So, about a year ago at this time, I reviewed the (then-new) Nickelback album, All the Right Reasons, and, rather apprehensively, I gave it a B. I say apprehensively because I was scared people would make fun of me. Because in case you haven’t noticed, it is not cool to like Nickelback.
Or is it? The album has been on the charts for 49 weeks, and as of yesterday, it was No. 8. NUMBER. EIGHT. Out of all the albums in the land, after almost an entire year, there are still more people buying the Nickelback album than the albums of any number of mega-hyped trendsetters who will be on the cover of next month’s Spin. They sold nearly half as many albums in their 48th week of release (60,000) as Audioslave sold in their second (150,000). And I do not know a single person who has bought one.
So you can see where this is freaking me out. And I’m gonna get to the bottom of this if it kills me. In the meantime, are you a Nickelback fan? Can you do me a favor and post your theories on their success? Educate us! Because I want to understand. I need to understand. It is keeping me up nights.
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I don’t own “All The Right Reasons”, but I have to admit, everytime I want to totally hate the new Nickelback single they happen to be working at Top 40 radio, whether it be “Savin’ Me” or now “Far Away”…but then I happen to catch their videos!!
I don’t understand it either. Maybe in this day and age, what we consider to be rock differs from alternative music, but when I see their videos, they are actually GREAT depictions of the stories in the songs being sung. At firt “Photograph” started grating my nerves from being on the radio ALL the time, but as soon as I saw the video, I was like, WOW, thats actually kinda cool. The 1st time i saw the “Savin’ Me” video was at like 4Am and I was like, what could they possibly come up with to make this song interesting, and they WOWED me again! And I just recently caught the video for “Far Away” & it didn’t totaly knock me off my feet as much as the 1st two, but the firefighter cast in the video as the male lead is totally HOTTT.
I guess i’m kinda confused by the phenomenon as well, but at least I know the videos are what make me actually hold any interest in the group.
Americans enjoy and encourage mediocrity.
Look who always wins reality shows, for instance.
I have always expressed my extreme distaste for Nickelback. But, and it pains me to say it – I like their song Far Away. As a band, I still thinks their lyrics tend toward the childish and even sometimes mysognistic, but that song is catchy and unoffensive when you compare it to their earlier ridiculousness. Will I ever buy one of their albums? HELL NO. I can’t imagine what horror lies beneath – even if they are Canadian.
Nickleback has wimpy pop songs like Photograph. Then they will follow that with a rock song like Animal.
Very few bands are crossing over.
1. They have 3 hit songs from the album – “Photograph”, “Saving Me”, and “Far Away”.
2. Their songs are being played on Rock, Pop, and Adult Contemporary radio stations. These are three major markets.
3. The album, “All The Right Reasons” is a good album.
4. Most of their songs are Pop/Rock ballads and these type of songs never go out of style. Come on…we all want to hear sappy pop/rock ballads.
5. I’ve seen them performed and they are awesome.
6. Chad Kroeger (vocalist) has a solid-manly-husky singing voice. It is sexy and irresitable.
7. Band members are Goodlooking.
There you go….so you should not be questioning why they are successful….and….I don’t understand why some people dislike them.
I gave Nickelback a chance early as my friend Cari loved them (she’s a rock gal and knows many bands). With their second album, I was disgusted — all their music sounded the same and boring (so I guess I joined the cool to not like Nickelback crowd). Over Labor Day weekend I brought home the (fairly) new Snow Patrol CD and my sisters scoffed as usual, not knowing who they were and calling THEM boring (wha…?). As we talked about bands, my older sis said “I just learned who Nickelback is, I’m a little behind” to which I promptly responded with “Nickelback sucks”… I’m not sure how she learned who they are, but there is a new awareness if she has heard of them (and they have been used in some promos like for Battlestar Galactica of all frakkin’ shows).
As a long time Nickelback fan I dont care who knows it, one thing I’ve found with people like me who like them, is that who cares? Like Hootie and the Blowfish, they are just a band who plays music to be enjoyed. No they won’t win an award for most original, but why do you people care so much? My friends can’t stand that I love a band like Sublime who to many is kick ass (and they are), and at the same time will blast Nickelback. People like you all judge music wayyy to seriously. In your case its understandable because you are a music critic. If a song sounds good, I’ll listen to it. This I believe is the reason people listen to them. We don’t sit there thinking, “damn it, another Pearl Jam wannabe”. We don’t critique every guitar chord and say that they aren’t skilled or look for that one characteristic or trait that makes them unique. As a fan, no they aren’t original, but who cares? People who decide to only listen to 7 different bands lose out because they feel that those bands are the only “true” bands alive.
