On the matter of 'that' band, Nickelback...

Octahedron

OK so last year some time Nickelback released a new album called No Fixed Address. I had no CDs in my car. I'm a sucker for a bargain. I don't hate Nickelback. I do find it rather funny when I see all the dumb shit that comes out about them. Apparently some guy tried to get a petition going to ban Nickelback from performing in his country?! Insane! I read about it in Classic Rock some time ago. Very amusing.

So yeah I think if I paid good money for this album I might be a bit miffed... 

Does anybody else here actually like Nickelback? I'm not trying to say I'm their biggest fan or anything. I'm just curious. I mean everyone seemed to be into them around the Curb/Silver Side Up albums. And even The Long Road was great! And then it kinda all just fell apart. What happened? I mean, somehow, they're still going. Still putting out albums. And if it wasn't selling, they wouldn't be putting out albums still, right? 

There's certainly some changes. And some of the heavier songs I like a lot. But some of the 'pop' songs are just giving me a headache! I just needed something different to listen to in the car, as I had no CDs in the car! 

If it makes it any better, I actually bought a Sixx A.M. album at the same time (not the most recent one, I will get that some time, but for now I got "This is Gonna Hurt"  

capo4th

This is how you remind me of a shit band....

bingefeller

No Fixed Address is actually the highest rated Nickelback album on rateyourmusic.com.  It has 2.35 / 5 from 120 ratings.  

Philly_Q

I did actually buy Silver Side Up at the time.  I don't hate it, it has some good songs.... but I never felt inclined to buy another Nickelback album. 

I don't think I jumped on the Nickelback-hate bandwagon, it's just that they are strangely devoid of personality and their songs do tend to all sound the same.

xmrchi

Their early stuff was great, it has to be said.

randomhandclaps

My only real issue with Nickel back is that they made PRSs uncool. :-\"

ICBM

randomhandclaps said:

My only real issue with Nickel back is that they made guitars, rock music, and Canada uncool. :-\"

Edited for accuracy.

fretmeister

Nobody ever admits to liking them

And yet they sell out arenas all over the world, time after time. No one admits they went. 

It's very odd.

randomhandclaps

fretmeister said:

Nobody ever admits to liking them

And yet they sell out arenas all over the world, time after time. No one admits they went. 

It's very odd.

Just like Farage.

FelineGuitars

I liked Silver Side Up

Sixx AM are excellent.

The Heroin Diaries album is amazing to listen to - I was really surprised (even though I was an early Motley fan)

ICBM

fretmeister said:

Nobody ever admits to liking them

And yet they sell out arenas all over the world, time after time. No one admits they went. 

It's very odd.

You mean like the "shy Tory" phenomenon that got all the pollsters predicting a hung parliament before the election, and even in the exit poll?

*Someone* must have voted for them. Wasn't me though .

Octahedron

fretmeister said:

Nobody ever admits to liking them

And yet they sell out arenas all over the world, time after time. No one admits they went. 

It's very odd.

I have to confess I saw them as a kid on The Long Road tour. I think it was Hammersmith Apollo they played. Not a bad show.

As a slight aside/off-topic, I was thinking there is a few other marmite bands from around that time who suffered a similar fate (in that their music style seemed to completely change) - Linkin Park would be the most obvious one here. Our case study should be... Hybrid Theory, to Meteora, to Re-Animation to Minutes to Midnight. 

Now, before you jump and say you can't really count Re-Animation because it's an album of mostly re-mixes, that's the point. They took the techno/DJ thing and ran with it and the metal side started to get pushed out and then they went to shit, pretty much. They're still hanging around like a bad smell, releasing albums and playing arenas!

Not so long ago I remember finding this YouTube video which was just Chester Bennington's raw, un-affected vocals out of the song "Numb" (from Meteora)... He's actually got a remarkably good voice when you hear it on its own, he has a great tone and it sounds to me like they didn't actually do a lot of work producing that vocal! 

It's a shame they didn't continue down the path of Meteora/Hybrid Theory.

I'd also be keen to know what happened to the following bands.... Evanescence, Lacuna Coil and System of a Down...? They all seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth!

Philly_Q

It seems a long time ago - I wouldn't buy anything so "modern" now - but I really liked the first Linkin Park album.  I was very disappointed with Meteora.

System of a Down went on an official hiatus, I think... and never came back.  

Evanescence are still going, as far as I know, although they're pretty much Amy Lee plus hired-gun backing band.  I have all their albums. Certainly not hip or cool to be into them, but I love her voice and she has a knack of writing melodies which really work for me (even if they are very samey...).

ICBM

Octahedron said:

I'd also be keen to know what happened to the following bands....

- Evanescence -

They all seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth!

