Shower Thoughts MK2

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
26,918
11,278
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
Could someone explain to me the hate for Nickelback. I was never a fan of their music and I only ever liked the one song from Spider-Man, but all the hate they got later felt really undeserved. Why do people like the crap on them so much again? Other than the excuse that a lot of their songs sound the same. I can't comment because I barely remember their other songs, other than "Hero". Yet AC/DC's songs sound very similar to each other, but there's not as much hate or complaints about them doing it.
 

Xprimentyl

Made you look...
Legacy
Aug 13, 2011
6,243
4,510
118
Plano, TX
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Actual shower thought: If a standard six-sided dice has indentations of equal size for all numbers, isn't it inherently weighted in favor of the 'six' side (as the 'one' side would weigh the most and tend to land that side down)?
Oh my God, I had the exact same thought (albeit not in the shower) just a couple weeks ago! A part of our daily routine is watching "Let's Make A Deal" every morning, and one of the contestants who was playing a dice game mentioned that "4" is the most commonly rolled number on a single die, and it made wonder why that is given the "1" side of a single die should be the heaviest thus favoring "6." Obviously, the weight lost by whatever is taken out for each individual pip is nominal, but it does make one wonder how much it affects each roll.

Could someone explain to me the hate for Nickelback. I was never a fan of their music and I only ever liked the one song from Spider-Man, but all the hate they got later felt really undeserved. Why do people like the crap on them so much again? Other than the excuse that a lot of their songs sound the same. I can't comment because I barely remember their other songs, other than "Hero". Yet AC/DC's songs sound very similar to each other, but there's not as much hate or complaints about them doing it.
I think it's just one of those things that picked up steam until it became "a thing" to hate on them. I don't know Nickleback at all, but after seeing them scathed across basically every form of media for years, I'm convinced their probably just extremely average and not as horrid as the zeitgeist of hate that hangs over them suggests.
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
26,918
11,278
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
Oh my God, I had the exact same thought (albeit not in the shower) just a couple weeks ago! A part of our daily routine is watching "Let's Make A Deal" every morning, and one of the contestants who was playing a dice game mentioned that "4" is the most commonly rolled number on a single die, and it made wonder why that is given the "1" side of a single die should be the heaviest thus favoring "6." Obviously, the weight lost by whatever is taken out for each individual pip is nominal, but it does make one wonder how much it affects each roll.



I think it's just one of those things that picked up steam until it became "a thing" to hate on them. I don't know Nickleback at all, but after seeing them scathed across basically every form of media for years, I'm convinced their probably just extremely average and not as horrid as the zeitgeist of hate that hangs over them suggests.
I never understand the whole hate it because it's popular mentality. If you don't like something, that is fine, but don't be a insecure dick about it or ruin it for others. I remember a time where it was briefly "popular" to hate on Linkin Park, because they always sing the same or "too wangsty". Which is wrong, because that was only for their first three albums, and even then they always mixed it up, or tried something different. Minutes To Midnight is when they really did a genre shift and a kept evolving. Yet some of these people complain that they are changing too much. Which is it? You can't have them both ways. Some of them being part of the LP fan base themselves. When the lead singer, Chester Bennington killed himself, a good amount of the naysayers stopped saying dumb shit like that. And I'm here thinking where's all this positive attitude beforehand? They don't matter to me, cuz LP has an actual loyal fan base that cares.
 

Xprimentyl

Made you look...
Legacy
Aug 13, 2011
6,243
4,510
118
Plano, TX
Country
United States
Gender
Male
I never understand the whole hate it because it's popular mentality. If you don't like something, that is fine, but don't be a insecure dick about it or ruin it for others.
It's a status thing; if you can put the majority intellectually beneath yourself, you're somehow validated. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sometimes guilty of such a mindset myself. The K-Pop boy band BTS for instance. They are so vapid and intentionally manufactured to check "pop culture" boxes, so phony and cheesy, I find their mere existence to be an affront to human intelligence given how ridiculously popular they've become. Now, I don't' actively hate on them or chastise anyone who likes them, but if asked my opinion, I will not mince words; I'll tell you exactly how I feel about them and it won't be kind...
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
26,918
11,278
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
It's a status thing; if you can put the majority intellectually beneath yourself, you're somehow validated. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sometimes guilty of such a mindset myself. The K-Pop boy band BTS for instance. They are so vapid and intentionally manufactured to check "pop culture" boxes, so phony and cheesy, I find their mere existence to be an affront to human intelligence given how ridiculously popular they've become. Now, I don't' actively hate on them or chastise anyone who likes them, but if asked my opinion, I will not mince words; I'll tell you exactly how I feel about them and it won't be kind...
At least that makes sense and you actually backed up your arguments. I have similar feelings to American pop music. Most of it's regurgitated trash that feeds into itself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xprimentyl

