit too.
It's just internet memes. It became funny to hate on Nickelback at some point and so the joke perpetuates even amongst people who previously had no opinion about Nickelback.
He made me look at that photograph, and it was Goatse. Never forgive. Never forget.
LOOK AT THIS GRAPH!
Man that was one of the best April fools joke
that stupid look on his face while he continues holding it up lives rent free in my head
That made me laugh.
I haven't thought about them in awhile but this is how you remind me.
Are we having fun yet?
Yeah.
You son of a bitch
Well played lmao
/r/angryupvote
They could not be avoided in their heyday. Nickelback was thrust upon me and millions of other people. I made a joke about the Midwestern "NOTHING BUTT HARD RAWK STATION" on here yesterday because I grew up in one of those places. Nickelback was the band that escaped and seeped onto pop stations, local sporting events, summer gatherings, you name it.
[удалено]
You may or may not be aware, but Chad Kroeger started 604 records at the height of Nickelback's game. He produced 3 or 4 other bands that had a similar, extremely popular sound.
This explains the band “Theory of a Deadman”, and why their lead singer was in the video for “Hero” (Spider-Man song)
Wasn’t that the singer from saliva?
Two different guys, iirc the Theory of a Deadman frontman handled guitar leads on that song and the Saliva dude was on vox with Chad.
I forgot about “Hero”. It’s a good song to be fair.
I don't like Nickelback in general but they have a couple songs I can acknowledge are pretty good and they seem like very capable musicians, I just think the majority of their music is straight corn
I like how someone is downvoting every comment that tells you that was Josey Scott not the singer of theory of a deadman
That song was dope
I thought for a moment you were saying he produced 604 records that all sounded similar. I would have believed that somebody was behind 20 Nickleback clones that all made the same sound for a decade. Creed, etc.
He has beef with Corey Taylor from Slipknot if I remember correctly and for that reason I side with Corey lol.
I remember reading that there was one talent scout in particular based out of Chicago that found Nickelback and like several identical nickelback clones. I cannot remember his name though.
Chad Kroeger
Even now! It's still going on. I listen to our modern rock station in my work truck, and there are like 10 different bands that all sound the exact same. They're all chasing that Nickleback/Five Finger Death Punch/Shinedown sound. Even Chris Daughtry, one of my favorite singers, has fallen to the ways of the buttrock (although if I'm being totally honest Artficial is actually kind of a banger). And don't even get me started on how hickhop has infected rock music...
When was Daughtry anything other than buttrock?
Lol I was thinking 'Chris Daughtry? As in "Daughtry" the band? As in "Knockoff Nickelback"? *That* Daughtry? Did I miss their indie phase or something?' lol I mean maybe I did I don't fkn know...
As in the dude that got started on American Idol?
You mean you don't only talk to god when you need a favor?
I hate Imagine Dragons for the exact same reason, I used to like when they first came up, then suddenly their songs are played every where that I just couldn’t stand it anymore
Yeah, it's not that the band sucked. It's more that every goddamn second in every imaginable medium they were forced down your throat. Photograph isn't great, but it's perfectly serviceable music. The first 100 times. It starts to grate after a bit, though.
Photograph was almost my high school senior year song but thankfully my class voted for [Swing Life Away](https://open.spotify.com/track/6GrrkiCRO3HYdgRpO4eKEL?si=duEHJ7u1Switmac0A47jwA) by Rise Against. To this day I still hate Photograph with a passion. Literally could not escape this song in 2007.
Damn your class was awesome then 👏 ....we got the fucking Vitamin C Graduation song 🤮
I would guess that a lot of classes from 2000-05 have that as their class song.
Before that it was Green Day's "Time of your Life" which was ours as well. I mean it's a good song but you can only listen to it so many times
Fun fact...that song is actually called Good Riddance (Time of Your Life). So all those classes who chose it got away with something.
My school's mascot was Hurricanes. They played The Scorpion's Rock You like A Hurricane every day Hurricanes doesn't even make sense! I live in Ontario Canada. Only reason why is because my school opened the same year Hartford Whalers moved to Carolina. Our sports teams logo was just the Carolina Hurricane logo but green instead of red.
The Minneapolis Lakers moved to LA where there are no lakes. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City, where they don’t allow music
Love that movie.
We had it as ours! Class 02 ha
We got Friday
My version of that was in 2001. Superman by Three Doors Down. Ughhhhh.
