DEVIN TOWNSEND Says NICKELBACK’s CHAD KROEGER Is ‘A Real Person’ Who Is ‘Exceptionally Talented’

Canadian musician and producer Devin Townsend has praised NICKELBACK‘s Chad Kroeger, calling him “a real person” who is “exceptionally talented.”

Townsend, whose solo albums are a mix of hard rock, progressive metal, ambient and new-age, offered his views on Kroeger in a series of tweets, crediting the NICKELBACK frontman with helping him when he “needed help.”

Devin wrote: “As you progress in any field, eventually the ‘lifers’ in a profession find they have a lot more in common than they may have anticipated.

“For years, I was critical of NICKLEBACK for a number of reasons, not the least of which jealousy and falling into the negative public sentiment. In part, I had heard through the grapevine that the singer (who came up in the same scene I did) was critical of me as well, so when he and I unexpectedly became friends, I took some time to reflect on my thoughts on his band. I saw them play a few years back and it was great.

“Over the past few months, him and I have spent some good times together, hanging out, playing guitar, and talking. He became a big help to me in that there’s no competition between us, and a lot of things I was struggling with professionally, there’s no real resource for advice.

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 s**t, 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

“We tried writing together a bit but it seems we’re on very different planets from each other musically, same passion, but it’s coming from a different place. Regardless, whatever anyone may think of the guy, he’s not full of s**t in my opinion and I’m glad to know him. Respect.”