Artist Devin Townsend is know for being innovative with his music and according to consequence.net the rocker has sent high praises to Nickelback’s lead singer Chad Kroeger, by calling him “a phenomenally intelligent human being.”

Previously, Kroeger was  guest on Townsend’s 2019 album Empath and when Townsend was asked by Ultimate Guitar about the collaboration with Kroeger, Townsend quickly spoke highly of Kroeger, who has faced a lot of criticism over the years for his contribution in Nickelback. Also Townsend mentioned in the interview that he and Kroeger have different lifestyles.

“Chad’s brilliant. Chad is a phenomenally intelligent human being. But he’s a rockstar, too, on levels that you and I will never participate in. And so there’s gonna be a disconnect just based on that. You only have a few things in common, and then, after a while you run out of things to talk about.”

Townsend continues with: “I think it was flattering for me at first, too. But again, guy’s got a very complex life, and I can’t understand a lot of it. How could I? it’s not within the realm of my world. But I think he’s exceptionally talented. I think he’s phenomenally intelligent. And I think that there’s a certain degree of intensity to his life that I just can’t hang with, man. It’s too much for me. For every hour of social activity, I need two hours on my own to recover.”

He added, “Even if I respect and care for people, after a certain amount of time, again, I have to tap out. I’m like, ‘Dude, I can’t hang with this.’ I’m in bed by nine, usually. I don’t want to listen to Pantera at four in the morning, you know?”

Townsend‘s November release of Lightwork is a collection of soft tunes as opposed to the intense prog-rock found on Empath and previous  records. Townsend supported the release of Lightwork with a series of self-directed music videos that form a story.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat