Who is Each Decade's "Nickelback"

[Glass Joe]

Out of curiosity, who do you all think is the "Nickelback" of each decade? What this means is the Rock or Alternative band of each decade that had many Top 40 hits back to back, but was for whatever reason strongly disliked or widely criticized. Obviously, Nickelback was that band in the 2000s. But, here is my take on it for the other decades.
* Disclaimer - I still have NO IDEA why people disliked Nickelback so much. They had so many good songs!

2000s - Nickelback, obviously
2010s - Imagine Dragons
2020s - (there are no rock bands charting, so I can't count it yet)

1990s - Hootie and the Blowfish maybe? Not too sure, would like input.
1980s - Journey? Possibly, but would like to hear more input.
1970s - ?

[kcdawg13]

1980's is definitely Chicago, the critics eventually came around on Journey and many of their tracks are regarded as classics. I have seen nobody come around on 80's Chicago.

[Carlitoz]

Wow, first news about Chicago. I had no idea.
I thought that for the 80s it was Michael Bolton.

[mkarns]

Of course one could and many would say that Chicago in the 80s was hardly a rock band, focusing instead on heavily synth-orchestrated pop ballads that proved commercially successful but rock fans regarded as sellouts compared to the more jazz/rock 70s stuff. Jefferson Starship/Starship were another band in the 80s that were and are derided by critics as a shell of their former selves even while producing big hits.

For the 70s, maybe Grand Funk (or Grand Funk Railroad)? They fit the "popular with the masses but hated by most critics" pattern. The critics also often weren't kind to Led Zeppelin originally, but have more than come around on them since.

[mrmike855]

It's hard to describe a "Nickelback" for the 90s because almost every band that stuck around was good and even the ones with a crap reputation were almost as big in the 2000s (Limp Bizkit, Creed). The closest might be either Sugar Ray or Bush (even if Bush only had one bad album), they seem to have the worst reputations for bands that had more than one big album.

[Glass Joe]

Sept 20, 2021 16:16:51 GMT -5 kcdawg13 said:

1980's is definitely Chicago, the critics eventually came around on Journey and many of their tracks are regarded as classics. I have seen nobody come around on 80's Chicago.

Excellent point! That makes more sense. I forgot about them. I would say definitely Chicago for the 80s.

[Glass Joe]

Sept 20, 2021 16:28:27 GMT -5 Carlitoz said:

Wow, first news about Chicago. I had no idea.
I thought that for the 80s it was Michael Bolton.

That is also a great choice, especially since Michael Bolton would also count toward the 90s, as probably most of his hits were from the early 90s.

[Deleted]

Sept 20, 2021 18:27:03 GMT -5 Glass Joe said:

Sept 20, 2021 16:16:51 GMT -5 kcdawg13 said:

1980's is definitely Chicago, the critics eventually came around on Journey and many of their tracks are regarded as classics. I have seen nobody come around on 80's Chicago.

Excellent point! That makes more sense. I forgot about them. I would say definitely Chicago for the 80s.

Chicago is probably more of the Maroon 5 of the 80s. Started off interesting in the 70s, before selling out and watering down their sound in the following decade, yet achieving massive success off of their trend-chasing.

[salt]

For the 2020s, since rock is no longer mainstream, we'll probably have to look at a different genre entirely. I'm guessing it'll be Drake if he doesn't stop releasing mediocre/bad music that's hugely successful.

[mkarns]

Sept 20, 2021 19:51:26 GMT -5 salt said:

For the 2020s, since rock is no longer mainstream, we'll probably have to look at a different genre entirely. I'm guessing it'll be Drake if he doesn't stop releasing mediocre/bad music that's hugely successful.

We still have a number of Alternative crossovers (though how many of them could be called "rock" is a matter of question), but I can't think of any in the last few years that have been either critical punching bags or otherwise widely derided while maintaining mass popularity.

[HeyHeyHey]

The 2010s country Nickelback is Florida Georgia Line.

[mkarns]

Sept 20, 2021 18:22:18 GMT -5 mrmike855 said:

It's hard to describe a "Nickelback" for the 90s because almost every band that stuck around was good and even the ones with a crap reputation were almost as big in the 2000s (Limp Bizkit, Creed). The closest might be either Sugar Ray or Bush (even if Bush only had one bad album), they seem to have the worst reputations for bands that had more than one big album.