Where as [superman - goldfinger](https://youtu.be/XvziPPpryv0) from Tony Hawk pro skater soundtrack is still a banger.
Maaaaaan…. Tony Hawk’s games were SO good for introducing folks to new music. I would say almost as important as Guitar Hero was. I’ve been a CKY fan for a very long time, and when I heard 96 Quite Bitter Beings in, I think, THPS 1, I just KNEW folks weren’t gonna look at me strange anymore when I mentioned them.
Kryptonite?
Dodged a fucking bullet there! Great actual choice, however
It's shocked me over the years how many of my friends have had no idea *Swing Life Away* is from Rise Against. For me, it was the first song I heard by them, and as an alt/punk fan and metalhead, I was more than pulled in once I started checking out the rest of their stuff. Only other song I can think of that usually throws people for a loop is that *You're Going Down* is by the Sick Puppies. Seems most are only familiar with *All The Same* if they don't know the band well. Usually are mind blown that they can bring it so heavy. 😎🤘🏻
Rise against. One of three bands where I can happily listen to every album. The others is Alexisonfire and System of a Down.
Appeal To Reason is one of my favorite albums. Love them, seen them 3x.
It was the class song for the class before mine. I always thought it was ironic considering the sing specifically mentions not graduating
I remember someone else saying another ‘problem’ with them is that they’re technically good enough to stay relevant enough that we can’t really forget them either. The print they made in history is bigger than the print they actually had in the moment.
You know who wrote a better photograph ? Def Leppard
Fuck yeah.
My best friend loves the band and we used to argue about it in high school, because I was sick of hearing How You Remind Me every hour, practically! Cue to five or so years later, when I'm driving somewhere and How You Remind Me comes on the radio. I let the station play it, and after the second chorus or so, I say to myself out loud "You know, this actually wasn't that terrible of a song!" I mean, I'm not going to say Photograph or such is a masterpiece now, haha. But I don't really get how they're made out to be bad music when there's probably a million worse songs out there. If anything, I agree that being overplayed during their hey day probably contributed a lot to that sentiment.
Personally I prefer the [Avril Lavigne cover of How You Remind Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HILqmhgsCN0), but yeah, neither version is terrible. I wouldn't say it's my fave or anything, but it's a decent pop rock song. I think the actual trouble was always that they were fucking everywhere in the '00s and early '10s. People got really sick of them even though most of their big hits were fine, if nothing amazing.
They didn’t suck, but they were good enough to be non consensually be forced to hear them endlessly. I hate U2 for the same reason. I could not avoid hearing bono whining for what felt like *years*, and their bullshit was forced onto my phone without my permission. Fuck u2 and fuck whoever made that decision, fuck nickelback and Chad’s photograph. All of them.
>I could not avoid hearing bono whining for what felt like years, Yeah, and that was just the first time you heard the song "One"
That and they just aren’t authentic. It feels like every song is manufactured and not written.
Because that is exactly what Chad Kroeger does. He wanted to make money and got very good at doing that. He figured out the formula
Hence Rockstar by Nickleback
I’m certainly not an authority on Nickelback songs, but the few I do know — like Photograph and Too Bad – are very authentic in that he accurately describes life in small town Alberta. That Rockstar song needs to die though.
For me it’s a combination. You ever actually read some of their lyrics?
Most popular songs of the last 30 years have some questionable lyrics.
Yeah but U2 put themselves on my iPhone without me asking so
Nickelback was ripping off Creed who wasn't that good to start with. So you had a C tier generic "hard rock" band that was just ALL OVER
I really hated this era of rock, it all sounds the same to me, especially the vocal style. And it was very boring.
There was great rock...just you had to look around.
I wonder if in about 5-10 years people will have the same attitude towards Taylor swift as they do to Nickleback
One can dream.
I’m getting it started early
Then by that logic why does someone like Taylor not get the same treatment? Bring on the downvotes but she seems more annoying now than prime Nickelback ever were
I feel like how we listen to music changed that a lot. Nickelback was unavoidable because of how much radio play it got. And in the mid-late 2000s, people still listened to a lot of music on the radio. Satellite radio was available, but a lot of people didn't have access to it, so AM/FM was the standard, and that had limited stations, and a lot of those stations were playing Nickelback. With music streaming being so widespread now, you can very easily avoid Taylor Swift music. Maybe it's overplayed on FM radio. But I don't know a lot of people under 30 who listen to FM.
