DISCLAIMER THIS POST WAS WRITTEN WHILE LISTENING TO NICKELBACK
If you lived in the U.S. or Canada during the 2000's it's nearly impossible that you've never listened to or at least heard of the Canadian rock band Nickelback. Headlined by Chad Kroeger, a blonde Jesus/Nicholas Cage lookalike, they dominated the airwaves for nearly a decade after releasing Silver Side Up in 2001. This album featured their first and also biggest hit song "How You Remind Me", which has since been named as the most played song of 2002 with over 1.2 million radio spins. Silver Side Up has since sold 8 million copies worldwide and was certified 6x platinum in the U.S. and 8x platinum in Canada. Nickelback went on to sell more than 50 million albums and was named by Billboard magazine as the most successful rock band of the decade.
While having such an overwhelming amount of commercial success, Nickelback has also become one of the most hated bands of all-time. In my experience, it's gotten to the point that even the passing mention of the name Nickelback or Chad Kroger will almost instantly induce hysterical laughter or violent dry-heaving.
Ok, I guess that's a bit of an over exaggeration (the dry-heaving), but it's not far from the truth. When I mentioned to some of my fellow students I was planning to write an entire blog post about Nickelback most of them were appalled at the idea or thought it was a joke.
How can such a commercially successful band with so many hit songs be so synonymous with universal hate? I chock it up to three factors: lyrics & subject matter, general appearance, and finally they may just be too "standard".
Just briefly skim through the lyrics for songs like "Rockstar", "S.E.X.", "Next Contestant", or "Something in Your Mouth" and you'll have a pretty good understanding of Nickleback's music. Most of Nickelback's lyrics seem to be based on a simple and played-out formula of girls, wild parties, and being a general tough guy. Unfortunately, Nickelback often can't even make this simple formula for success seem genuine. Nickelback's lack of lyrical depth and storytelling ability is great for an audience of 7th graders who wear plaid shorts, AXE, and puka shell necklaces, but for a wider audience they fall short.
Among the many complaints people have about Nickelback, a common gripe is that people just can't stand how they look. Maybe it's Kroeger's ramen noodle-esque hair and terrible goatee or the others band members penchant for hair-gel and leather jackets, but there is something about the way that Nickelback looks that people just love to hate.
Finally, the most conclusive evidence for why Nickelback is so universally hated comes from Finland. A Finish student compile a list of reviews published in Finland from 2000 to 2014 and determined that critics despise Nickelback because they fail to separate themselves from other bands. Nickelback instead has positioned themselves as an extremely average band and more of an industry standard in the pop-rock genre.
How can such a commercially successful band with so many hit songs be so synonymous with universal hate? I chock it up to three factors: lyrics & subject matter, general appearance, and finally they may just be too "standard".
Just briefly skim through the lyrics for songs like "Rockstar", "S.E.X.", "Next Contestant", or "Something in Your Mouth" and you'll have a pretty good understanding of Nickleback's music. Most of Nickelback's lyrics seem to be based on a simple and played-out formula of girls, wild parties, and being a general tough guy. Unfortunately, Nickelback often can't even make this simple formula for success seem genuine. Nickelback's lack of lyrical depth and storytelling ability is great for an audience of 7th graders who wear plaid shorts, AXE, and puka shell necklaces, but for a wider audience they fall short.
Finally, the most conclusive evidence for why Nickelback is so universally hated comes from Finland. A Finish student compile a list of reviews published in Finland from 2000 to 2014 and determined that critics despise Nickelback because they fail to separate themselves from other bands. Nickelback instead has positioned themselves as an extremely average band and more of an industry standard in the pop-rock genre.
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