Bush were often bashed as Nirvana ripoffs; I always liked their stuff, but it wasn't original. Sugar Ray were often criticised for everything sounding like "Fly" or "Every Morning", though that's not really fair if you dig deeper than their big hits.

Though nowadays Gavin Rossdale and Mark McGrath are probably better known than their bands (kind of like Maroon 5?)

[Deleted]

Sept 20, 2021 19:51:26 GMT -5 salt said:

For the 2020s, since rock is no longer mainstream, we'll probably have to look at a different genre entirely. I'm guessing it'll be Drake if he doesn't stop releasing mediocre/bad music that's hugely successful.

Rock bands aren't relevant, but Rock as a genre seems to be seeing a bit of a revival.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Sept 20, 2021 22:45:22 GMT -5 @gabingston said:

Sept 20, 2021 19:51:26 GMT -5 salt said:

For the 2020s, since rock is no longer mainstream, we'll probably have to look at a different genre entirely. I'm guessing it'll be Drake if he doesn't stop releasing mediocre/bad music that's hugely successful.

Rock bands aren't relevant, but Rock as a genre seems to be seeing a bit of a revival.

A few rock hits doesn't mean rock is back in the mainstream as a whole.

[jenglisbe]

I'd say maybe Air Supply for the 1980s? Chicago would fit if they were more exclusively 80s, but they were also big in the 1970s and have had a lot of versions (and styles) of the group. Air Supply was mainly big in the 1980s.

For the 1990s I'm not sure I can think of a true "joke" band that was big. Maybe Smash Mouth or Limp Bizkit?

[Walking Contradiction]

Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, and Limp Bizkit have more of a novelty factor to them, unlike Nickelback who really want you to take them seriously. I'd go with Hootie - they might not be as hated as Nickelback, but in terms of style and the popular-but-not-acclaimed dynamic, they come closest.

I would agree with Grand Funk for the '70s. For the '80s, I'm inclined to go with REO Speedwagon.

Too early to tell with the 2020s, but maybe AJR?

[ClevelandRox]

Alabama is the country version of Nickelback- over 40 #1's, but no one gives a f**k about them anymore.

[Deleted]

Guys, I've got a confession to make

SPOILER: Click to show

{Confession}
I unironically like Photograph. Like, if I were to do a Best of 2005 list, it'd probably be pretty high on it. I have a thing for both nostalgia-themed songs and cheesy power ballads, so combining them is the easiest way to make me like a song, regardless of how clumsy and memeable the lyrics may be.

[tanooki]

nickelback isnt even the 2000s nickelback u ever heard creed

[Deleted]

Sept 21, 2021 20:05:51 GMT -5 tanooki said:

nickelback isnt even the 2000s nickelback u ever heard creed

[gikem]

As someone who doesn’t mind Imagine Dragons all that much in spite of their impact on alt-rock in the 2010s and beyond, my pick for the Nickelback of the 2010s would be either post-2010 Maroon 5 or post-hiatus Train.

[Clode]

There was an article that I read online which revealed what the most hated band of each decade since the 1960s is and not counting the current Decade. So apparently The Monkees were arguably the most hated band of the 1960s which surprised me, In fact they were apparently called a rip-off of The Beatles for some odd reason. And it appears that the most hated band of the 1970s was The Ramones. 

Now these are the bands from each Decade since the 1980s that I know for a fact are still heavily criticized by Music critics even to this Day.

The 1980s - Duran Duran (I really like this band but I can kind of understand why they were and are still heavily criticized.)
The 1990s - Limp Bizkit (Yeah I honestly never cared for this band anyways.)
The 2000s - Nickelback (Arguably the most hated mainstream rock band of all time.) 
The 2010s - AJR (This band was arguably more hated than Imagine Dragons was during this decade.) 

[Deleted]

Sept 22, 2021 21:12:48 GMT -5 gikem said:

As someone who doesn’t mind Imagine Dragons all that much in spite of their impact on alt-rock in the 2010s and beyond, my pick for the Nickelback of the 2010s would be either post-2010 Maroon 5 or post-hiatus Train.

Post-hiatus Train didn't have any big hits past 2012, so out of the two I'd go with post-2010 Maroon 5 (even if I did like a few of their songs).

