Bombshell revelation! It’s no secret that Nickelback isn’t the most loved band in the music industry — and now we might know why. A Finnish student named Salli Anttonen recently compiled 14 years’ worth of reviews about the Canadian group to shed light on the matter.
The University of Eastern Finland student dug deep into stories that were published in Finland between 2000 and 2014, BBC reports. Her study, “Hypocritical Bulls–t Performed Through Gritted Teeth: Authenticity Discourses in Nickelback’s Album Reviews in Finnish Media,” aims to pinpoint why and when people started hating the band.
Nickelback — which has four members, Chad Kroeger, Ryan Peake, Mike Kroeger and Daniel Adair — formed in 1995. To date, the group has released eight studio albums. They continue to tour and are best known for songs such as “Photograph,” “How You Remind Me,” “Far Away” and “Someday.”
Anttonen’s findings reportedly conclude that many critics believe Nickelback aren’t genuine enough. Additionally, the rockers don’t stand out from other similar bands.
Anttonen further claims that Nickelback’s true downfall came when they allowed their tune “Rockstar” to be featured in a 2008 furniture commercial.
“Nickelback is too much of everything to be enough of something,” Anttonen wrote in her study. “They follow genre expectations too well, which is seen as empty imitation, but also not well enough, which is read as commercial tactics and as a lack of a stable and sincere identity.”
Despite the haters, Nickelback have won several accolades over the years, and have been recognized at the American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.
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