Xprimentyl

Made you look...
Legacy
Aug 13, 2011
6,243
4,510
118
Plano, TX
Country
United States
Gender
Male
At least that makes sense and you actually backed up your arguments. I have similar feelings to American pop music. Most of it's regurgitated trash that feeds into itself.
Oh, yes, I feel the same way about most popular music; it's junk food. It's why I distinguish between "art" and "entertainment;" Pop music can be entertaining, but rarely would I consider it "art" for the all the "artists" it presumably consists of, i.e.: if you don't write your own music or write for or play an instrument, you exist purely to be the face of others' labor, and while I can respect a good singing voice, you've not created anything I can respectfully call "art;" you're an entertainer.
 

Specter Von Baren

Annoying Green Gadfly
Legacy
Aug 25, 2013
5,632
2,849
118
I don't know, send help!
Country
USA
Gender
Cuttlefish
I never understand the whole hate it because it's popular mentality. If you don't like something, that is fine, but don't be a insecure dick about it or ruin it for others. I remember a time where it was briefly "popular" to hate on Linkin Park, because they always sing the same or "too wangsty". Which is wrong, because that was only for their first three albums, and even then they always mixed it up, or tried something different. Minutes To Midnight is when they really did a genre shift and a kept evolving. Yet some of these people complain that they are changing too much. Which is it? You can't have them both ways. Some of them being part of the LP fan base themselves. When the lead singer, Chester Bennington killed himself, a good amount of the naysayers stopped saying dumb shit like that. And I'm here thinking where's all this positive attitude beforehand? They don't matter to me, cuz LP has an actual loyal fan base that cares.
Unfortunately I've noticed the tired old "CrrAAAwliiiing IiiinnnNnnNn my SKIIIIIN" jokes about them coming back into vogue again so I guess old habits die hard for some people.
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
26,918
11,278
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
Unfortunately I've noticed the tired old "CrrAAAwliiiing IiiinnnNnnNn my SKIIIIIN" jokes about them coming back into vogue again so I guess old habits die hard for some people.
Those people are most likely stuck in early 2000s and haven't grown up, nor they've listened to LP, beyond their first few albums. Even hardcore fans of Linkin Park got tired of those "jokes" around 2007 and 2008. And even the band themselves got tired of jokes before we did.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Specter Von Baren

happyninja42

Elite Member
Legacy
May 13, 2010
8,577
2,981
118
Could someone explain to me the hate for Nickelback. I was never a fan of their music and I only ever liked the one song from Spider-Man, but all the hate they got later felt really undeserved. Why do people like the crap on them so much again? Other than the excuse that a lot of their songs sound the same. I can't comment because I barely remember their other songs, other than "Hero". Yet AC/DC's songs sound very similar to each other, but there's not as much hate or complaints about them doing it.
I've actually asked this very question on...I think v1.0 of this site, and...the most cogent answer I got was "They are hated for being average." Not...BAD...just...average. So, yeah, that's the metric for hate on the internet. Being a mediocre talent band. Which I find funny, considering they don't equally vilify every OTHER "just average" band that exists (and there are millions of those), but, yeah, Nickelback is apparently the sacrificial offering on the altar of internet smugness.

Personally I find them perfectly fine. And their song "Hero" from the Spiderman film, is genuinely a good fucking song to me. As well as Figured You Out, which I think is also, a really solid fucking song. I like that song, because the lyrics actually really hit home for me, with a girl that I used to know and was attracted to, as a teen. I never choked her out, and we never had sex, so it's not a lover, but, she was a very wild girl, partier, druggy, sexually active and comfortable with it. And that wild side of her was part of her appeal. But over the years, those traits really started to become something bad, as her drug use, casual disregard for the people around her that supported her habits, etc, made me sour on her. So the way the lyrics transition from him loving the traits, that the later lyrics make him hate her? Yeah, I can empathize with that.

