It’s no secret that many Canadians love to hate Nickelback, but old footage of the rockers from Alberta covering a Metallica song has resurfaced, leaving some haters singing a different tune.
Waaay back in 2004, Chad Kroeger and the boys played Rock Am Ring festival in Germany, where the band covered Metallica’s Sad but True.
The band cranked out a 10-song set on Day 2 of the concert, and thanks to a viral Facebook post, the Metallica cover is back making the rounds on social media.
A video of Nickelback’s performance was posted to Vintage Heavy Metal Facebook page where it was viewed more than four million times this week before being removed for copyright reasons, according to music website Loudwire.
The band’s cover caught some critics off-guard, admitting the performance was in fact decent.
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“F**k, Now I actually have to say I like something Nickelback has done,” a comment reads.
“Done making fun of Nickelback,” reads another.
“That one time Nickelback was sort of ok,” Joel Hernandez said.
“Wasn’t a Nickelback fan but I respect them now. Good!” Brian Field admitted.
Nickelback has endeared a love-hate relationship with fans for years, something the band addressed in a 2014 interview.
“People just say things,” Mike Kroeger, Nickelback’s bass player, said in an interview with Global’s The Morning Show. “It’s OK. People can say things.”
The band’s frontman chalked it up to their music being played everywhere.
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“The last decade, it was tough to get away from Nickelback,” Chad Kroeger said at the time. “We record a lot of different kinds of music and when it gets played in that many places sometimes it’s tough, especially if you’re not into the band.
“That can cause some backlash but the nice thing is it can also garner you a lot of fans and allow us to be able to go everywhere in the world and play our music for people ‘cuz that’s our job. That’s what we signed up for.”
Debuting in 1995, Nickelback has gone on to sell more than 50 million albums worldwide.