Creed must have been so happy when Nickelback came along. Suddenly people found an easier even target to shit on for no other reason than this target enjoyed more success than folks think they should have enjoyed.
"My Own Prison" was a great song then and now:
I think the reason people hated them was because they couldn't live up to the giants of Grunge who ruled the early 90's (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains), and any band that is openly Christian in the vein of Grunge is going to be pilloried because, frankly, the fans of this genre tend to be more cynical, and many come from dysfunction. I saw that as an enormous fan of the genre. It was my favorite in high school and for a bit beyond.
Really, look at the "Post-Grunge" movement. Those bands were huge, and which of them doesn't get shit on? Only Foo Fighters & Silverchair seems to enjoy respect beyond the sales. Creed, Bush, Lifehouse, Staind, Seether, Matchbox 20, Puddle of Mudd, Fuel, 3 Doors Down, Trapt, Filter, Godsmack, Chevelle, Candlebox................I mean fuck me. No other subgenre in history was as fertile a ground for people to take take potshots and fling dung on success.
If you bristle at my assessment of Grunge fans I don't think there is any better example than Daniel Johns, the lead singer of Silverchair, to demonstrate my point. He won't even perform that music anymore because it came from such a dark place it triggers memory of that dysfunctional time in his life-- a bit like a rape survivor.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowb...als-hell-NEVER-perform-Silverchair-again.html
He grew up to make possibly the most cottony soft Europop ever produced, but he seems a million times happier sounding more like his compatriot Kylie Minogue than like Kurt Cobain. That probably shouldn't surprise anyone:
Otherwise, though, commercial rock always suffers scrutiny because it's not in the spirit of the larger genre as it was formed, and for which it is sacred. I take this as a positive sign reflecting well on the fanbase. Meanwhile, rap lost its soul, and fans of that genre don't seem to care.
