So This Is How They Remind Us
July 21, 2024 7:22 PM Subscribe
Nickleback, "How You Remind Me," & the Slow Death of Grunge Surprisingly good video essay from Trash Theory that places Nickelback's early 2000s success in the context of CanCon, post-grunge, and the 9/11 release date of Nickelback's breakthrough album, Silver Side Up.
Some overlap from the band's self-produced movie Nickelback: Hate to Love (now available on Netflix) but some interesting takes from a 3rd party, especially the comparisons to other similar music from the same era. As an un-ironic fan of Nickelback, I am totally here for this. Hadn't heard the story about the journalist and the boxing-match challenge, but I'm not sure that's what led to the band's derision. Also some nuggets like How You Remind Me was the last rock US #1 (though didn't mention which chart) I didn't know.
posted by Metro Gnome at 9:54 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]
posted by Metro Gnome at 9:54 PM on July 21 [1 favorite]
I also am thrilled with the trash theory channel. So many thoughtful essays on many different bands.
posted by maxwelton at 1:24 AM on July 22
posted by maxwelton at 1:24 AM on July 22
Surprisingly good video essay from Trash Theory
How dare you. I challenge you to fight onstage at every show on my upcoming European tour.
posted by The Tensor at 1:46 AM on July 22 [1 favorite]
How dare you. I challenge you to fight onstage at every show on my upcoming European tour.
posted by The Tensor at 1:46 AM on July 22 [1 favorite]
Also some nuggets like How You Remind Me was the last rock US #1 (though didn't mention which chart) I didn't know.
It's an interesting statement. I kind of agree, but it does depend on what your definition of "rock" is. It does depend on how broadly or narrowly that definition is drawn. Artists that get classed as "classic rock" on one hand, or alt/grunge/indie on the other, didn't get #1 very often on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1990s, either.
posted by gimonca at 4:51 AM on July 22 [1 favorite]
It's an interesting statement. I kind of agree, but it does depend on what your definition of "rock" is. It does depend on how broadly or narrowly that definition is drawn. Artists that get classed as "classic rock" on one hand, or alt/grunge/indie on the other, didn't get #1 very often on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1990s, either.
posted by gimonca at 4:51 AM on July 22 [1 favorite]
I think it makes some odd inferences:
All those post-grunge bands don't really have much in common, and some have a lot in common with Nickelback and some have very little in common. Some of them sound like Nickelback (like Seven Mary 3) but most do not, and most don't particularly have a consistent sound across albums. So I'm not sure if defining all of them as 'post grunge' is quite accurate. I'd describe them all as 'popular rock bands', but maybe that's the same thing?
And Perl Jam refusing to make videos for a later album is in contrast to the fact that they made a bunch of videos for their breakout album, and Nirvana made a bunch of videos, etc. They also make an implication that the later 'post-grunge bands weren't as good (musically I guess?) as the originators, which I'm not quite sure about. No, I straight up disagree. And then Nickelback gets a bunch of big name producers (Pearl Jam, Metallica) to make their big selling album. The lines are pretty straight.
I think the more interesting points was the CanCon rules -the genre lists mentioned - were those the author's or CanCons and the impacts of the ClearChannel consolidation.
Also, did 9/11 have any impacts on music? Maybe but IMO they were pretty minor - like Ryan Adams getting a track to the pop top 20.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:58 AM on July 22
All those post-grunge bands don't really have much in common, and some have a lot in common with Nickelback and some have very little in common. Some of them sound like Nickelback (like Seven Mary 3) but most do not, and most don't particularly have a consistent sound across albums. So I'm not sure if defining all of them as 'post grunge' is quite accurate. I'd describe them all as 'popular rock bands', but maybe that's the same thing?
And Perl Jam refusing to make videos for a later album is in contrast to the fact that they made a bunch of videos for their breakout album, and Nirvana made a bunch of videos, etc. They also make an implication that the later 'post-grunge bands weren't as good (musically I guess?) as the originators, which I'm not quite sure about. No, I straight up disagree. And then Nickelback gets a bunch of big name producers (Pearl Jam, Metallica) to make their big selling album. The lines are pretty straight.
I think the more interesting points was the CanCon rules -the genre lists mentioned - were those the author's or CanCons and the impacts of the ClearChannel consolidation.
Also, did 9/11 have any impacts on music? Maybe but IMO they were pretty minor - like Ryan Adams getting a track to the pop top 20.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:58 AM on July 22
There was a ripple or two in Nashville, I seem to recall. Something about toby keith being the rudy giuliani of Tennessee.
posted by stet at 7:06 PM on July 22
posted by stet at 7:06 PM on July 22
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posted by atom128 at 9:32 PM on July 21 [5 favorites]