I have one buddy who only listens to music from 1960 to 1979 because he says “true” music died after that. There are no more skilled guitar players like Hendrix, Clapton, or truly skilled bands like Pink Floyd or The Rolling Stones. Which is fine that is his choice, but to everyone else there is so much music out there, u shouldn’t have to analyze every single song or band that comes out.
So you all can sit there bad mouthing them, or wondering why they are popular. While we enjoy their music and they sell out their shows and make millions of dollars and are laughin at anyone who questions them.
It boggles the mind for me too. They are among the geekiest, un-hip bands to come down the pike in the last 20 years. Who buys the album? Here’s who I envision:
- Baby boomers who want to “live on the edge”, failingly grasping at the last of their youth, and buy a modern rock record
- Gen-X jocks who thought Nirvana fans were “fags”
- Gen-Y music fans who have yet to know any better (but there’s hope for them yet)
That right there is a multi-platinum demographic trifecta.
I have a friend who owns all three Nickelback albums. His explanation? “I like bad music.”
In Canada they’re on the radio ad nauseum (thanks ever so much Canadian Content regulations). Every time I here “Look at this photograph…” I can’t change the station fast enough. On the plus side, it does help me get out of bed in the morning because when the radio alarm comes on and one of their songs comes on, I jump right out of bed.
Chad Kroeger also lives near me leading to countless Chad sightings. My personal fav was in the Science and Nature store at the mall once at Christmas. He was looking at lava lamps. As he was recently arrested for DUI, I will hopefully soon be able to wave hello as he picks up trash on the side of the highway.
Nickelback is not a bad band, i think they are underrated because radio stations like KROQ dont play them as often. However, a band thats always in the Adult Contemporary section ALWAYS has a great fanbase…look at michael buble, clay aiken and taylor hicks.
I like Nickelback a lot! I recently saw them in concert and they were amazing! They’re songs are very catchy and they play ACTUAL MUSIC, unlike Cassie and many of the rappers of today. I love all their songs, and you can sing along to every single one. I own 2 Nickelback albums and have quite of few songs from the 3rd, and I’m not ashamed to like them! In my opinion, they’re amazing!
They are popular main stream. They just aren’t popular in hipster crowds. A few examples being:
Dave Matthews Band. Sell Out every show. Great album sales. The butt of many hipster music jokes.
Matchbox 20/Rob Thomas. Again HUGE album sales. Good tour #’s. No respect from local record store employees.
My theory is simple. These aren’t bad bands. They actually make good music for their genres as evidence by record sales and popularity. They get over-exposed.
If local radio stations didn’t play Nickelback to death and you didn’t here their songs at every bar and sporting event things would be different. If they were underground the same music would be way cool to like.
I am a Nickleback fan and I am not ashamed of it. They’re a great band who have had a few major hits such as:
1.How You Remind Me
2.Far Away
3.Photograph
4.Savin’ Me
5.Animals
6.Someday
7.Never Again
8.Too Bad
With all of these breaking into the Pop100 as well as AC and rockstations across the US, most into the top 10, people have had an interest in the rest of their music that doesn’t get released as singles. Therefore, they have been propelled into the Multi-Platinum Superstar Status. I for one have never actually purchased any full albums, only singles, until this latest album “All The Right Reasons.” Upon purchasing it I now consider myself a full-blown fan and I’m proud of it. It has passed the point of ‘not cool’ to be their fans. They have earned my respect, and apparently some 5 million other people…
Give them the credit they deserve.
Whitney,
As always you are so on point!!! My theory was that Nickelback had actually made a deal with the Devil because their songs get into your head and NEVER LEAVE! But as it turns out, I have decided -very recently – that I am actually just a fan of their music. I do own all of their albums, and I do listen to them. What does that say about me? I don’t know. I personally think that part of it is that I am dying to hear some “real rock” on the radio therefore I will support any rock-ish music – within limit.
Oh well, I guess that only leaves me with one more thing to say – Rock On!
maybe people just like bad rhymes…look at this photograph, everytime i do it makes me laugh…my sister and i heard them on the radio and laughed the whole time that stupid song was on. they are a great band for people who aren’t willing to move outside of the stereotypical rock/pop stations….which is totally cool. power to you. just don’t tell me they are the best band ever.
I have no strong feelings toward the band. its almost alarming how underwhelming they can be.