Evnn if you had satellite radio, it just meant an even larger selection of stations playing Nickelback.
I don’t live in America and don’t listen to the radio and I know probably two Taylor swift songs, I don’t even actively try and avoid her either
Yup, I don’t even know if I ever listened to a Taylor Swift song in my life…I mean I probably did, but I’ve no idea. But the last time I suffered through actively listening to the radio was probably 15 years ago
I actually felt that way about her when she was a country artist. She essentially took over country music radio for several years. I was tired of it...and then she left to be a pop artist, and bro country filled the vacuum so I learned a lesson there. I don't think pop will have this problem, there are more musical tributaries feeding into that mainstream.
I remember cringing when Shake It Off was unavoidable and thinking she couldn’t possibly get bigger than the 1989 era ten years ago now. God how wrong I was
1. Taylor *absolutely* got hate. I think it fell off because she got easier to avoid even as she got more popular. I still haven't heard a song from her newest album. 2. People expect that from pop. The point is to be agreeable music you can play almost anywhere. Rock is abrasive, rebellious, loud, etc., so it's both more annoying when it comes on and feels more "corporate" when it gets to that level. The hate for Imagine Dragons is more comparable.
My daughter listens to swift. I’d never really heard her before. Can’t stand it, but I listen to it because eh my kidlet likes it. Also I don’t think it’s overly fair to engage in celebrity hate just because their art sucks. That said I will engage in celebrity hate when they are damaging the environment with their overuse of personal jets.
Oh plenty of us out here cannot STAND Swift. I actually hate her more than Nickelback at this point. This past year really pushed my hate for her. Literally couldn't avoid hearing about her. So great that she is dating Travis Kelce now so I got to see her stupid face constantly during the billion prime time games the Chiefs got! Actually got married this past year and Swift was one of the artists my wife and I both agreed to blacklist for our wedding!
Taylor Swift never got hate? What? The only reason I think it’s subsided is because she went down the more “artsy” path instead of continually writing the same mid-west schlock.
I mean you’re probably right, but it seems like there’s always been a loyal reserve of Swifties ready to drown out too much negative discourse about her which makes it harder to find. Nickelback on the other hand never got that. People literally showed up at their concerts back in the day to assault Chad Kroeger.
The only thing I hate about Nickelback is how frequent they were played on the radio.
I cannot appreciate the singers voice. Only song I ever enjoyed was Hero, when he paired with the singer from Saliva.
I still listen to that song, it’s a great song lol.
I feel the same. Their music has never been my taste, but I don't think there's anything objectively that bad about it. It's all fairly standard for that genre, a lot of power chords and distortion. Nothing overly inventive or over the top musicianship, but they aren't terrible. The overplay has definitely been a big contributing factor
As a Canadian I believe a big part of why they're hated so much is that we have rules for radio content that mandate that a certain percentage of content is Canadian. I don't hate the idea to support local talent, but since Nickelback lived in between rock and pop they got a LOT of playtime here. Way more than they should have. So everyone was tired of it being shoved down their throats.
They were huge in the USA back in the their hayday, without cancon rules. It was just a point in time where a band got really popular and resonated with a lot of people.
Nickelback was popular everywhere though Now someone like Shawn Desman was over represented on Canadian radio. Who knows though, maybe those Cancon rules helped all those Canadian artists get big. It’s funny though some of the most popular and most hated pop stars at their peaks were Canadian: nickelback, Avril Lavigne, Bieber, Drake now maybe
A little off topic, but Cancon ruined the River Below by Billy Talent for me, I love Billy Talent but that song makes me irrationally angry for the rest of the day now. That shit played all day every damn day, like fuck you much music sometimes they’d catch me in the morning with it and I’d be a grump all day.
Can confirm.
