Years ago, I was sort of into the band Nickelback. I downloaded two of their albums. My husband used to make fun of me, because he especially hated Nickelback for unclear reasons. "they just seem especially douchy."
Now it's over 10 years later, and I'm not entirely clear how Nickelback evolved into this personification of terrible music.
For example, I was recently watching an episode of modern family, and there was a random joke making fun of Nickelback. And then I saw an attack ad yesterday on Ted Cruz, citing his love of Nickelback.
Seriously, is Nickelback that bad? I can see not thinking they were the greatest band ever, but how did they become this joke about bad music? Surely there's worse music out there...
I attended a concert of theirs. I'll be honest, I thought that one of the bands that opened for them (Hinder) was better, but that's neither here nor there. I've also noticed negativity towards them. Discussing it with my fiancee, we've come to the conclusion that inside the rock genre, they don't sub-compartmentalize easily. They aren't particularly blues-y like Aerosmith, the lyrics can usually be understood so they don't fit with the death metal bands, the music isn't particularly hard, soft, fantasy-esque, it's just them.
ReplyDeleteWho would have dreamed that being unique was a bad thing?
Hey, I like a couple of Nickelback tunes too, unabashedly. Now if you admit to owning Barry Manilow or Kenny G albums, you should seek professional help immediately.
ReplyDeleteHey! Them's fightin' words! :)
DeleteI really hate Nickleback and can't exactly explain why, aside from the fact that everything about them annoys me. I think the lyrics are corny and just don't like the sound. I agree with your husband that they are douchy, but I can't put into words why I hate them. I know that doesn't help at all!
ReplyDeleteThere is an episode of the series Metal Evolution on VH1 classic about grunge that discusses Nickelback and the post-grunge movement (including Creed which amy even be worse. their theory is that grunge came around and was, arguably, seen as being something original and fresh and new and basically wiped out hair metal. These bands that came afterwards were very derivative of the other bands and offered nothing original and seemed like record company hacks that were riding the coat tails of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and the Afghan Whigs (sorry I am the Afghan Whigs guy from a while back).
ReplyDeleteAlso their lyrics really suck. Actual lyric - "I like your pants around your feet"
And they are from Canada I think we tend to put down Canadian musicans -maybe correctly but look at Rush, Bryan Adams, Bieber.
My reason for not liking Nickleback is their lyrics are unimaginative, as well as the actual music. I remember hearing a while back someone had three of their songs playing at the same time - the general pitch and flow was the exact same down to the pause in the music.
ReplyDeletehttp://strelka.wfmu.org:5555/archive/BL/BL_Nickelback_-_nickelbackthing.mp3
Granted - there are quite a few songs out there that sound extremely similar (birdplane by Axis of Awesome made fun of this), but its different artists ripping each other off - making it slightly better.
Axis of Awesome comedy routine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ
His gravelly voice really irritates me. It sounds like he's trying too hard
ReplyDelete