Why does everyone hate Nickelback?
I have often wondered why Nickelback gets so much hate. As a guitarist who plays metal, as a music-lover of all genres, and a death metal enthusiast, I get the derisive perspective towards post-grunge acts, which I don’t think are necessarily bad (okay, some are).
I remember my secondary school years when I was introduced to this band via a TV show on the one and only national TV channel, that was broadcast once a week featuring ‘international’ music.
While ‘How You Remind Me’ was a catchy tone, I never paid much attention to it and forgot about it for a while. It was only after I got the internet that I stumbled upon this track once again. My curiosity got the better of me and I listened to many other tracks, each one a ‘catchy’ tone to listen to. Soon enough, Nickelback seemed to be a good end to a day after school.
This was around the time that I got introduced to Iron Maiden as well. Two distinct value systems. Contrary to most people, my first Iron Maiden album was Brave New World, which was a reinvention of their sound from the 80’s and 90’s. I moved onto heavy metal from there and have explored increasingly heavier bands ever since, one of which sparked my thirst for the guitar.
In my incessant channel surfing in later years, I stumbled across another of Nickelback’s ‘famous’ songs called Rockstar. A bit of a far cry lyrically from what I had grooved to during my younger years, I realised that the song structure and scales seemed eerily similar.
I guess it’s okay, as long as they’re comfortable doing what they think is right. It is during the formative years of metalcore, which I detest as much as Aqua (bring on the hate!) that I found a plethora of articles, threads, and conversations detesting the whole idea of Nickelback being a rock band.
The band’s Wikipedia quotes the lead singer stating that he dissected every song, chords, made structural and functional notes of songs that could appeal to a predominantly radio audience.
I guess this is one of the reasons why the band is hated so, and some part of me even sympathises with it. The opinion that artistic creativity cannot be confined to preexisting structures or templates is one that invokes significant disdain to such a methodology.
In learning so, I also tried to map out the evolution of their unique sound. While it is a good thing that Nickelback retains it, the fact that so many of their songs sound alike is not a favourable position to be.
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All said and done, they have been one of the most successful artists in the rock music scene. Which is saying much, because if they are the most hated band in the world, why are they so successful? A Finnish researcher (yes, they even researched this phenomenon, which I think is great), Salli Anttonen, after examining reviews came up with the following:
“Their songs are ‘optimally safe’, where ‘everything is up to par with the requirements of the genre’, and which create ‘an illusion of hard rock’ (Ojala 2002). The music is described as being ‘fake’ (Riikonen 2012), ‘forced’ (Hilden 2011) and ‘performed through gritted teeth’ (Riikonen 2012). Van der San (2011) claims that Nickelback is ‘calculatingly hit-focused’; Ojala accuses them of ‘laughing all the way to the bank’ (2003). Overall, the descriptions imply that the songs are not genuine self-expression written willingly, but instead forced and made for commercial reasons.”
Looking at these threads made me realise how Nickelback, before the ubiquity of the internet, were able to appeal to so many people. But a part of me still questions, are they really to blame for trying too hard to appeal to a commercial objective?
This leads me to an underlying issue with the whole rock and metal scene. Appealing to a casual listener is key for any form of music to survive. The idea of genres like metal being an acquired taste (I pride myself on this too) seems quite contrary to its longevity. The idea of hating ‘weaker’ forms of music permeates throughout the metal ecosystem.
Making fun of an avenged sevenfold t-shirt wearing guy, or the guy that grooves to Linkin Park (why is this even considered metal?) is part of the problem. The acceptance of new people, and the gradual spread is key for a genre to survive. It is sad to see Thrash Metal dying like it is today — the only good ones are the ones that have been doing it for 30 years. A lot of it boils down to the behaviour of fans in how they perceive other genres.
As is the problem with a lot of these ‘underground’ bands that treat other forms of music like excrement (EDM probably is), are against the idea of ‘selling out’. Not cool, man. These are eventually the same people that crib about popstars having sell-out concerts while a gerbil turns up at their pub show, happening in the outskirts of the outskirts.
I don’t know when this phenomenon really started. I have known people who’ve been listening to heavy metal since the 80’s who have a respectable view to all forms of music — I too consider myself one of them (c’mon, I’m a really nice guy).
The idea that you cannot appeal to the casual listener, that you cannot get your groove to a newbie is a surefire way to fail. And this is what Nickelback got right.
Despite the hate, despite the same song structure, and despite the similarity throughout their albums, the fact that a newbie could simply listen to it and nod their head is what made them successful. I even remember my parents finding their tunes catchy, and telling me that the ‘music was nice’.
Although I have washed away the filth with showers of blood by Amon Amarth, I still think the fact that Nickelback could survive all these years is in part to their silliness and not taking themselves too seriously.
But I admit, all this hating of Nickelback has been a great common ground for me. I’m like “Oh, do you hate Nickelback? High-five, man, so do I” before I describe that I play “death-metal” guitar, which always gets the brows raising, right before they comment on how I don’t look like a guy who’s ‘into’ metal — don’t know really know what that means — again a reflection of fan behaviour, I suppose.
As such, despite my misgivings and ambivalence, I have come to realise, whether you love Nickelback or hate it, you definitely need it, because I:
Never made it as a wise man, I couldn’t cut it as a poor man stealing. Tired of living like a blind man, I’m sick of sight without a sense of feeling. And this is how you remind me of what I really am
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