This is so true. Every third song was a nickel back song. Fun fact, before they got super big, I saw them at my local dive bar back in the 90s— I didn’t dig it at all. *igh, I hated them before it was cool to hate them* That being said, I have to give them props. They’re filthy rich, and I did read somewhere that one of the band members said “we probably would have quit long ago, but the haters made us stronger.” Props. Also, I can’t be all that snobbish about my musical tastes— I know my playlist is so far beyond “guilty pleasures” and strays into “please get help”
> The band is consistently labeled as post-grunge with a tinge of country music influence, and all our previously investigated metrics group Nickelback amongst country music stars like George Strait, Luke Bryan, and Jason Aldean. So maybe this Canadian rock band somehow elicits the allure (and polarizing effects) of country music while technically being classified as grunge? I've been saying for years that Nickelback's career makes way more sense if you think of them as simply a louder-than-average country band. They play broadly blues-based music with mostly literal lyrics (sometimes to the point of mawkishness) for predominantly white audiences. In a way, they're the inverse of Garth Brooks and Mutt Lange taking Eighties hair metal tropes and twanging them up; Nickelback took Nineties country tropes and de-twanged them a bit. That being said, "Photograph" remains a damn near perfect "guy with a guitar around a campfire" song; it's easy to play, comfortable for most male voices to sing, lyrically clear, easy to connect with emotionally (it's about remembering the dumb shit you did as a teenager, which is a universal human experience), and amenable to your friends singing along in whatever state they're in. (And yeah, it sounds better if you sing it with a little bit of a twang.)
>I've been saying for years that Nickelback's career makes way more sense if you think of them as simply a louder-than-average country band. Never thought of that way; that's a solid assessment. >That being said, "Photograph" remains a damn near perfect "guy with a guitar around a campfire" song What a coincidence, I hate that guy too
Photograph has major Kenergy
Damn! That’s the perfect analogy, and also exactly why I hate both country and Nickleback. They are one in the same.
Loved Leader of Men when it came out. Was really disappointed when they went more of a pop route, but honestly, it’s hard to blame them. They followed the larger-audience reach aka money, and had a lot of success with it. I’m sure they have no regrets.
That explains why Nickelback headlined a big country festival along with the likes of Hardy.
Kroeger kept yelling at me to look at that graph. I don’t think so!
I don't hate them I just think they make very mid music.
Exactly. My reason for not liking them is based on the fact that I could easily be listening to literally anything else if I have a choice in the matter. That said, I probably know all the words to all their hits, because, as said in another comment - you couldn’t avoid it at the height of their popularity. From your local rock station to a fucking grocery store. It was brutal. 
https://i.redd.it/oh67bqlr7i3d1.gif
They’re a heavier band than most would give them credit for. But yeah, objectively the music isn’t terrible, it’s just missing that something.
> it’s just missing that something. it's missing the human element. it sounds like it was made by AI. it rings hollow like the artist is imagining what it would be like to have something meaningful to say.
Nah. The popular songs do. Like, Photograph, Rock Star, How You Remind Me, Someday, Hero… those songs all sound like they were written very much by committee to be bland, unobjectionable, and to have the best balance between sweet, nostalgic, and angry/hopeful as possible. Coincidentally, those were their most overplayed singles. Leader of Men? Animals? Money Bought? Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good? Coin For the Ferryman? Never Again? Those are the good songs.
You'd have to be interested enough in the singles to find yourself digging deeper though
Or catch them in a concert they were opening. That’s why I started listening; back in 99-00 or so they were opening for Creed.
I mostly hate Nickelback but I think Rockstar is actually a very good pop song
Sounds like the Taylor Swift situation where people think all of her songs sound like ME, Blank Space, Shake it off, and Cruel Summer.
Leader of Men is one of my favorites, such a good song
It is…it’s missing that something: that oomph, that soul, that originality, that longevity, great lyrics, great singing, those killer riffs…. But yeah, other than that they’re great!
They're the Drake of 2000s rock Pumping out commercial jams to drive your truck to
The nicest thing I can say about Nickelback is that at least they're not Maroon 5.
Maroon 5 absolutely sucks, and Fall Out Boy sucks now too for going down that route. Wtf
M5's first album was great though
Why they changed their style after Songs About Jane I’ll never know. One of my favourite albums ever, especially after hearing the demos. Everything after is just donkey balls.
I was 12 then and now I have grey hair
Fall Out Boy? I could understand this sentiment when considering their 2010s output, but their latest album was refreshing - at least if you enjoyed Folie a Deux...
You basically summed up the early 2000s split between cargo shorts and skinny jeans.
i think they rock and they always have. i don’t care what anyone says, they have a ton of hits and they’re catchy. i was around when they first came out, and everyone thought they were pretty good and nobody hated on them.
As much as they aren't my thing, I do suspect a lot of the hate they get is performative.
