When Nickelback passed “the baton” to the new worst band in the world, according to Corey Taylor
Slipknot’s masked frontman Corey Taylor is well-versed in avoiding the dregs of the hard rock and metal world.
If you can survive nu-metal, you’ll survive anything. There’s no doubt that Iowa’s nine-headed, boiler-suited monster rode the early 2000s Kerrang and Ozzfest wave, finding themselves thrust to a commercial peak afforded to them by the frosted-tipped likes of Linkin Park or Limp Bizkit’s frat bellyflop into oafish rap metal to the delight of hooded suburban teens all over the world.
Yet Slipknot’s longevity was always assured through the dark days of the Y2K metal scene. While embracing a little of the late 1990s’ fancy for scratchy turntablism early on, the mob conjured infinitely harder, bruising, and seething blasts of heavy metal dunked in the gang’s corroded scree of digital samples and audio detritus, all furiously fronted by Taylor’s throat-shredding vocal attack. They cut a distinct mark, owing little to the Papa Roaches over the world, with whom they’d invariable share festival billing.
There’s another permutation of rock worse than your Drowning Pools and Disturbeds, however. Alongside the worst of hip-hop and metal beginning to curdle toward its Family Values galumph, was a so-called ‘post-grunge’ cohort borrowing Seattle’s angsty guitar heft but dialling down the volatility toward an unashamed grab for radio-friendly pop success all over the US, and for a moment across the late 1990s/early 2000s, the world.
Cue godawful cringe cuts from Creed, Puddle of Mudd, and Staind clogging the day’s rockwaves with corporate ruthlessness.
No band since Emerson, Lake & Palmer had lapsed into such an eternal musical punchline as Canada’s Nickelback, however. They’ve done well, selling over 50 million albums worldwide, but the hard rock world quickly grew to cringe at frontman Chad Kroeger’s irksome raspy grind, juvenile and unsophisticated lyrics, and crushingly formulaic songcraft. Dominating rock radio ever since 2001’s ‘How You Remind Me’, Nickelback have the last laugh, still standing as one of Canada’s most successful musical exports.
Taylor’s not shy in dissing the ‘Rockstar’ crooners. Appearing on former Sex Pistols guitarist Jonesy’s Jukebox for Los Angeles’ 95.5 KLOS radio, the Slipknot singer threw some shade toward Nickelback, while conceding that Kroeger and the gang take the silver medal in awfulness after one newcomer in the world of, ostensibly at least, hard rock.
After Jones’ tease that Taylor and his fellow Junk Beer Kidnap Band side-project bassist Joseph Christopher slip some Nickelback into their live covers repertoire, Taylor shot back with today’s worst band in response. “They are passing the baton to Imagine Dragons,” he quipped. “And I love it. They’re awful, so that’s cool.”
He added, “And they’re from Vegas, so I’m gonna go home to protests. Can’t show my face in this town now. People are slowly coming back to appreciate Nickelback and then just turning their irksome ire towards Imagine Dragons.”
Whether they’re worse than Nickelback is up for debate, but Imagine Dragons are aggressively awful. A kind of arena stomp rock-pop theatre for over-excited children, the glossy Broadway bombast is fronted by the equally irritating Dan Reynolds and his wilted, faux-motivational lyrics lacking a shred of relevancy or social awareness. They’re bad, but likely your little brother’s favourite band, Imagine Dragons, pummelled with as many as 74 million record sales and streaming figures as high as 160 billion, and coming off as the musical equivalent of mass-manufactured, commercially chokeholded white bread.
