Defend the Indefensible: Nickelback... (Can it be done)

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

They are just a bunch of nice Canadian kids who made it big. What could be wrong with that? Their music is like midget porn -- if you don't like it, simply change the channel.

― Jaromil (Jaromil), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:03 (9 years ago) Permalink

It can't be done.

― Jole (Jole), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:05 (9 years ago) Permalink

when i see chad kroeger i turn into alex in nyc

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:06 (9 years ago) Permalink

pabulum

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:06 (9 years ago) Permalink

RAISE YOUR STANDARDS, WHITE PEOPLE!!!

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:07 (9 years ago) Permalink

when i see chad kroeger i turn into alex in nyc

THE INCREDIBLE HULKINGTON

― Jole (Jole), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:08 (9 years ago) Permalink

Their hair is long and pretty.

― Sym (shmuel), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:09 (9 years ago) Permalink

Defending Nickleback is like genetically crossing a cactus with a weasel: you might be able to do it in principle, but would you want to?

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:10 (9 years ago) Permalink

Their name is pretty dadaist. Unless there something I'm missing?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:10 (9 years ago) Permalink

i believe it might be a drug reference

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

oh, in which case...

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:13 (9 years ago) Permalink

vomit?

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:13 (9 years ago) Permalink

Even Matthew Good (vancouver singer) says they suck. Which is kind of like Reuben Studdard telling Janis Joplin's corpse that she's fat. But on Muchmusic their videos are played constantly, and it's important to find the positive in things. So: their Elton John cover is kind of funny in a WTF? kind of way.

― Jaromil (Jaromil), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:14 (9 years ago) Permalink

Elton John cover?

― Sym (shmuel), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

"candle in the wind 97"

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

that fucking hero song from spiderman. fuck.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:15 (9 years ago) Permalink

this country sucks.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:16 (9 years ago) Permalink

Actually, fyi, they are called Nickelback because Chad Kroeger worked in a coffee shop in Alberta and when he handed back change to his customers he would often say 'Nickel-back.' I should work for POP-UP video goddamit.

― Jaromil (Jaromil), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:17 (9 years ago) Permalink

worst band name origin ever!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:17 (9 years ago) Permalink

what a stupid thing to say.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:18 (9 years ago) Permalink

they do "saturday nights alright for fighting" ....poorly i might add.

― william (william), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:19 (9 years ago) Permalink

That's right. Their Elton John cover is: "Saturday Night's Allright For Fighting.' Which, when performed by Nickelback, becomes yet another song about the horrors of domestic abuse. They have so many songs about beating up wives and girlfriends it's almost as if they think it's cool. Those
abusive bastards!

― Jaromil (Jaromil), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:20 (9 years ago) Permalink

maybe they'll cover nebraska

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:21 (9 years ago) Permalink

Actually, fyi, they are called Nickelback because Chad Kroeger worked in a coffee shop in Alberta and when he handed back change to his customers he would often say 'Nickel-back.'

...actually mike kroeger worked at starbucks here in vancouver[right across from the store i worked at].hence where the name came from. he was/is a helluva nice guy too.

― william (william), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:21 (9 years ago) Permalink

"So take your nickel back, nickelback. I'm gunning for a dime."

― maypang (maypang), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:23 (9 years ago) Permalink

They make Creed look really good.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:25 (9 years ago) Permalink

Wow. The ILM'ers are everywhere watching my every move. Thanks William! Actually they do seem like very nice guys. I guess they are just painfully unaware of how painful there music is for so so many people. If they were really, really nice, they would just retire and spends their millions of dollars (on free hockey tickets for everyone!)

― Jaromil (Jaromil), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 05:29 (9 years ago) Permalink

their popularity here, western canada, is unsurpassed. they're the hugest band ever, i think. they fit in perfectly with what people here would like to listen to. (in this city, with four fm radio stations, three of the four, i think, would play them, the rock station, the classic rock station, and the pop-with-guitars station. only the lite pop station wouldn't, i think, unless they do.)

you might only get one or two singles on the radio but they sort of symbolize a certain sort of western canadianness to me, maybe a more rural western canadianness, the part that's bad. or, maybe something a little less important, like a localized version of the tragically hip but able to get their songs on mtv. i'm not sure.

i don't think their songs are that bad.

― William Wiggins, Tuesday, 24 February 2004 06:33 (9 years ago) Permalink

yeah I mean that last single was pretty good apart from the 'I'm sooo in pain' type vocals that he overuses.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 08:56 (9 years ago) Permalink

Their drummer's also in the Corb Lund Band, who are great.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 09:23 (9 years ago) Permalink

that song from the spiderman movie reminds me of the "band" i sung in when i was like 7 or something.