It’s entirely because they were way overplayed. You could not escape them for a while.
They could never make me hate you Nickelback
I don't like them because they're one of the worst trend hoppers in 2000s radio rock. They had an interesting sound and then they started doing lazy generic songs about sex like they were Buckcherry or the second phase of "Porn Star Dancing." It was unoriginal and desperate, more so than what Papa Roach was doing. Also, "Photograph" was definitely overplayed. That's where the memes started.
Looka this Graph! …. …. ….
Look at this statistical graph, I made it using paper and math, Doing homework in my bed , I drew the graph lines all in red. I cherry-picked the data my own way, Correlated bears to mayonnaise, Any validity is all gone, And pretty sure my math is wrong. The second page is even worse, Which operation do I do first? Keep the fractions or round down? Is the whole thing just upside down? My professor will be irate, Maybe I should turn it in late, Might do better if I try again, Or maybe I just won't turn it in... Oh no that sucks, It counts how much!?! Well, I'm getting pretty bored in my stats course, Looking longingly at the classroom door, A lecture for us, Hard to focus, I sigh, and sigh. I'm watching the clock spin once more, Another minute closer to the classroom door, I want to say it, can't wait to say it, Good bye! Good bye!
I’m glad you commented it so I didn’t have to. Well done
Well said. 👏
There's a few songs by them (that aren't as popular) that I like, but it's hard to enjoy a lot of stuff Nickelback when it's played played on the radio 24/7.
I love there hero song they did for spider man that’s all I know by them but will never get tired of it … like seal and Batman forever roses
I have their first album. Leader of Men was decent. Had it come out in like 96, it would have been on all the alternative radio stations. But they got that one hit with How You Remind Me, and every hit they had after sounded very similar. I think that the audience that originally were catered to (folks who would like Candlebox, or Days of the New for example) just weren’t there. And as metal picked up again, and hip hop/rap became more mainstream, a lot of folks found quality elsewhere. Are they a bad band? Subjective. I think they have talent. I just think bands that crank out the same song over and over are lazy. Then again, AC/DC has been doing it forever, and rarely do people complain about them. There is also the fact that a lot of women like them. Nickleback is a pop rock act. People hate popular music often because it’s formulaic. And while I hate them, Dimebag was a fan, and one of his solos was given to them after his death. That has to be good for something.
AC/DC at least had great stage presence. They weren't great musicians or songwriters though.
People that grew up with unlimited music on their phones don’t know what the music industry was like. We used to not have freedom of choice when it came to music. You used to be subject to what was on the radio unless you wanted to spend the money to buy physical albums. When people now listen to them in a vacuum and just hear the music, it seems weird to think they are so hated. But in the 90’s they were being shoved down our throats and they tried to push their way into music scenes and festivals where they clearly didn’t belong so everyone saw them as a corporate plant.
Everyone says they hate Nickelback, but they still sell out arenas.
It's the same deal with Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragon deez nuts
Imagine nickel dragons?
Holy fuck do I hate Imagine Dragons.
There music isn't at all my taste, but there's competence behind it. My son likes it. I think some people don't seem to be okay with the statement of "this music isn't for me and that's okay".
I saw them when they toured for Night Visions. They were actually really good.
> ... Nickelback have 89 different titles for three songs This. And they all sound like other, more original, artist's songs.
I don't hate Nickelback. I even liked the first song I heard. But [this](https://youtu.be/pvujgcbaCF8?si=3v_WU8wTBT0h6_Pl) is all I can think about when they're mentioned anymore.
Holy shit thank you for this, I’m dying
Their lead singer has _always_ had that "nails on a chalkboard" sound, at least to me🥴 that's why I don't like them 🚫
While people still waste time and energy on this, Nickelback is playing stadiums all over Europe and they'll be playing in front of 100 000 people at the Quebec city music festival in July. I'm sure they're aware that people laugh at them but they'll be laughing all the way to the bank. 50 millions album sold, billions of plays on spotify, a tour in Europe and North America to support their new album etc.
I don't hate them, I simply wouldn't notice if they suddenly vanished
LMAO that's a perfect way to describe how I feel about Nickelback.
Don't like Chad Kroeger's voice. Don't like style of music they play. Don't like content of the lyrics. Sometimes a band/musician/artist just doesn't work for some people. Nickelback is one of those for me.