Plus, people like to shit on them, but the lead singer, is smart enough to write one of the most successful songs in recent years, in like 15 minutes, just by studying the traits of popular songs, and structuring a song with those traits. So, yeah I can't really hate on a guy for literally science-ing up a mega-hit, by literally just giving people what they want in a song.


 

Xprimentyl

Made you look...
Legacy
Aug 13, 2011
6,243
4,510
118
Plano, TX
Country
United States
Gender
Male
I've actually asked this very question on...I think v1.0 of this site, and...the most cogent answer I got was "They are hated for being average." Not...BAD...just...average. So, yeah, that's the metric for hate on the internet.
You'll never find a more perfect formula for hate than when mediocrity meets popularity. Not saying it's right, but explaining why it exists. Between genius and drunken karaoke, you'll find scads of music that falls somewhere in between, and for some reason, people feel the need to express opinions on those things relative to how close they fall to those disparate ends of the spectrum. The closer something finds itself to the middle, the cynicism of the modern age will almost always defer to the negative because indifference isn't an interesting opinion to have, and you don't want to be one of the "sheep" that accepts exceptional mediocrity.
 

happyninja42

Elite Member
Legacy
May 13, 2010
8,577
2,981
118
You'll never find a more perfect formula for hate than when mediocrity meets popularity. Not saying it's right, but explaining why it exists. Between genius and drunken karaoke, you'll find scads of music that falls somewhere in between, and for some reason, people feel the need to express opinions on those things relative to how close they fall to those disparate ends of the spectrum. The closer something finds itself to the middle, the cynicism of the modern age will almost always defer to the negative because indifference isn't an interesting opinion to have, and you don't want to be one of the "sheep" that accepts exceptional mediocrity.
*shrugs* Maybe it's more of an issue with youth, but I just don't really care. I've been around too many people, of varying quality on the Asshole - Cool Person Spectrum, to give anyone shit for being Just Average. Perfectly good songs, are just that, perfectly good. Not every movie has to be a critical masterpiece, not every song has to be the greatest song every written, because that's just logically impossible. Besides, it's all personal taste. I know for a fact that many...MANY people, openly disdain and hate, bands that I love to my core. That literally have shaped my personality, pysche, worldview, etc. They have songs that make me cry....but others just roll their eyes and say they sound like shit. So it's really nothing more than opinion, and disdain. I also think a lot of it is simply people hating something popular. Because let's be honest, a LOT of people really enjoyed Nickelback. They wouldn't have been popular if they hadn't been....you know...POPULAR.

I dunno, I guess I've just never really understood the need to shit on things other people like, simply because YOU don't like them. The plural you, mind you, not you specifically.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xprimentyl

Xprimentyl

Made you look...
Legacy
Aug 13, 2011
6,243
4,510
118
Plano, TX
Country
United States
Gender
Male
*shrugs* Maybe it's more of an issue with youth, but I just don't really care. I've been around too many people, of varying quality on the Asshole - Cool Person Spectrum, to give anyone shit for being Just Average. Perfectly good songs, are just that, perfectly good. Not every movie has to be a critical masterpiece, not every song has to be the greatest song every written, because that's just logically impossible. Besides, it's all personal taste. I know for a fact that many...MANY people, openly disdain and hate, bands that I love to my core. That literally have shaped my personality, pysche, worldview, etc. They have songs that make me cry....but others just roll their eyes and say they sound like shit. So it's really nothing more than opinion, and disdain. I also think a lot of it is simply people hating something popular. Because let's be honest, a LOT of people really enjoyed Nickelback. They wouldn't have been popular if they hadn't been....you know...POPULAR.

