Artist:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
Oh sweet Jesus. Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
Linkin. Fucking. Park. I know I claimed not to be clued in to the legacy and backstory behind these tracks, but I've known about Linkin Park for many years-- if anything, I'm surprised they're still around.
(maybe this #99 thing wasn't such a good idea after all.)
I used to use Linkin Park as an example about how fads and media hype dull anything original that crops up. Though I'm not a fan, Korn kicked off a wholly unique sound when they first came out; it's actually kind of amazing they became popular. Their impact rippled out into bands like Limp Bizkit, which shined up the nu metal thing and made it mass consumable for the frat boy crowd. But wait! We can water this trend down further!
And so Linkin Park was constructed and packaged for the crowd that just wasn't ready for something as hard (dude!) as Limp Bizkit, already a more mass-consumable Korn. A copy of a copy... and that was ten years ago.
If my first reaction was “Oh no, not these guys again,” my second though was... well, it's nice to see a band on the list. I was starting to wonder if people still listened to bands-- everything I was getting up to this point has all been a singer and a producer, and I'm much more interested in a group of musicians working and playing together. I've actually done both, and I prefer my band to my studio work. Personal preference.
Good news first: Linkin Park is no longer playing rap rock infused nu metal, so if you want to find juvie rebellion at Wal*Mart, these are no longer your guys.
Now the bad news: Nothing that starts with polka intro this long is allowed to sell us this much tortured artist angst. With the organ washes, plaintive pianos, and plinky raver synths, the tortured vocals make me think someone's been taking Reznor lessons.
The somber, self-serious vibe is more annoying when you figure out that the song doesn't actually make any sense-- it seems like it might be a kind of anti-oppression or brink of self destruction song... but it's not. I'm wondering if Linkin Park have turned into an anti-music Dadaist collective, and threw endless chanting, polka beat intros, self important rock posturing, a Creed-like "save me" coda, archaic synth stabs, and nonsense bits of purple prose into a blender as a statement against the modern music world. That would make the endless chanting of "God bless us every one" make some sort of sense.
I sort of wish that were true...
The somber, self-serious vibe is more annoying when you figure out that the song doesn't actually make any sense-- it seems like it might be a kind of anti-oppression or brink of self destruction song... but it's not. I'm wondering if Linkin Park have turned into an anti-music Dadaist collective, and threw endless chanting, polka beat intros, self important rock posturing, a Creed-like "save me" coda, archaic synth stabs, and nonsense bits of purple prose into a blender as a statement against the modern music world. That would make the endless chanting of "God bless us every one" make some sort of sense.
I sort of wish that were true...
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
