Nickelback bassist Mike Kroeger has weighed in on All That Remains’ frontman Phil Labonte’s musings that Metallica’s Load and Reload LPs have sonic similarities to the music of Nickleback.
Labonte was recently interviewed on the Breaking The Ice podcast, where he delivered the following scorching take: “I wanna point one thing out about Nickleback that I think a lot of people know but they don’t realize they know it,” Labonte explained.
“Nickelback records are Metallica’s Load and Reload sonically. Almost any of the Nickleback songs could go on Load or Reload, and almost any of the songs on Load or Reload could go on a Nickleback record.”
Labonte continued, “Just get James Hetfield to sing the stuff on a Nickleback record or vice versa, and you would not know the difference. And that is not a criticism — that is not a criticism.”
“Sonically, those albums are very, very close.
“At the time at least, they were the pinnacle of audio quality when it comes to production; there’s no records that sound better than those that came out in the same era. And the songs are all phenomenally crafted songs.”
Following these comments, Mike Kroeger was interviewed by radio station 95.5 KLOS, where he weighed in on the All That Remains frontman’s comments. “I read [Phil’s comments]. I’m a fan of their band,” he began.
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“I guess it’s a compliment. I don’t think that’s anything negative, really. I’ll take that as a compliment, for sure.”
Though received well by critics, Metallica’s efforts on Load and Reload are often regarded as their worst albums by fans.
During the 95.5 KLOS interview, Mike delved into why he believes Nickelback has attracted such universal mockery.
“It just seems to be, I think, one of those cases where familiarity breeds contempt,” he explained. “This thing didn’t come out of nowhere, so I feel like that’s probably what it is. People became so familiar, or felt like they became so familiar with our band that they had to start throwing shade at it, I guess.
“Everybody knows from our time that this happened to Bon Jovi at the highest part of their career, it happened to Metallica at the highest point in their career. So I guess it’s a good sign.” You can listen to the full interview below.
Check out Mike Kroeger of Nickelback on 95.5 KLOS:
