The Enthusiast's Guide: Nickelback

Rock Metal Machine
3 hours ago
4 min read

Four men stand confidently, wearing casual clothes. A blue sky and dark building are in the background. They appear serious and focused.

Mike Newdeck gives us his take on one of Canada’s most successful musical exports…

Hate: /heit/ - verb “An intense dislike”

A strong word when applied to any situation and a word that would become inseparably associated with Nickelback in the mid-noughties after the release of their biggest selling album ‘All The Right Reasons’.

With memes aplenty it clearly affected the band – as witnessed in the recent film documentary ‘Hate To Love’ – although they put on a brave face and, in the main, faced up to it with good humour. Criticisms aimed at them include lead singer Chad Kroeger allegedly not being a very nice person – or a douche if you believe our American cousins – the music being generic, the band disingenuously faking their past with their nostalgia based song lyrics or indeed lyrics with misogynistic undertones (an aspect that has been part of Rock music since time immemorial – who knew!).

I won’t be delving into the matter other than to say that popularity breeds contempt, and, despite all the criticism – the band has never been a ‘critics’ favourite either – Nickelback has remained an incredibly popular act for over a quarter of a century and one that still manages to sell out arena shows all over the world. That’s for two reasons: their incredibly loyal fan base and Chad Kroeger’s ability to pen appealing songs… songs ranging from out and out headbangers through to earworm Pop songs and emotional ballads; he knows what his fans want to hear.

From its humble beginnings – in Hanna, Alberta – back in the early 90s when their first outing was as a band called Village Idiot playing Metallica and Led Zeppelin covers, the original trio of Kroeger brothers Chad and Mike, plus Ryan Peake, remains the core of Nickelback. Indeed, in the beginning their cousin Brandon Kroeger was the drummer, leaving when they became more popular and when he decided that he couldn’t really dedicate his time to the band. Replacement drummer Mitch Guidon didn’t last much longer, also citing his problems with touring as a reason to leave.

The drum stool is the only position in the band that has seen any change. Ryan Vikedal – who replaced Guidon and played on ‘Silver Side Up’ and ‘The Long Road’ – was himself replaced by 3 Doors Down drummer Daniel Adair. After a royalty dispute and burnout from heavy touring of ‘The Long Road’, the band fell out and rather amusingly Videkal spread the word that the new upcoming album was very “ballady”. That album, ‘All The Right Reasons’, went on to become their biggest selling album to date and one of America's biggest selling albums of all time. The band and Vikedal has since kissed and made up.

Adair himself, although still very much part of the band, suffered his own

Four men in black shirts stand against a plain background, looking serious. One has tattooed arms. Neutral expressions, focused gaze.

personal nightmare when in 2020 he was diagnosed with Radial Tunnel Syndrome (compression of the radial nerve between the upper arm and wrist). A debilitating condition, particularly for a drummer, Adair tendered his resignation from the band before Chad stepped in with encouragement and a promise to get the problem sorted no matter what as he was considered one of the Nickelback family. After minor surgery – the condition was only diagnosed after seeing a plethora of specialists – and then Adair having to relearn his muscle memory, he is now back to normal. Indeed the band has had its fair share of medical crises. Bassist Mike Kroeger suffered a stroke at the age of 41 and Chad’s vocal cord surgery in 2015 has been well documented.

It’s perhaps interesting to note that much like Creed, Nickelback are enjoying something of a resurgence as a whole new generation discover their music… ignore the hate and enjoy the band for what they are. In this guide I’ll be taking a look back through the band’s album recording history and sorting the wheat from the chaff. Think of me as your personal Nickelback combine harvester!

So if you’re a casual fan of Nickelback, perhaps you’ve only ever heard the hit singles? Maybe you despise them because you despise those singles and that’s all you’ve heard, or perhaps you’re one of the original social media influenced people who hated the band but hadn’t actually heard anything. In the case of the latter, you’ve maybe grown up a little over the last twenty years and realised that actually Nickelback weren’t that bad and perhaps you just thought you were being cool by disliking them. Whichever group you fall into, isn’t it time that you gave them another chance? You’d be batshit crazy not to!

Nickelback's albums rated (click to expand the picture)