Nickelback.... why are they hated?

They epitomize the whole dumbed-down, commercialized “post-grunge” rock trend of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, then take it a step further with vocals that sound like a parody and some of the most obnoxious songwriting in an era built on obnoxiousness. And in case I didn’t make it clear enough: the vocals.

 

'The kids today' don't listen to Nickelback!

 

I don't hate them, just have no use for them.I always thought the reason they are made fun of was obvious, i guess that's not the case.

 

Too easy a target. Just cliche. Like Justin Bieber was for a while. Lazy to use them as examples. There was a list on Rolling Stone of this era half the stuff acclaimed on it sounds the same as Nickleback to me. And what’s the difference between Bieber and Shawn Cassidy, nothin. Dig deeper for punching bags.

 

According to this fine web page their vinyl might actually be forum approved.
Album list - Dynamic Range Database

 

@Man at C&A

 

There's always exceptions. As a sweeping generalisation, the kids today don't listen to much rock music at all.

 

The answer lies in the above responses: people are prone to group-think, and it is far easier to hate on something than to offer it praise, especially when so many others are doing it.

The answer has nothing to do with the music. There are plenty of bands who have their same "generic" hard rock sound, who people don't openly hate. It has to do with how they perceive Nickelback as being "inauthentic", which basically comes down to Chad Kroeger not having the "cool factor". If he had more attitude and didn't smile, maybe he too would be as respected as the guys from Slipknot.

The hate initially came from conservative metalheads who didn't like how this Canadian band signed to Roadrunner was getting so popular.

This clip from Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn in 2003 has comedian Brian Posehn (a so-called metalhead) poking fun of the band, and was used as a promo for the show on Comedy Central. People jumped on this sound bite like rats on pizza and the mocking grew exponentially.

Basically the hate for Nickelback is a form of bullying. You are only doing it because you think hating Nickelback will make you seem cool, but the truth is it just makes you look like a dick.

 

I think the real reason Nickelback carries a stigma is because they literally turned a whole generation against rock/guitars. You have no idea how many 20-25 year olds I know who detest rock music, and a part of it is that Nickelback was THE biggest rock band on earth when they first discovered music, enough to put them off for life.

The day comes that another legitimate rock artist comes along and actually has some commercial relevance like they once did, maybe the stench will wear off, but we're going on about ten years now of rock being a dead mainstream format, it's like how we had almost ten years there where nobody from the UK could get arrested stateside because of the "crime" of Spice Girls

 

I cannot stress that I think Bieber is a ********* and I don't like his music, but Shaun Cassidy? come on. Shaun was popular for about a year in 1977-1978 and faded into the recesses of pop culture obscurity. Bieber has been a pop star for 11 years now and is now a 26 year old. He's long past the "teen idol" stage of his career.

 

I don't hate em. I don't like em.
I reserve my hate to fascists and people like that, not some guys simply making music I dislike

 

They have a great drummer. You can really hear what Daniel Adair can do from his work with Dave Martone.

 

They're acceptable to hate. A bunch of middle aged white dudes, playing bland rock music, none of them particularly interesting or attractive with a fanbase of "white trash" low IQ individuals. They're like Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, ICP etc. They're ****, but they're not the worst.

 

They were very successful, simple as that. Commercial rock went in a direction that many fans didn't like and they were the poster child.

 

2003? Nickelback were probably at their peak in popularity around 2006-2008, so that initial comment didn't hurt. I think people started turning on them around the beginning of the 2010s when it became evident they were one trick ponies and that their stuff was actually sounding more like bro-country (CMT was playing their videos) than actual rock music, plus then when rock music collapsed off the charts and became a niche format (look at the new Trolls 2 movie that is basically about how rock music had to die so other forms of music could thrive), they were the easiest people to blame because someone born in 1995 whose first "rock band" heard was Nickelback wasn't going to have any fondness for the genre or want to seek out anything else.

 

Because they're not very good.

 

I don't think you need to get all "white knight" about it. They don't need "saving" from anybody, and they are laughing all the way to the bank. I'm not sure we need to worry about multi-millionaires being "bullied". That's a pretty inappropriate word to use IMO.

 

It's a running joke that someone made a few years back and everyone ran with it. Herd mentality. People like to jump on bandwagons.

 

I hate to have to post this... but somewhere in there Bieber has way more talent than Nickleback could ever hope to have.

God I hate myself right now.

 

Nickelback became the punchline band instead of Theory of a Deadman, Hinder, Puddle of Mudd, Three Days Grace, Saliva, or Seether because they were the biggest of the bunch. They basically took the baton from Creed in the early 2000s and ran with it.

 

Not really on my radar musically. I don't think it's necessarily hate, just that generic hard rock does nothing for me, especially these days.

 

Maybe it's not a bandwagon thing but that some people legitimately think these guys were terrible, despite selling millions of albums? I didn't really mind them early on, but once stuff like Photograph and Rockstar (the douchiest song ever written) got big they became unbearable and its a shame they blew up at a time when indie rock was booming and really coming into its prime, yet it was this derivative Creed knockoff that was the one that crossed over to radio, infesting their music on a generation who now thinks rock music is "old white male boomer crap"

 

Everyone loves to pile on.
I would not have heard of them if it weren't for all the "why is nickelback hated" youtube videos.*


*I'm exaggerating because I actively look for music. But I would say your average late-middle-agers have not heard of them. Even if they are the 11th highest selling rock band.

 

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/nickelback

 

Having never met them, I couldn’t possibly hate them, however I chose not to listen to their music because what I’ve heard from them isn’t pleasing to my ears.