I recently read a old review of Linkin Park’s debut album that more or less called them N*Sync with guitars. I then remembered that several years ago my brother (not a fan of the band’s early stuff) made the same comparison and I wanted to throw something at him. Listening to this now, I sort of see where they were going. Linkin Park were at that point the sounding board for all the pre-teen and teenage guys who couldn’t stand Nick Carter and Justin Timberlake and needed someone who would sing to what they needed to hear. Enter: Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the dual voices on Hybrid Theory. Their fusion of Shinoda’s rap and Bennington’s blood-curdling screams were at that point unheard of, and the gamble paid off. Several of my friends have cited Hybrid Theory as the album that got them to start listening to music. This one came a bit later than that (for me it was American Hi-Fi’s debut record), but the fact remains that when music geeks discuss the music that made the 00’s (or whatever the hell we call this decade), Hybrid Theory will be in that conversation.
Linkin Park – In The End [iTunes]
==TJ==
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Album A Day, Linkin Park
I can’t recall ever saying that they were N*Sync with guitars. I mean, this was several years ago, and I definitely would have said something derogatory about them, but I think I objected to the fact that I thought they were yelling instead of singing, not that they were boy-band-like.
Good call. I also loved Meteora for the most part. They’ve sort of lost me since then.
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I agree that that album will be in the convo. How could it be avoided? I think calling them the N’Sync with guitars thing might have been taking it a little too far – and that’s coming from a guy who is not, and never has been, a real “fan” of Linkin Park. The issue here has to do with respect. And Linkin Park deserves respect for all that they’ve done for “heavy” or “hard” mainstream music.
That having been said, another band that I find myself “respecting” a lot more than I ever thought I would is The Used. Check out their new video for Blood On My Hands. Enjoy!