Songs all sound the same, sophomoric lyrics, and the singer has a lousy voice. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that they’re hugely popular among teen boys.
“Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red?
And what the hell is on Joey’s head?”
I can’t even believe how bad those lyrics are. I think it’s a combination of the lyrics, the singer’s ridiculous voice, the general bland nature of the songs, and then overexposure. I could still sing you all the lyrics to ‘How You Remind Me’ even though I hate the song, that’s how many times I’ve heard it over the years. I vaguely remember thinking the chorus of their song ‘Animal’ was unusually listenable for a Nickelback song, so… I guess well done to them for that.
What’s not to get? Nickelback is the music version of an Ed Hardy t-shirt.
First time I heard anything by Nickelback, it was early 2002, and the song was “How You Remind Me.” I was still mourning the recent death of a cousin who was about my age, and the song really struck a chord with me and evoked an emotional reaction, in a way reminding me of her, and for a short while it really connected with me.
Then I made the mistake of paying attention to the actual lyrics. I despise them now.
Punchable faces. Never forget the punchable faces.
Formulaic, sure. Overexposed, you betcha. But “How You Remind Me” is a great American rock song. No matter the puncheable faces and whatever calcuated grossness they did after that. (I remember “Leader of Men” from back in college on 99X and it was a great song. So sue me.)
Nailed it in one. Douchiness plus mass appeal, that’s our Nickelback.
Truth is the popular stuff is usually lowest common denominator schlock, bland, soulless, and ubiquitous because it doesn’t challenge the listener or impress with virtuousity.
I disagree with that idea. The Beatles are very popular, yet nobody would say that they’re soulless and bland. Charles Dickens was an extremely popular writer in his day, so was F. Scott Fitzgerald - does that make them bad writers? Sometimes things are popular because they are good. Other times they’re popular because they’ve been heavily promoted, pushed on the American public by a cynical music industry and gigantic corporations.
I just hate the lead guy’s teeth. He has no idea how stupid those veneers look.
They had one catchy CD that hit it big and wasn’t too bad, but they haven’t even come close to evolving since. I neither like nor hate them, but I am just a tiny bit confused as to why they made it quite as big as they did, as compared to a number of other bands in the same genre that hit at the same time then disappeared despite much better follow-up offerings.
Signed,
20-something fan of that general kind of rock music
Because they ripped off Creed, who sucked so bad there’s a black hole where the band used to stand. Any band whose target demographic includes fans of the song “Pour some sugar on me” deserves all the disdain they get.
You leave Def Leppard outta this! 
They remind me of a really terrible version of Nirvana that exists in some opposite world, where instead of being one of the best bands ever, they became one of the worst.
I’m about as removed from the pop music scene as is humanly possible, so I’ve really only heard a little bit of them. They do have a few catchy tunes, but catchy stuff gets played out and sickening pretty quickly. Then again, all pop bands suffer from that, so you can’t really hold that against them.
Listening to the tracks you linked in the OP, I can give some reasons why I don’t like it. The vocals are weak, murky, and difficult to understand. Reading some of the lyrics, not only are they poor, but it seems like he’s more interested in his rhyming scheme than in actually selecting words that make sense and convey a meaningful message. Musically, it’s really simple, and doesn’t sound like it’s really progressed from the whole post-grunge stuff of the 90s. If I want that sound, I could just go pick from any of a dozen other bands that display more talent and creativity.
Now, honestly, I really don’t see how it’s a whole lot worse than a lot of other pop music, so, take that for what it’s worth.
I came in to mention Creed. Yeah, it’s like Creed tried to be Pearl Jam, and then Nickelback tried to be Creed.
As a Canadian I say, fuck CanCon. It didn’t help anyone worthy of being helped, and it shoved junk like Nickelback down our throats. Argh.
The reason people hate Nickelback is they symbolize how mainstream rock lost any sense of fun and swagger. Everything they do musically and lyrically sounds like it came from focus groups–loud enough to appeal to teenagers but not loud enough to annoy adults (they’re now mainstays of adult top 40 radio), lyrics calculated to appeal to teenage boys without being explicit enough to turn off women. You can never imagine Nickelback just letting it all hang out, and when that happens rock loses all the sense of rebellion and defiance that makes it so exciting. Even similarly slick bands of the past like Journey and Bon Jovi had at least a surface feel of exuberance, like they truly believed in what they’re singing. Nickelback has never had that sense of joy.
I’m not a Nickelback fan, but the only thing I can say is that in a lot of places (especially here on this board) it’s supposedly “cool” to hate what’s popular. You know, being ABOVE what all the foolish sheep like!
I think this pretty much sums it up for me.
The singer looks like a giant douche. Maybe he’s a great guy but I’m just being superficial.
Well, if he’s the one responsible for writing their oft-narcissistic and misogynistic lyrics, then this may be a case were the book can be judged by its cover…