How did Nickelback gain a large fan base despite criticism of their music?

Here’s my ranking of Nickleback’s discography. They don’t have a bad album at all. But some are better than others. In last place is their most recent album. I felt it was very uninspired. This track is the best one and that track is pretty good. But the rest of the album doesn’t do much for me…

Nickleback! Nickleback!

Something like that. Millions of people love them. Millions claim to hate them. The most honest criticism of the music is that it sounds like it’s being written deliberately for a particular market. I haven’t heard anything since around 2002 or so, so I can’t say for myself. They don’t suck as in bad musicians or bad song writers. They just sell millions of albums while other excellent bands struggle. That’s what the real problem is, I think.

If everyone in Russia dropped into holes in the ground only never to return, would that be good for NATO and international peacekeepers? Can we convince Russians to be less diabolical, so they coexist? Does Putin stink like doo doo in the commode?

Nickleback are awesome! My new favourite band! I just got their fourth album. It totally rocks!

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Hey, man, that band I told you about, Nickleback? The dropped their sophomore. It’s really good. Check it out.

What’s something you did a lot as a kid that you don’t miss now that you’re an adult?

Yay! Nickleback!

I think it went something like this.

(Wow! What’s with this band? So many people are going nuts for them? What’s so special about them? They had a decent song or two. But there’s no originality now. They’re just wearing themselves out chasing their own tail.)

Is something wrong with my discharge? So, when I masturbate, white discharge comes from my vagina, but it's not stretchy, it's pasty. It doesn't smell and I'm not itchy, so I'm sure it's not a yeast infection. Why is it pasty though?

(Nickleback sucks! They’re the worst band ever! I can’t stand them. Why do so many people like them? So unoriginal!)

(It sounds a bit too much like they took what made them popular from the previous album and just did more of that.)

Hey, have you heard of this new band, Nickleback? Their first album is pretty cool.

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(Nickleback? They suck. Who cares…)

Dude, you heard that new single by that band, Nickleback? It’s awesome! Holy crap! That song is everywhere! It’s so cool!

(Yeah, it was great at first. But I have heard it a bit too much.)

Is it okay for a wife who comes home from a date to tell her husband what she did?

(It really bugs me that such a boring, unoriginal band gets so much attention when there are loads of other way more interesting bands out there.)