Amy Lee's ego reached the mass necessary to cause its own black hole.

(I still love them up to when Ben Moody left, by the way.)

PolarityMan

Octahedron said:

fretmeister said:

Nobody ever admits to liking them

And yet they sell out arenas all over the world, time after time. No one admits they went. 

It's very odd.

I have to confess I saw them as a kid on The Long Road tour. I think it was Hammersmith Apollo they played. Not a bad show.

As a slight aside/off-topic, I was thinking there is a few other marmite bands from around that time who suffered a similar fate (in that their music style seemed to completely change) - Linkin Park would be the most obvious one here. Our case study should be... Hybrid Theory, to Meteora, to Re-Animation to Minutes to Midnight. 

Now, before you jump and say you can't really count Re-Animation because it's an album of mostly re-mixes, that's the point. They took the techno/DJ thing and ran with it and the metal side started to get pushed out and then they went to shit, pretty much. They're still hanging around like a bad smell, releasing albums and playing arenas!

Not so long ago I remember finding this YouTube video which was just Chester Bennington's raw, un-affected vocals out of the song "Numb" (from Meteora)... He's actually got a remarkably good voice when you hear it on its own, he has a great tone and it sounds to me like they didn't actually do a lot of work producing that vocal! 

It's a shame they didn't continue down the path of Meteora/Hybrid Theory.

I'd also be keen to know what happened to the following bands.... Evanescence, Lacuna Coil and System of a Down...? They all seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth!

Lacuna coil have like a million albums but I think they peaked at Unleashed Memories

stimpsonslostson

"Unpopular" bands that sell millions? Coldplay & U2 spring to mind.

Re: Nickleback- they're still MASSIVELY popular in the U.S./Canadia. "If it ain't broke..." & all that. They're doing just fine without us liking them.

Isn't he now married to Avril Lavigne? What happened to HER career?

Octahedron

stimpsonslostson said:

"Unpopular" bands that sell millions? Coldplay & U2 spring to mind.

Re: Nickleback- they're still MASSIVELY popular in the U.S./Canadia. "If it ain't broke..." & all that. They're doing just fine without us liking them.

Isn't he now married to Avril Lavigne? What happened to HER career?

That is a good point. But I heard they broke up? Wasn't she with the singer out of Sum 41? That's another band who miraculously disappeared too from around that era. Where's Bowling for Soup? And what about Feeder? Feeder did some good stuff and then they kinda just fizzled out. 

As for Av Lav - well she's got two good albums (or sorry I mean two albums that one can bare listening to) and that's it. Under My Skin is the better of the two, it's less poppy.

Drew_TNBD

I think they've got a good formula. Radio rock. Gruff voice. It's a combo that works well in America land, where rock is still taken seriously and given some credit.

The UK is completely pussy-whipped with bullshit pop and synthy indie bollocks.

DulcetJones

The backlash started early here in their native land of Canada.  For about five years Nickleback won every award and got the front page on every music mag and at first it was the new up and coming bands that began grumbling.  Eventually it became a national sport, "Nickleback bashing", and nearly everyone jumped in.   Personally I've never bought any of their music but I do like some of their songs, all of which got over played on Canadian radio, and according to my daughter who caught them live by accident at a festival they do put on a good show, engaging the audience and playing competently.   The one thing they did that really impressed me though was a remake of  Elton Johns "Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting" with Kid Rock, I don't know who plays lead guitar on it but it doesn't sound like anything I've ever heard in a Nickleback song and the over all energy of the track is great. 

Teetonetal

Never been a fan, but I can see why they sell - it's melodic enough, sing-a-long enough, heavy enough but pop enough and crucially have stayed together..

Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park were two bands I loved when they came out, both went dramatically off the boil though and became cool to hate. 

I saw both at Reading I think in the early 2000s, and Limp Bizkit in particular were very good live.

Sum 41 stick in my head for Grab the devil by the horns and fcuk him up the ass.. which was a homage to Iron Maiden ( I think)

Did RATM ever become cool to hate? I remember the first album being spectacualr and the other 2 being total repetitive dross..

hugbot

Sum 41s singer became a dangerously life threatening alcoholic. System of a Down just did a reunion tour like a month ago. Feeder never really regained their stride after their drummer died but still seem to turn up on the festival bills year after year. People still like RATM. Limp Bizkit were never cool because everyone hated Fred Durst at the time but they did a few tours and seem to have had a slight revival in popularity in a nostalgic kind of way (there's a bar near me that even had a Limp Bizkit night). Avril Lavigne got a backlash recently for realising a borderline racist (and entirely unlistenable) Japanese hello kitty themed music video. Nickleback just released a pop-disco track in what I saw as a blatant attempt to go viral out of controversy.