Nickelback, “How You Remind Me” & The Slow Death of Grunge
What to say about Nickelback? To say that they are terrible is played out, so very predictable. To say that they are secret geniuses of post-grunge balladry isn’t quite right either. But whatever you may think, their first single off Silver Side Up will always endure. It is the definitive sound of radio for the early 2000s. A nuevo classic rock standard shot through the lens of grunge. 220 seconds of candied hooks, unshakeable melody, and surprisingly crunchy guitars. However forces beyond their control coalesced to make sure that Nickelback became inescapable. This is how “How You Remind Me” happened.
#nickelback #postgrunge #MusicDocumentary
Fact-checking by Chad Van Wagner.
00:00 Introduction
00:41 But First: What is Post-Grunge?
03:41 The Early Days of Nickelback
09:35 Creating “How You Remind Me”
15:41 The Massive Success of “How You Remind Me”
Soundtrack
Luar – Citrine (https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Jesse Gallagher – The Golden Present
Luar – Anchor (https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
You can also follow me here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrashTheory
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrashTheoryYT
The Pitchfork 500 by Scott Plagenhoef and Ryan Schrieber, 2008, Fireside
“Nickelback’s Crossover Hit Changes Everything” Corey Moss, MTV News, Sep 2001
“Nickelback: Mint Condition” Jeff Cornell, MTV News, Sep 2001
“Nickelback Down Under” Joe Matera, Australian Musician, Dec 2001
“Cowboy From Hell” Ian Winwood, Kerrang!, Feb 2002
“King of Pain: Heartbreak, Trauma, Jail” Paul Elliott, Kerrang!, Jun 2002
“Nickelback’s Next Single Inspired By ‘How You Remind Me’ Girl” Jon Wiederhorn; Jeff Cornell, MTV News, Jul 2002
“The New Grunge: The Second Coming?” Paul Elliott, Q Magazine, Oct 2002
“Road To The Grammys: The Making Of Nickelback’s ‘How You Remind Me’” Corey Moss, MTV News, Feb 2003
“Rockstar! How The Fuck Did That Happen?” Tom Bryant, Kerrang!, Feb 2008
“My five-year feud with Nickelback” Ian Winwood, The Guardian, Mar 2008
“A Night With the World’s Most Hated Bands” Chuck Klosterman, Grantland, Apr 2012
“The MH Interview: Chad Kroeger” Eric Spitznagel, Men’s Health, Oct 2012
“Radio-Friendly Unit Shifters” Chris Molanphy, Pitchfork, Sep 2013
“Lorde and the Alternative Chart’s Hot 100 Moment” Chris Molanphy, Pitchfork, Oct 2013
“Our Hate Has Saved Nickelback” Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, Nov 2014
“Nickelback Won The ’90s Culture War” Michael Tedder, Stereogum, May 2016
“The Nickelback phenomenon: explaining the world’s most hated band” James Lachno, The Telegraph, May 2017
“The story behind How You Remind Me by Nickelback” Henry Yates, Classic Rock Magazine, Aug 2017
“Farewell to Kerrang!, the lone champion of working-class metalheads” Ian Winwood, The Telegraph, Jul 2020
“Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger Goes Deep on ‘How You Remind Me,’ The Fight That Inspired It & His ‘Jesus Christ’ Hair in the Video” Maria Sherman, Billboard, Aug 2021
“The Number Ones: Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me”” Tom Breihan, Stereogum, Oct 2022
Or support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/TrashTheory
@TrashTheory
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Spotify link for this one:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Jg6nnKc3p7FiD29mGU2Sf?si=f7be2d908869426a
and the YouTube Music one:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLooaZ33lSaldt4iszpwBPDkKAypwu5-wm&si=DQPHzewJplhCacBA
@nopes1776
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
You have to love English people that you can't understand while they're speaking English, annunciate bud your missing a letter in every damn word.
@AIAudiobooks411
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Nickelback were very metal. Hardest band ive ever seen play
@DiamorphineDeath
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Those “post-grunge” bands right after Kurt died, from the beginning of the video are fantastic. All of those are catchy tunes; I have a soft spot for like commercial conducive rock form that era, versus the fun of the presidents of the united states or the butthole surfers and the more antiestablishment punk ethos. There’s some great tracks
@LOCKEYJ
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Ok, the alanis ‘ironic’ thing is beyond tired. Just because structural or situational irony is the only kind you understand doesn’t mean cosmic irony doesn’t exist. That’s what the song is about
@jamespohl-md2eq
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Putting Live as a grunge imitator is just straight nonsense.
@voltaire6668
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Nirvana's Born to Run. Whaaaa???
@jefferydavis3332
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Grunge came out when I was a preteen (I was born in the early 80s), and I was hooked. When all the post grunge stuff started coming out I was a snob to it. Years later looking back I realize I missed out at the time on some really good songs. It’s definitely better than what rock music has become since, which is virtually nothing, at least nothing mainstream that is.
@gbrl433
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
grungegaze is on its way back
@johnwilliams4909
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Love them!
@FunboyMacphallush
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
"How You Remind Me" came out when I was a senior in high school. I had to endure it a lot, so saying Nickelback sucks will never be outplayed for me.
Still, it's not as braindead as Slipknot.
@falconeshield
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
I thought Grunge died when Bryan Adams tried to be grunge back in the early 90s. And no, I wasn't an adult back then lol. I'm into music. That terrible haircut helped the decline.
@homelessjesse9453
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Grunge died when Cobain offed himself back in 1994.
@YeahButCanISniffUrPantsFist
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Hes right tho, Nickelback IS boring
@ubahfly5409
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Nickelback > Coldplay
@philip.morris
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
You should do a video on the Canadian band 'Tea Party'
@drewe2331
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
I will always stand by a rolling stone review of silver side up. That they don't tread any new ground, they play the same rock music we've heard for 20 years, but they do it very well m
@drewe2331
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Have you been eavesdropping on me? I've been saying that sorry/story thing for years!
@mikeole-kuyan6841
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
I see similarities in pop punk and post grunge for some reason. I feel like both genres evolved from grunge and became next in throne in the rock’n’roll genre and history. I was born in 1998, near the new millennium, so pop punk and emo will mean more to me than post grunge and grunge
@diegodlv1001
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
I remember being a kid in my moms car on the way home from school and the station we were listening to played how you remind me at least 3 times back to back and then someone called in and asked them to play it again. I remember me and mom looking at each other and having a silent "what the fuck is going on?"
moment. Perfectly cemented a fervent hatred of nickelback for the rest of my life
@customconcern1
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Watching Creed on late night with Carson Daly was the beginning of the end for me.
@harter517
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
I saw so many of the great grunge bands from the first half of the 1990s back then.
Can’t see them now because most of their lead singers are dead.
@lionofthemorning7997
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
It wasn’t inescapable, it was pushed by the powers that be. It served a purpose.
@PhillyCYOSports
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
It’s common knowledge they killed rock music intentionally to effectively push hip hop in the 2000’s.
@adthomp
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
People don’t realise nickelback first album was different
@FalloutUrMum
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Grunge was cool until the Canadians made an edgy song about someone who won't say "Sorry"
@TupDigital
September 30, 2024 at 1:18 pm
Shittiest, lamest band ever. Always have been.