Nickelback have drawn their fair share of criticism over the years, often being a punching bag for vitriolic critiques and a favorite target amongst the meme culture, but the guys have rolled with the punches and occasionally trolled their attackers back. But is the backlash warranted? In a series of tweets, Devin Townsend admits he fell into public lashing of Nickelback, offering his own negative thoughts to the conversation, but has since gotten to know singer Chad Kroeger and the band and has changed his view on them.

Townsend says, "For years I was critical of Nickelback for a number of reasons, not the least of which [was] jealousy and falling into the negative public sentiment." He goes on to add that he had heard speculation that Kroeger was critical of him, but eventually they met and became friends.

"I saw them play a few years back and it was great," says Townsend, who continues, "Over the past few months, him and I have spent some good times together hanging out, playing guitar and talking." Townsend said he found he could lean on Kroeger for advice and went on to add, "Chad is a real person. He's exceptionally talented at what he does and he's above all a good dude who helped me when I needed help. He gets a ton of shit, but I have immense respect for the guy now. In fact, I've met very few brilliant people in this industry, but he's one of them."

Townsend said they attempted writing together, but just come from two different places. However, he adds that he's glad to know Kroeger and has much respect for the musician. See his full tweet string below.

With the Devin Townsend Project going on hiatus last year, the musician has been working on a variety of different projects. One project known as Empath will begin recording tomorrow (Aug. 28), as Townsend revealed in a separate tweet.

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