All That Remains frontman Phil Labonte said in an interview on the Breaking The Ice podcast that most of the songs on Metallica's Load and Reload LPs are sonically very similar to any of the albums by Canadian rock group Nickelback.
Labonte explained, “I wanna point one thing out about Nickelback that I think a lot of people know but they don't realize they know it. Nickelback records are Metallica Load and Reload sonically . . . almost any of the Nickelback songs could go on Load or Reload, and almost any of the songs on Load or Reload could go on a Nickelback record.”
Labonte added, “And just get James Hetfield to sing the stuff on a Nickelback record or vice versa, and you would not know the difference. And that is not a criticism — that is not a criticism.”
The singer continued that “sonically, those albums are very, very close,” saying, “At the time at least, they were the pinnacle of audio quality when it comes to production; there's not records that sound better than those that came out in the same era. And the songs are all phenomenally crafted songs.”
Labonte concluded that the “vast majority” of Metallica and Nickelback songs from that era would be “interchangeable,” adding, “Nickelback could absolutely do (Metallica song) 'Fuel' on any Nickelback record and people would be, like, 'F**k yeah!'”
Although critically acclaimed at the time, Load and Reload are considered by many fans to be among the worst Metallica albums ever made. Nickelback has been slammed by critics and listeners from the start, although they've enjoyed a massive, healthy following for years.