[jenglisbe]

Sept 22, 2021 21:59:04 GMT -5 Clode said:

There was an article that I read online which revealed what the most hated band of each decade since the 1960s is and not counting the current Decade. So apparently The Monkees were arguably the most hated band of the 1960s which surprised me, In fact they were apparently called a rip-off of The Beatles for some odd reason. And it appears that the most hated band of the 1970s was The Ramones. 

Now these are the bands from each Decade since the 1980s that I know for a fact are still heavily criticized by Music critics even to this Day.

The 1980s - Duran Duran (I really like this band but I can kind of understand why they were and are still heavily criticized.)
The 1990s - Limp Bizkit (Yeah I honestly never cared for this band anyways.)
The 2000s - Nickelback (Arguably the most hated mainstream rock band of all time.) 
The 2010s - AJR (This band was arguably more hated than Imagine Dragons was during this decade.) 

Is Duran Duran critically hated? I thought at least "Rio" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" are seen as 80s classics? "Hungry" is on the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time List that came out recently.

[Walking Contradiction]

They got a lot of flack at the time, but I thought they were largely vindicated by critics, even moreso than Journey who were mentioned before (and who I still don't care for).

[Glass Joe]

Sept 21, 2021 20:05:51 GMT -5 tanooki said:

nickelback isnt even the 2000s nickelback u ever heard creed

True, Creed did get a whole lot of criticism and I’m not sure why they did either, but they were mostly only charting in 2001 and 2002. Nickelback had many more hits. But you are right that Creed and Puddle of Mudd (I’ll throw them in too) both got similar criticism indeed. Not so much Staind. People did really like Staind. I think since Aaron Lewis’s singing is distinct and really good too!

[Glass Joe]

Sept 22, 2021 21:59:04 GMT -5 Clode said:

There was an article that I read online which revealed what the most hated band of each decade since the 1960s is and not counting the current Decade. So apparently The Monkees were arguably the most hated band of the 1960s which surprised me, In fact they were apparently called a rip-off of The Beatles for some odd reason. And it appears that the most hated band of the 1970s was The Ramones. 

Now these are the bands from each Decade since the 1980s that I know for a fact are still heavily criticized by Music critics even to this Day.

The 1980s - Duran Duran (I really like this band but I can kind of understand why they were and are still heavily criticized.)
The 1990s - Limp Bizkit (Yeah I honestly never cared for this band anyways.)
The 2000s - Nickelback (Arguably the most hated mainstream rock band of all time.) 
The 2010s - AJR (This band was arguably more hated than Imagine Dragons was during this decade.) 

Makes sense for Limp Bizkit in the 90s. I will add in another extremely disliked and criticized band from the later 90s and early 2000s, Korn. They got a lot of dislike.

[Glass Joe]

Maybe we can switch it up to hated pop stars and rappers of each decade? Someone mentioned Drake for recently.
For pop singers, Ashlee Simpson was criticized a lot in 2004 and 2005 despite being very popular. I know there are others too for each decade. I would have to think about it more.

[jred]

Sept 20, 2021 23:56:10 GMT -5 dremolus - solarpunk said:

Sept 20, 2021 22:45:22 GMT -5 @gabingston said:

Rock bands aren't relevant, but Rock as a genre seems to be seeing a bit of a revival.

A few rock hits doesn't mean rock is back in the mainstream as a whole.

Sure, but there’s been a trend over the past several months. Right now we have a pure rock song about to enter the top 5 on CHR. t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l and Happier Than Ever are also charting and have done really well on streaming, along with I Wanna Be Your Slave. MGK just shifted from pop punk to straight post-grunge. There’s clearly something happening. They aren’t all flukes.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Sept 24, 2021 15:49:24 GMT -5 jred said:

Sept 20, 2021 23:56:10 GMT -5 dremolus - solarpunk said:

A few rock hits doesn't mean rock is back in the mainstream as a whole.

Sure, but there’s been a trend over the past several months. Right now we have a pure rock song about to enter the top 5 on CHR. t r a n s p a r e n t s o u l and Happier Than Ever are also charting and have done really well on streaming, along with I Wanna Be Your Slave. MGK just shifted from pop punk to straight post-grunge. There’s clearly something happening. They aren’t all flukes.

Sure but aside from MGK and Maneskin, none of of those artist are rock acts. Now if people like Olivia or Billie pivot to rock and maintain their success, then I'll consider but even MGK hasn't been able to maintain his success. Papercuts looks to underperform.

also transparentsoul hasn't been charting for months, it didn't even crack the Top 60