― justin (Justin M), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 10:34 (9 years ago) Permalink

there was one night out a while back where my friend brought his sister, who in turn brought her own moronic boyfriend. he was like something out of wayne's world - he just sat there with his mouth hanging open for the entire night (possibly he was stoned). then "how you remind me" comes on, and he stands up and starts grunting along to it and playing air guitar, with me and my friends sniggering meanly and his girlfriend absolutely mortified. it was so funny that nickelback always have a special place in my heart.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 11:21 (9 years ago) Permalink

The one and only redeeming element of the woeful Duel on NYLPM was when Tracer Hand posted re Nickelback.

― Jeff W, Tuesday, 24 February 2004 12:12 (9 years ago) Permalink

I hate all their new stuff but the video for "Too Bad" was high drama and I think "How You Remind Me" was a deserved hit. It's got a bit more bounce than the average slice of angst-rawk while still being all angry. Plus it's fun to sing along with (all that "poor man stealin'" and "YEAH YEAH YEAH no no..." shit). I'm happy to say I never heard more than 10 seconds of "Hero" and hopefully I never will. Kroeger was pleasantly irreverent about the hokeyness of the "How You Remind Me" video on VH1 ("see, now she goes away and I'm sad again...aww...").

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 15:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

I could never defend "My Favorite Disease."

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 15:11 (9 years ago) Permalink

They're my cousin's favorite band EVAR, and even he gets all apologetic about being a fan. He says they're pretty much crap. WTF?!
But yeah, there's this break on the last single, that was pretty damn good by their standards.

― Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 15:26 (9 years ago) Permalink

The one and only redeeming element of the woeful Duel on NYLPM was when Tracer Hand posted re Nickelback.

But Duel was genius!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 16:19 (9 years ago) Permalink

Only after the fifth pint.

― Jeff W (zebedee), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 16:50 (9 years ago) Permalink

being better after the fifth pint is wot freaky trigger is all about!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 16:54 (9 years ago) Permalink

How would you know? ;)

― Jeff W (zebedee), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 16:59 (9 years ago) Permalink

i, erm, like the way chad tucks his hair behind his ears and wears his sunglasses on top of his head...

― paulhw (paulhw), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 17:13 (9 years ago) Permalink

if Francis is talking about "Figured You Out", then yeah, the guitar break on that is kinda cool.

for a while I kept turning on MTV just as the "Someday" video was ending with that close up on the newspaper with the Man Dies In Tragic Bridge Accident headline, and I kept wondering what the hell the video was about. I finally saw the whole thing the other day, and I'm still a little confused about it.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 18:00 (9 years ago) Permalink

Um, Um, They're not as preachy as Creed...?

Hey, It's the best I could come up with on such short notice!

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 18:13 (9 years ago) Permalink

Chad Kroeger looks like a lion, which is quite a cool thing to look like.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 18:14 (9 years ago) Permalink

he got his teeth done and now he looks like buddy jesus.

― mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 20:53 (9 years ago) Permalink

to hulkington: i dont really see why white people's musical standards should be any higher than that of any other group's.

― jack cole (jackcole), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 21:10 (9 years ago) Permalink

< OVERLY BROAD OVERGENERALIZATION>
White Folks Inventions: Polka, Waltzes, Riverdance, Country.
Latinos Inventions: Samba, Soca, Tango, Norteno and.... Sepultura!
Black Folks Inventions: Blues, Jazz, Funk, Disco, Rock and Roll, Hip-Hop.
So, which one needs work in the musical invention department?
< /OVERLY BROAD OVERGENERALIZATION>

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 22:07 (9 years ago) Permalink

Just to put things into perspective here:

In 1997, one of my friends was listening to the Backstreet Boys.

In 2004, she currently listens to Nickelback.

I think that speaks volumes.

Oh yeah, and Lord Custos? Norteño is pretty fucking indefensible. Sez me, Miss Latina. All those oomp-oompas? Might as well drag out the worst of the polka records.

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 00:01 (9 years ago) Permalink

You could only defend Nickelback by naming even worse bands:

... ummm...damn!...

...I can't think of any!

― daavid (daavid), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 01:14 (9 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

old nickelback in left speaker and new nickelback in right speaker...

note how completely similar these songs are?

http://www.nintendorks.com/brandon/archives/000475.php

― msp, Friday, 23 April 2004 02:32 (9 years ago) Permalink

Skipping 33 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

Songs from this year that are worse than "Rockstar": "Thou Shalt Always Kill", "Beautiful Girls", "D.A.N.C.E.", that's it.

