Does Nickelback Really Suck?

Nickelback, despite all of the shit they get, are one of the bands I hold closest to my heart.

I'll admit, I rode the Nickelback sucks wave too, but I can't lie, I never stopped liking them. Musically, I went off into heavier ventures, after Dark Horse, but I always admired how Chad Kroeger and company can keep pumping out albums despite non-stop negative critical and listener responses. They've always made the music they wanted, about what they wanted, the way they wanted. Whether that led to some of the best mid-2000s Nu Metal or uninspired butt-rock is entirely up to the listener.

Frontman Chad Kroeger is damn near always guesting on some other radio rock song. In fact, you don't get the Official Butt Rock Seal of Approval until you have Chad Kroeger featured on one of your songs.

There was that one Theory of a Deadman song. Then there was Porn Star Dancing with Zakk Wylde, Ludacris, and a million strippers. And somewhere in there, he was on a Santana song. And somewhere along the line the guy married and divorced Avril Lavigne. I've got to admit, Chad Kroeger is enjoying the fuck out of his life, whether we approve of him or not.

But, back onto topic, my first CD ever was All the Right Reasons. That's right, the album that opens with 'All the Wrong Reasons' a song which is basically about how sex can save a relationship. And singing it is basically why my second-grade teacher kicked me out of class for "being vulgar and disruptive."

'When We Stand Together' was dope, too. But it was little too late for the guys. You see around the mid-2000s it became cool to hate Nickelback. For no reason. So cue tons of jokes and pop culture references from people who probably hadn't even sat through an entire song. And while they had definitely made some less than stellar music, they were at least marginally better than most shit on the radio in 2007.

And then they came out this year with Feed the Machine. It's obviously a jab at current politics, like most entertainment these days.

The grunge sound had everyone, like, "Damn, when did Nickelback get so good?" And I thought to myself, "Bitch, they've always been this good."

Photograph is still my shit, though.