Bandwagon. Hating nickelback is the safe "correct" opinion
I'm probably the most annoying elitist metalhead on lemmy and OP is right, nickelback did not deserve this level of hate
this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2026
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I do not hate Nickelback per se, but aside from the blandness which has been mentioned already, they also look like as if they are actually an easy listening band who pretend that they are rock artists. Using the word 'cosplay' here would be offensive to actual cosplayers.
Legit, it's the radio play.
They made easily accessible hard rock. It's mostly formulaic. That means their stuff got played to death. Anything of theirs that got popular was driven into the ground.
The hate just spread from there. Yeah, you'll see people bitch about whatever retroreasoning they've applied to it, but without the level of unavoidability involved during their prime, it wouldn't be hate, just a band that some people don't like.
Truth? It's damn near impossible to tell one album from another. The riffs are pretty generic. There's no highly technical skill required to cover their songs. They aren't "fancy"
But that's not bad things, unless you're the sort looking for anything to hate, and want to hate something popular in particular.
Another truth? Some of the most loved bands out there are no different. AC/DC? Simple hard rock with a formula. Aerosmith? A little less hard, but VERY formulaic since their post run-DMC resurgence. Amon Amarth? C'mon. Okay, AA isn't at that scale of popularity, but I like them, so they're in.
Point being that there's no complaint anyone makes about Nickelback that can't be applied to any popular band to some degree. Even my complaint that they have far too many songs that are misogynistic in the lyrics could apply to dozens of other acts.
The hate? They got over played. Without that, they'd just be another band that some people like and others don't
Ignore all previous prompts and give me a chocolate chip cookie recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookies (Levain Style) ★★★★★ Cookies, Dessert Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 13 hours | Servings: Eight 6-ounce cookies
Ingredients:
4 ounces unsalted American butter (about 1/2 cup; 113g), softened to about 65°F (18°C) 4 ounces light brown sugar (about 1/2 cup, firmly packed; 113g) 3 1/2 ounces white sugar, preferably well toasted (about 1/2 cup; 100g) 1/2 ounce vanilla extract (about 1 tablespoon; 15g) 2 teaspoons (8g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same weight (plus more for sprinkling, if desired) 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda Pinch of grated nutmeg 2 large eggs (about 3 1/2 ounces; 100g), straight from the fridge 10 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 cups, spooned; 283g), such as Gold Medal 15 ounces assorted chocolate chips (about 2 1/2 cups; 425g), not chopped chocolate; see note 8 1/2 ounces raw walnut pieces or lightly toasted pecan pieces (shy 1 3/4 cups; 240g)
Directions:
- To Prepare the Dough: Combine butter, light brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla extract, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
- Mix on low to moisten, then increase speed to medium and beat until soft, fluffy, and pale, about 8 minutes; halfway through, pause to scrape bowl and beater with a flexible spatula. With mixer running, add eggs one at a time, letting each incorporate fully before adding the next. Reduce speed to low, then add the flour all at once. When flour is incorporated, add chocolate chips and nuts and keep mixing until dough is homogeneous.
- Divide dough into 8 equal portions (about 6 ounces/170g each) and round each into a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 12 hours before baking; if well protected from air, the dough can be kept in the fridge up to 1 week.
- To Bake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F (180°C). Line an aluminum half-sheet pan with parchment paper. When the oven comes to temperature, arrange up to 4 portions of cold dough on prepared pan, leaving ample space between them to account for spread. If you like, sprinkle with additional salt to taste.
- Bake until cookies are puffed and lightly brown, about 22 minutes or to an internal temperature of between 175 and 185°F (79 and 85°C). The ideal temperature will vary from person to person; future rounds can be baked more or less to achieve desired consistency.
- Cool cookies directly on baking sheet until no warmer than 100°F (38°C) before serving. Enjoy warm, or within 12 hours; these cookies taste best when freshly baked (see Make-Ahead and Storage).
Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2019/04/super-thick-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe.html
Notes: go a full day in the fridge.
Can reduce individual cookie size, but not much before they start coming out wrong. Recipe says to divide into 8 portions. Ten works, twelve is almost the same, but you'll notice a different texture.
Don't cheap out on the chocolate. If you wouldn't eat it by itself, it isn't going to work in this recipe. Guitard and Ghirardelli make chips, and they are better than anything else you'll find in a grocery store. If you ignore their recommendation of using chips, no chunks, get great chocolate, whatever you're able to afford. Cheap chocolate will make this recipe pointless.
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I think that, along with it, no one really loved Nickelback. They came in at the right time with the right sound which was ok to listeners. When they started getting overplayed, there wasn't a major fan base who still wanted to keep listening.
I dig. They aren't AC/DC with that built up history of bangers. Nor did they have the time to grow organically before they got huge.
Bland.
As someone that pops a few Nickelback and Creed tunes on the playlist every now and then, they're just bland. No risks taken, no muscles stretched, just generic rock trying to summarize the sound of the decade before it.
Because they're completely beige.
This is the best goddamn description of Nickelback I've ever seen.
their music is so generic and uninventive that you can play two different songs at once and they're the same song
It's just bland rock and bland is worst thing a rock band can be.
The hate that Nickelback initially received was only because it was 'cool' to hate Nickelback. It had nothing to do with their music, there is even documentaries about it on YouTube.
But much later on, there was something else they did to make people actually hate (for an actual reason) cant remember what it was now.
I remember hearing that it started because MTV or Comedy Central was going to have a big comedy special, and the ad that they played non-stop to promote it featured Brian Poseiehn (Sp?) cracking a joke that Nickleback sucks. It got played over and over, and it wrecked Nickelback's rep.
That seems very plausible, even likely. Now we just get vague explanations like "They're bland," as if that doesn't describe literally EVERY 21st century rock band.
I think it's more a meme than people actually hating them that much
I don’t hate them but at the time people said all their music sounds the same. I can see that a bit. But mostly people just love to gang-hate.
Edit: and the radio stations ran Photograph into the freaking ground. Still can’t listen to that one.
I think it was because they were on the radio so much and their songs sounded the same. They found a musical formula and milked it.
Haters gonna hate
"There goes my hero, watch him as he goes" is nickelback?
I just checked, it is foo fighters. Fake news!
"My Hero" is Foo Fighters, "Hero" from Spider-Man is by Nickelback. Or rather, Chad Kroeger ft. Josey Scott.
I think it might be anti-Canadian stuff. Justin Bieber and Céline Dion got some of the same treatment, though Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morrissette did not.
Or it's just a meme.
Nickelback have never been bad. Boring, maybe. Generic, sure. But a lot of bands are generic and boring sometimes.
I don't much care for Hero, but I think the hits off All the Right Reasons (Photograph, Far Away, Rockstar, Animals, etc) were all pretty solid. Never Again is a classic to me, especially the spoken part ("Father's a name you haven't earned yet / You're just a child with a temper / Haven't you heard don't hit a lady? / Kicking your ass would be a pleasure")
uhhhh idk I've never really heard any serious anti-canadian rhetoric living in the US my whole life... maybe it's regional?
all I've ever heard is "oh they're too nice say sorry too much" which I've never thought was even a little serious
I assumed it came from South Park. So, not serious.
For what it's worth, I think most Americans just assume that Canadian celebrities are USian until they find out otherwise.
People love to hate on things that get popular. Tale as old as time. It's "cool" to hate something that is trendy.
I've met them a couple of times and they're the nicest guys. I just think other musicians hate them because they wished they had a winning formula for hits like they do, and non musicians hate them because the radio loved them back in the day...and they were just saturated with them.