Either/Or: Imagine Dragons vs. Nickelback
Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2026 2:52 pm
I think both bands are very funny.
The only thing I knew about Imagine Dragons was “Radioactive” for the longest time. Then, while visiting my friends who were watching their Believer documentary when it was then just recently released, I saw the bit in which Dan Reynolds was doing some editing on “Thunder” as their next single. Still, I hadn’t heard any of their music for years later. At around 2023, I finally realized that Imagine Dragons were getting a TON of shit for the longest time. For example, here is (Exodus) Gary Holt’s comment: “Just watched the college football half-time show to see just how bad it really was. PLEASE no more calling this shittiest band on earth ‘rock,’ they are simply the crappiest excuse for a band I’ve ever heard. Uggggh. Just awful.” So then, I watched that half-time show (TOPICAL, I KNOW) and what the fuck, THAT’S THE “THUNDER” SONG?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7W2aDWVq98
The singer is hopscotching in highwaters on that diva runway, the guitar playing sounds like a guy at a Guitar Center who learned what chords are for the first time, the bass playing is optional, and drumming can be replaced with a drum machine with no loss of hilarity.
After listening to Imagine Dragons, I gave Nickelback’s Here and Now a listen and holy shit, this album is hilarious! While I’m definitely projecting, I can’t tell if the song “Gotta Get Me Some” is written by or for guys with dad bods, in spite of lyrics such clearly being, “God almiiiiightyyy, look at that body / Flickers like a sticker on a new Ferrari / She's a scene from a Baywatch rerun.” Anyway, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour constantly talks shit about Nickelback. In fact, both Nickelback and Imagine Dragons. But then I watched Chad Kroeger’s response to Corey Taylor (8:30 – 9:40):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAEipNjMnSc&t=511s
Kroeger calling Stone Sour “Nickelback-lite” might be the greatest comeback I’ve ever heard. Incredible.
While I don’t think there is a point in doing separate C/NC polls because we all know how they’ll fare here, I sincerely don’t hate either band’s music, but it might be because I’m not subjected to listen to this kind of music every day at something like a supermarket overhead radio. I also hardly watch movies or TV/Netflix/etc. shows, so I’m not exposed to hearing licensed-for-ads music either, so that probably is also a factor.
The only thing I knew about Imagine Dragons was “Radioactive” for the longest time. Then, while visiting my friends who were watching their Believer documentary when it was then just recently released, I saw the bit in which Dan Reynolds was doing some editing on “Thunder” as their next single. Still, I hadn’t heard any of their music for years later. At around 2023, I finally realized that Imagine Dragons were getting a TON of shit for the longest time. For example, here is (Exodus) Gary Holt’s comment: “Just watched the college football half-time show to see just how bad it really was. PLEASE no more calling this shittiest band on earth ‘rock,’ they are simply the crappiest excuse for a band I’ve ever heard. Uggggh. Just awful.” So then, I watched that half-time show (TOPICAL, I KNOW) and what the fuck, THAT’S THE “THUNDER” SONG?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7W2aDWVq98
The singer is hopscotching in highwaters on that diva runway, the guitar playing sounds like a guy at a Guitar Center who learned what chords are for the first time, the bass playing is optional, and drumming can be replaced with a drum machine with no loss of hilarity.
After listening to Imagine Dragons, I gave Nickelback’s Here and Now a listen and holy shit, this album is hilarious! While I’m definitely projecting, I can’t tell if the song “Gotta Get Me Some” is written by or for guys with dad bods, in spite of lyrics such clearly being, “God almiiiiightyyy, look at that body / Flickers like a sticker on a new Ferrari / She's a scene from a Baywatch rerun.” Anyway, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour constantly talks shit about Nickelback. In fact, both Nickelback and Imagine Dragons. But then I watched Chad Kroeger’s response to Corey Taylor (8:30 – 9:40):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAEipNjMnSc&t=511s
Kroeger calling Stone Sour “Nickelback-lite” might be the greatest comeback I’ve ever heard. Incredible.
While I don’t think there is a point in doing separate C/NC polls because we all know how they’ll fare here, I sincerely don’t hate either band’s music, but it might be because I’m not subjected to listen to this kind of music every day at something like a supermarket overhead radio. I also hardly watch movies or TV/Netflix/etc. shows, so I’m not exposed to hearing licensed-for-ads music either, so that probably is also a factor.