― Dom Passantino, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 09:53 (5 years ago) Permalink

Chad Kroeger looks like a lion, which is quite a cool thing to look like.

hahaehghhahhh

― trashthumb, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 11:11 (5 years ago) Permalink

but he looks more like the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz than a real lion

― stephen, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 14:43 (5 years ago) Permalink

Songs from this year that are worse than "Rockstar": "D.A.N.C.E."

OTMFM

― stephen, Tuesday, 13 November 2007 14:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

10 months pass...

This makes me like Nickelback a teeny bit more, but i'm not sure I ought to admit that in public...

― CharlieNo4, Thursday, 2 October 2008 12:23 (4 years ago) Permalink

Hero, the song wot Chad Kroeger did for Spider-Man, is a real guilty pleasure of mine. I particularly like the ultracheesy bit where all the instruments drop out and the vocal harmonies come in after the second chorus. Don't spurn me.

― chap, Thursday, 2 October 2008 13:19 (4 years ago) Permalink

I've just noticed how hard it is to tell that the first word of my last post on this thread is a link...

― CharlieNo4, Thursday, 2 October 2008 13:51 (4 years ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

― am0n, Thursday, 18 June 2009 15:52 (3 years ago) Permalink

After hearing their sappy new single, I've come to realize that I can't think of a single sung by Chad Kroger that I've actively hated. Some I've ignored and some I've really, really liked, but I can't remember disliking any of them.

― HIS VAGINA IS MAKING HIM CRAVE SALAD. (HI DERE), Thursday, 18 June 2009 16:00 (3 years ago) Permalink

That song will be a titty-bar standard for the rest of any of our lives.

― Eazy, Thursday, 18 June 2009 16:52 (3 years ago) Permalink

I don't like listening to their songs, but I admire them in a Brill Building way.

― Eazy, Thursday, 18 June 2009 18:17 (3 years ago) Permalink

if the Brill Building was a titty-bar.

― some dude, Thursday, 18 June 2009 18:19 (3 years ago) Permalink

Only a band like Nickelback could write a song title as funny as "Something In Your Mouth" and find a way to make it pretentious. I can almost hear a Ween song in there somewhere.

― Cunga, Thursday, 18 June 2009 18:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 11 July 2009 23:27 (3 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

Chad Kroeger has had a serious makeover, to the point of me seeing him in the video and wondering why the dubbed the real Chad Kroeger's voice over Cy Curnin from The Fixx.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 27 March 2012 17:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

serious disconnect

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 27 March 2012 17:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

I like doing karaoke of Nickelback, because you can just yell the lyrics as loud as you can and it'll sound pretty good

― Estimate the percent chance that a whale has ever been to the moon? (frogbs), Tuesday, 27 March 2012 18:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

― Hungry4Games (crüt), Tuesday, 27 March 2012 18:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

― Austerity Bronies (some dude), Tuesday, 27 March 2012 18:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

bwaha!

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 27 March 2012 18:41 (1 year ago) Permalink

Who knew MotoGP rider Nicky Hayden was moonlighting as Nickelback's lead singer??

― skip, Tuesday, 27 March 2012 18:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

so the local sports talk station's "Power Trip Morning Show" has a recurring guest, this dude from the band Motion City Sountrack, a sort a b-level pop punk/emo type major label band, seems like they do ok, the are from mpls....anyway, they do that thing where they run ads for their shows with funny highlights from a recent show, etc....

anyway, i only heard the soundbite in the ad, but i take it that one of the dudes in the band (or maybe some other guy they know) is a songwriter as well for bigger rock bands....

and scene:

He's supposed to meet Chad Kroger of Nickelback at a restaurant. The meeting is about how this guy might sell some songs to Nickelback for an upcoming album. So they are talking and he gives Kroger the demo CD, etc, and Kroger is like, "Well, are you going to sing them?".....the guy says, "Well, I'd prefer if you just listen to the stuff, we're in a crowded restaurant not really comfortable doing that".....Kroger interrupts and is like "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE IN YOUR SONGS IF YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE BALLS TO SING THEM RIGHT NOW??"

then, Kroger stands up, kicks over his chair and belts out LOOOOOOK AT THIS PHOOOOTOGRAAAPH/EVERYTIME I DO IT MAKES ME LAAAAUGH like LOUD AS FUCK and the whole restaurant is obviously looking at him and Kroger just struts out of the restaurant and leaves the dude sitting at the table.

― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 2 August 2012 18:16 (9 months ago) Permalink

I have a new favorite band

― chr1sb3singer, Thursday, 2 August 2012 18:24 (9 months ago) Permalink

dude walks it like he talks it

― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 2 August 2012 21:56 (9 months ago) Permalink

god i hope it was actually butch walker at the other end of that table

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, 2 August 2012 22:34 (9 months ago) Permalink

tbh if i was butch walker i'd be embarrassed to sing my shit too

― da croupier, Thursday, 2 August 2012 22:37 (9 months ago) Permalink

Bold way to dodge a check.