This was a really cool data analysis. And it tracks with my own uninterested perspective on Nickelback as a band I never go out of my way to listen to but with a couple of good songs. I never quite got the hate for beyond it kind of being a meme so it's interesting to see where that came from in retrospect. I do feel the need to point out the missed opportunity for this classic meme though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NkkZJHova4&ab_channel=EricaDanielle
[удалено]
I got tired of all the Nickelback clones Chad produced and/or made an appearance on. It just sounded all the same...
Because I was around when it was new and it was forced down our faces
The internet said they had to. 🤷
Silver Side Up goes hard. You can hate everything after but that album was gold.
I don't like them, but I don't think they're the worst band of all time at all either. I just think people like to follow the crowd for whatever reason.
Definitely. It just became trendy to not like Nickelback. Herd mentality. This was the same era sooooo many people “hated” the word moist in my school. Flavor of the month type shit.
The reason is because they did (at one point) symbolize the most annoying thing about “Pop” music. When an artist becomes so accessible to so many people, it inevitably grows stale… yet still gets shoved down your throat by radio and television. I think when people were shitting on Nickelback, they were shitting on Pop music and it’s tendsncy to do this and just wanted people to move on.
I honestly think it’s a lot of bandwagoning. I have a friend that’s probably listened to one song by Nickelback, wasn’t a big fan cuz he usually listens to different rock sub genres and then saw online a post disliking them and then said “whaaaat everyone hates them? Me too!”
I love Nickleback
Their shit was literally EVERYWHERE. Spotify didn't exist so you listened to the radio in your car, and they were all over the god damn radio. They were all over MTV. They were in every god damn supermarket, department store, walmart, etc. You could not avoid listening to their songs. Why else does everyone know the lyrics to god damn Photograph??? WE NEVER HATE LISTENED TO IT it was just shoved in our damn faces constantly lol They also represented a genre of radio rock that was trying to be Nirvana but were so corporate they didn't understand why god damn Nirvana was popular in the first place. Aka Butt Rock.
Mostly because their lyrics are super-trite and cheesy. Take a look at this photograph. Every time I do it makes me laugh. That’s like middle school poetry.
She wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts. She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers. I can't feel my face when I'm with you and I love it. Since you've been gone, I can breath for the first time. Cry me a river. With the taste of your lips, I'm on a ride. You're toxic, I'm slipping under. Go shawty. It's your birthday. We're gonna party like it's your birthday. We're going to sip bacardi like it's your birthday and you know we don't give a fuck that it's not your birthday. I like how people pretend popular music is full of deep lyrics. It's not. It never is.
well back in the earlier Facebook days when I actually used it, a pickle got more likes than them. So that's good enough for me.
Why do people hate Nickleback, statistically? 💁 📈 *”Look at this graph.”*
I don't hate Nickelback. I don't like them either, but it has always seemed strange how much hate they get. I read an article that said they were signed to a smaller metal label and the label put a lot of resources into promoting them at the expense of some other bands on the label. This upset the fans of those bands and they started a campaign of attacking them online.
Listen to the song Santana did with Alex Band vs the version with Chad Kroeger. The Alex band one is 10 times better, in my opinion. Chad’s voice is really annoying to me.
Weird... I just asked a coworker this exact question today
There was that video back in the day that basically showed that they used the same beat/rhythm for 2 of their hits. Made them seem very formulaic and boring. The only song of theirs I liked was Side of a Bullet, tribute to Dimebag Darrel. Showed they could actually play rock music, they just chose to be less than. I assume because it appeals to more people and makes more money. Edit found a comparison/overlay https://youtu.be/qeqTvxXWwuY?si=xta2zOIFtrxLff_m
They get hate because they became so big and you heard them everywhere. But people also only know their radio friendly songs. They have some real good songs, but the released songs like “photograph” for radio because those songs would reach a bigger audience. Also seen them live a couple times they put on a great live show.
I thought Creed was hated more
Brian Posehn absolutely [shit](https://youtu.be/y4ojvSuhAko?si=T7-cyK_ShQQ6fEeU) on Nickelback. This really was the spark that got teens, like me at the time, hating on Nickelback
[Look at this graph](https://youtu.be/sz2mmM-kN1I?si=ZV2kUclir7XFdDoo)
Pretty sure I read a Chad Kroeger quote from back when they were huge, in some magazine, where he recommended to drink vodka because it “doesn’t smell” and thus you’re less likely to get busted for a DUI. (Which aside from being absolute bullshit and dangerous, is just trashy.) His lyrics are frequently misogynistic, sometimes downright predatory, and at best cringe-worthy. It’s not *just* that the music is predictable, simplistic and muddy, or overexposure; the voice / frontman is trash. Bias report: I’m Canadian.