I dunno, I guess I've just never really understood the need to shit on things other people like, simply because YOU don't like them. The plural you, mind you, not you specifically.
That's why I live by the adage "opinions are like assholes; everyone's got one and they all stink." If I ever worried about what other's thought of the things I choose to indulge in, I'd be miserable because my tastes have always geared towards the lesser known (at least Stateside; I'm sure I'd fit right in in the UK.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: happyninja42

Baffle

Elite Member
Oct 22, 2016
3,459
2,746
118
I've actually asked this very question on...I think v1.0 of this site, and...the most cogent answer I got was "They are hated for being average." Not...BAD...just...average. So, yeah, that's the metric for hate on the internet. Being a mediocre talent band.
I think that's pretty much all it is -- they're pretty average but had a massive amount of airtime (or certainly seemed to).

Edit: I wasn't finished.

I think it just became an online joke to hate them though, I don't think most people really cared either way. I couldn't name a Nickelback song now, though there's probably one I'd recognize if I heard it (but even now I can't say how it goes, only that I think I'd know it if I heard it).
 

happyninja42

Elite Member
Legacy
May 13, 2010
8,577
2,981
118
I think that's pretty much all it is -- they're pretty average but had a massive amount of airtime (or certainly seemed to).

Edit: I wasn't finished.

I think it just became an online joke to hate them though, I don't think most people really cared either way. I couldn't name a Nickelback song now, though there's probably one I'd recognize if I heard it (but even now I can't say how it goes, only that I think I'd know it if I heard it).
That's the thing that fascinates me though. I mean, you'd think, by that metric, "They were average, but had lots of airtime" that EVERY one hit wonder, would be hated equally. Because that's basically the exact same formula. Yet everyone still loves all those one hit wonders, and even remember them fondly. But Nickelback, who actually had several songs that did quite well on the charts, is hated. For apparently not being bad enough to only have 1 hit, but also not being good enough to be an icon band. It's just....maddening how crowd mentality works on stuff like that.
 

Baffle

Elite Member
Oct 22, 2016
3,459
2,746
118
That's the thing that fascinates me though. I mean, you'd think, by that metric, "They were average, but had lots of airtime" that EVERY one hit wonder, would be hated equally. Because that's basically the exact same formula. Yet everyone still loves all those one hit wonders, and even remember them fondly. But Nickelback, who actually had several songs that did quite well on the charts, is hated. For apparently not being bad enough to only have 1 hit, but also not being good enough to be an icon band. It's just....maddening how crowd mentality works on stuff like that.
But the one-hit wonders would have had airtime for a limited period; if Nickelback were average but also were in the charts a lot, they'd have lots of airtime for a long time. I think it was probably gatekeeping as well -- I recall they weren't considered 'proper rock'. Kind of like they were too establishment or something.
 

Mister Mumbler

Pronounced "Throat-wobbler Mangrove"
Legacy
Jun 17, 2020
1,844
1,692
118
Nowhere
Country
United States
Oh my God, I had the exact same thought (albeit not in the shower) just a couple weeks ago! A part of our daily routine is watching "Let's Make A Deal" every morning, and one of the contestants who was playing a dice game mentioned that "4" is the most commonly rolled number on a single die, and it made wonder why that is given the "1" side of a single die should be the heaviest thus favoring "6." Obviously, the weight lost by whatever is taken out for each individual pip is nominal, but it does make one wonder how much it affects each roll.
So, been thinking about this, and I think (speculation entirely of the "out-my-ass" school of theory) that it's a combination of them being nominal, and also the fact the the two sides the share a single plane through the dice all equal seven (one/six, two/five, and three/four).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xprimentyl

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
26,918
11,278
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
The hypocrisy of bean counters in charge. Their morals and code are a bad joke,

 

Bob_McMillan

Elite Member
Aug 28, 2014
5,192
1,864
118
Country
Philippines
Saw a video the other day of an """influencer""" taking revenge on one of his sponsors after they sort of scammed him. Basically he smashed their "shitty" product with baseball bat.

I see that as an admission that these people will shill pretty much anything. Which we all already knew, but I think it's gotten to the point that a product or service being endorsed by online personalities is a surefire way of knowing that said product or service is either shit, overpriced, or a straight up scam.
 

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
26,918
11,278
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
This is why you copyright your stuff. Also, critical race theory is involved towards the end, but it relates to the entire conversation.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Bob_McMillan