― nickn, Friday, 3 August 2012 00:47 (9 months ago) Permalink

tbh if i was butch walker i'd be embarrassed to sing my shit too

― da croupier, Thursday, August 2, 2012 6:37 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

whaaaaaat man you should check out his solo albums

― some random MC rappin' mcdude (some dude), Friday, 3 August 2012 00:50 (9 months ago) Permalink

We should poll people named Chad in bands. Live had two of them!

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 August 2012 02:05 (9 months ago) Permalink

That's a pretty funny story, but there's never been an outside songwriter on a Nickelback album - hell, Kroeger writes and produces for other people at this point (most notably Daughtry, and now Avril Lavigne, who rumors around the office suggest he's also sleeping with).

― 誤訳侮辱, Friday, 3 August 2012 02:46 (9 months ago) Permalink

does the canadian press call them "ChAvril"?

― tylerw, Friday, 3 August 2012 02:56 (9 months ago) Permalink

― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, August 2, 2012 10:46 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah i was gonna say, story doesn't pass the smell test for this among several reasons. still funny to picture, though.

― some random MC rappin' mcdude (some dude), Friday, 3 August 2012 02:57 (9 months ago) Permalink

That's a pretty funny story, but there's never been an outside songwriter on a Nickelback album

Mutt doesn't get a credit?

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 August 2012 17:26 (9 months ago) Permalink

I don't care if that's fake, that story is hilarious

― keeping things contextual (DJP), Friday, 3 August 2012 17:28 (9 months ago) Permalink

"Dark Horse:"

All lyrics written by Chad Kroeger, all music composed by Nickelback with Robert John "Mutt" Lange on tracks 1, 4, 7, 8 and 11.

The last one had track written with the producer, too, Joey Moi. No?

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 August 2012 17:28 (9 months ago) Permalink

that is the greatest story ever told, replacing the former greatest story, the Bible

― steven fucking tyler (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 3 August 2012 17:43 (9 months ago) Permalink

I'm sure I've reported here before on the one time I saw Nickelback, and they interrupted their show for 15 minutes wasted firing shirts out at the crowd with t-shirt canons. It was as NASCAR as Canadians get.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 3 August 2012 19:08 (9 months ago) Permalink

They should have at least thrown in a drum solo during that time.

― Jeremy Spencer Slid in Class Today (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:12 (9 months ago) Permalink

I'm sure I've reported here before on the one time I saw Nickelback

you misspelled "first"

― keeping things contextual (DJP), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:17 (9 months ago) Permalink

Obv I have no idea if it's true, all I heard was a snippet of talk radio

Still....if we can't believe in this what can we believe in

― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:30 (9 months ago) Permalink

just look at this post of m@tt's, every time i do it makes me laugh

― some random MC rappin' mcdude (some dude), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:32 (9 months ago) Permalink

well it says "might" have sold some songs to nickelback, maybe chad just likes to fuck with hacks

― da croupier, Friday, 3 August 2012 21:33 (9 months ago) Permalink

xpost to Dan, I totally would have seen the band again were they not so utterly dull and gormless. Totally unaware - or aware but not caring - of all the cliches they embody, so that it transcended self-parody.

"Chicago, you may be the best crowd we've ever heard! Let me hear you again! Yeah, that was awesome. Tonight, we want to party with you!" Then he told his roadie to order a few hundred pizzas and beer so that they can party with 10,000 of their new best friends. Or something like that. It was total school of Paul Stanley.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 4 August 2012 13:39 (9 months ago) Permalink

Did they actually go through with the pizza

― mythical mickey rourke jacket (latebloomer), Saturday, 4 August 2012 16:27 (9 months ago) Permalink

every stadium band these days rips off U2

― some white dude (some dude), Saturday, 4 August 2012 16:30 (9 months ago) Permalink

More bands should do the t-shirt cannon thing.

― mythical mickey rourke jacket (latebloomer), Saturday, 4 August 2012 16:31 (9 months ago) Permalink

it would certainly be a nice gesture at those big shows where the merch stand charges $40 and up for every shirt

― some white dude (some dude), Saturday, 4 August 2012 17:00 (9 months ago) Permalink

It would have been hilarious had every fan that caught a shirt then been handed a bill for said shirt.

Saw Merle Haggard the other night, and his t-shirts were $35!

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 4 August 2012 17:02 (9 months ago) Permalink

― smells like ok (soda) (dayo), Saturday, 4 August 2012 17:10 (9 months ago) Permalink

Would watch.

Should be a spin-off "Guy from Creed."

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 4 August 2012 17:18 (9 months ago) Permalink

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.