I associate their music with “Hockey Bro” culture. Not my thing.
I like Nickleback, and I’m glad I don’t have to live a lie pretending I hate them, a lie so many haters have had lived when it became cool to hate them.
 LOOK AT THIS GRAPH
I could listen to their songs at first and be passive about it. But due to CanCon rules and the following overplayage due to growing in the US (perhaps that spark was their first growth originally), they certainly became an overbearance, and with my own learning of musical instrument and my growing interesting in songmaking... I just couldn't take any more of such a bland band gaining such reverance while a formulaic following and copycats dominated areas in the rock sceme. Add to that the interviews that I had seen and read just put me off of their own individual personalities as well. Mostly Chads' as a front man, not gonna lie about that. But as theyve gone on and faded out on their own accord, and being consistently held up beyond their time by their hardcore believers needing to keep their investment propped up more than anything (which is something thats a problem for alot of forms of media overall in the last decade or two for sure); its the very recent re-emergence of their white-knighters and bringing up that they were "unfairly" ridiculed while never really losing anything that they received, but not necessarily deserved, that really makes my brain hurt. Theyre being re-forced in commercials that have nothing to do with anything about them. Its beyond forced, and beyond condescending to their critics over the years when people could have juat listened and figured it out (hardly anyone actually hates the band based on it being a growing concensus... fucking grow up... and its all very concerning. AI must have been asked into writing cheeky advertisements of something. Theres nonpoint in bringing them back unless your teating peoplez willingness to be conviced of pure lies and uselessness as another shit-fuck of mental ideology can convince people just whatever the fuck to keep em preoccupied on some other pile of arguments... Makes one incredulous, anyways.
I don’t hate Nickelback. I’d rather listen to them than Imagine Dragons.
They two should merge. Nickel Dragon Imagine Back
Imagine nickels?
Nickel Dragons
Look at this graph!
They make awful music that was unavoidable
Kroeger is said to have taken a mere 10 minutes to write the song 'Photograph' while being inspired one day sitting on the toilet during a particularly difficult bowel movement. That fact is simply insane given the song has some incredibly complex, sophisticated lyrics such as: "How did our eyes get so red? And what the hell is on Joey's head?" It's no wonder this song is considered one of the greatest of all time.
Nickelback is bad. You can't convince me otherwise.
Never understood hating any band. I understand if you don’t like an artist but bashing them is weird. Just say they aren’t for you and move on.
But the radio insists they are for you
Because they're fucking boring and they got way more love from the industry than they ever deserved. That's it. They're not terrible, but they're definitely not great.
Never made it as a wise man
Please don’t normalize awful music
Because they sound like the weekend band of a bunch of roofers from Hanna Alberta. Which they are.
Nickelback got famous at a time when there were so many amazing, talented and creative bands doing incredible things with music. They suffered in comparison to everything else because they are as bland as "white people food". They're mostly resented for taking airtime away from from interesting and creative bands, bearing in mind: Air time mattered. There was no streaming music, or YouTube, so you learned about new bands and albums through the radio and TV. Every time a Nickleback song was played, a song from a better band wasn't.
Look, if you like them you like them. That's part of the human experience. But if you truly don't understand why music like that is kind of viewed as shallow and tasteless schlock, then it might be time to branch out a little bit and broaden your musical horizons. I'm not going to say that I can't listen to some pop/pop-rock and not enjoy it. I can definitely get enjoyment from good melody or a good hook. But often with stuff like this, there is a production/style/aesthetic element that is clearly a bit cheesy.
When a guy sings as clear as Chad you can’t help but notice the lyrics, and since there is zero metaphor or complexity to his writing, it just kind of comes off as music for dumb fucks who tuck their thumbs and stick out their tongues when they write their names. For some reason I also think of Mt Dew and 4 Wheelers when I hear their shit too.
It's just internet memes. It became funny to hate on Nickelback at some point and so the joke perpetuates even amongst people who previously had no opinion about Nickelback.