Yeah, most of the hate is because they were super overplayed for a solid decade. For years the popular radio stations in my area didn't seem to play anything but Nickelback, green day, Lady Gaga, and pink. In a vacuum, they're fine. "How you remind me" is pretty good imo. I don't care for anything else from them. I've heard that their guitar player is actually really talented, but I haven't listened to them enough to know myself

I second this. I love Nickelback. They are unique in their own way .

The thing is, Nickelback didn't invent post-grunge or radio grunge, but they were definitely face of it. That era saw a nearly endless stream of cookie cutter Pearl Jam wannabes pop up, and at the same time the entire independent radio industry, which had played a big role in birthing so many counterculture movements, was under threat of corporate consolidation when they were getting popular in the late 90s.

To many millennials, nothing else embodied this dark era for rock music like Nickelback. It was "we have Eddie Vedder at home" meme - shoved down our throats, carbon copied every few months, constantly reminding us that the alternative rock station we grew up with was purchased by Clearchannel and would be transitioned to Latin Beats by the end of the year.

So in that sense, Nickelback may not have killed grunge, but it happily set up shop on its grave, to forever pantomime and disrespect the alternative rock giants laying below. And for a lot of people, that was just too painful.

I think they're a relic from a time when it was ok/cool to hate on a band or artist for no reason, publicly, without everyone judging you for being a prick.

My theory is that they're one of, if not the, last bands to fall into the above category, so everyone just uses them as their go-to.

Younger people (in this case meaning people under 35 lol) are just so much more accepting and less judgemental than previous generations. And you love to see it.