OMG I BOUGHT THAT CD TODAY!!!! lol that is such a weird coincidence!! Their songs are just awesome. I have loved every single off of this album so I finally just went out and bought it because I already knew that I loved half of the songs. Now I sooooo wish I had gone to their concert, they were just here less than a month ago
I think a big component of Nickelback’s continued mega-success is that their songs are, if nothing else, incredibly familiar. They’re sort of like a McDonald’s cheeseburger — you walk into any McDonald’s in the country, and you basically are going to recognize the taste of their cheeseburgers.
And why do Nickelback’s songs have this intoxicating familiarity? Well … because they’re all basically the same song, as was infamously highlighted by this site:
http://www.thewebshite.net/nickelback.htm
Nickelback is Number One on the list of artists I have to change the radio station on. They are the absolute epitome of the word “bland” and have excelled at said blandness in every possible way.
Yeah, I don’t really prefer to listen to Nickelback. I liked that song Hero that Chad Kroeger did but that was really it. Isn’t there a line in a recent song like “and what the heck is that on Joey’s head?” That’s horrible. Seriously.
don’t be a goofball. the songs sound great. the singing is great. when an album “moves” you, appreciate that it does – don’t question it.
The major reason for Nickleback’s success is because they are watered down and commercial. Sure their songs have a catch and melody, but it’s pure fluff with little artistic merit. They are a less threatening version of Pearl Jam, with about a tenth if the talent.
They are also conventional beyond belief. Seriously, can they even take a risk or expand their sound? Probably not based on their lack of talent. Real music fans with actual taste prefer more exotic and rewarding musical experiences. However, the mainstream fan just wants pure rock without the substance. Hence, bands like Nickleback continue to sell records. Man, I miss the days when bands like Nirvana were on top of the world.
Nickleback is one of the most poor excuses for a band ever. I would rather listen to the death rattle of my only child than hear their music for even one second. try finding music that is not packaged and fed to americans via pop radio and mtv.
Why is Nickelback so popular? Because they believe in their product.
Unlike the people who cling so hard to the throwback sound of Nirvana and Soundgarden, Nickelback has appealed to all genders at all ages without having to release a song that cusses, degrades or humiliates humanity. Their songs that DO have some questionable material are still within the album to give it its rock street credence without sounding like weiners.
Nickelback also has a tried and true formula that works. They have videos that make sense or plots everyone can associate with in their life or someone they know. Their sound doesn’t vary that much from album to album and they remain loyal to their fanbase by throwing them a bone despite their popularity. This was a big mistake (I thought) by performers like Madonna and Janet Jackson. The roots are always important.
Lastly, Nickelback stays on the Top 40 because so many people pose as hating them but use the internet to buy the album… And if they’re in a store, they’d say, “It’s for my brother/sister/dog/birthday present…” The album in itself has become its own advertisement that you hate it so much (by word of mouth) you HAVE to listen to it.
It’s catchy. It’s creative. It’s middle of the road. But it’s middle of the road that you are ashamed to admit that you like, Hendrix lover or poseur.
Anyway, I have the latest Audioslave album and I love it. I think they finally found their sound. It’s better than their sophomore album. But honestly, they are cornered to their own sound. Nickelback? Mass appeal, baby.
PASTOREK,
and on MediaBase and that single is what has sparked the sales, they are going through the Spice Girls period where everybody is going out to buy the album yet nobody will admit it.I like “Far Away” much better than “Photograph” but I won´t buy the album because as a whole it´s the same riff over and over again, yet I am a sucker for a love ballad such as “Far Away” my advice DOWNLOAD that song !
I think you are awesome, but come on just look at MediaBase or Billboard and you will noticed that Nickelback´s “Far Away” has fast became a top ten single on both the HOT 100(this week at number
A55E5, all of you. If you like Nickelback’s latest CD, fine. Don’t be a PU55Y and feel guilty about it. If you hate it, find another band to like. Me? I have it and there are 3 or 4 songs i really like, especially “Photograph,” “Rockstar” and “Animals.” So there, beeyotch.
Everyone has their own taste in music. Some people love chock-full of profanity songs. Some like music that sounds like an acid trip gone wrong, and some people actually like understanding the words to a song. Whatever the reason for their popularity, they are enjoying their fame. I hope they ride the train of success for a very long time. Evidently they are talented. Not everyone will like them, but enough people do.
At least in the US you don’t have Theory of a Deadman and Default as well as Nickelback. All three of them sound the same but I guess that is because Chad produces all of them. All I know is that they make Name that Tune very difficult because they all sound the same. We have taken to just calling them Theory of a NickleFault.
I can’t say I’m a fan, but Nickelback is just good meat and potatos rock ‘n’ roll. If I had to live in a world with only ‘artists’ like the White Stripes and Thom Yorke and P.J. Harvey (as good as they are), I’d be insane within a day.