Rants of a Madman
Back in the days where I just started to get into the bands I love today, I was still developing a taste in music. The three bands that were my staples at the time were KISS, Guns N Roses, and Iron Maiden, respectively. I also listened to a heavy regiment of techno back then, and I was just starting to develop a taste for Ozzy. At this time period, I had no idea who Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio, and James Hetfield were.
It was at that time period where some kids in high school would give me suggestions. One kid, whom was a big Kiss fan, told me I would like Linkin Park. I wasn’t really sure who they were at the time, either, and I had no concept of what Nu Metal was. I didn’t really take the advice then. It wouldn’t be until several months later where my brother would actually get into them. My brother listens to constant top 40, and I should have taken that into consideration, but like I keep saying, I had no comprehension about anything that had to deal with music.
And to be honest, when I first heard them, I thought they were good. I didn’t think they could match up to the other bands I was listening to, but they could still hold a candle on their own. It wouldn’t be until a few months after that and a scholarship full of money later that I would actually buy this CD.
My thoughts were as follows: Where the hell are the solos? This bothered me at first, especially because every band I was into was soloing. After a while though, I found out that to have a good song, soloing was not completely necessary (though it certainly helps if you are calling yourself a rock band).
I know by reviewing this CD, people are going to tell me that I am not a real metalhead, and for those people, I say this to you: Fuck you. I never claimed that I was a metalhead to begin with. In fact, I don’t think I am a metalhead at all. I am willing to listen to anything as long as it’s good. Hell, I listen to some mainstream punk bands if the mood is right. I like songs with high energy, and I don’t care who does it, just as long as they do it with credibility. And besides, I don’t believe in labels anyway, and like I have said thousands of times before: screw you and your labels.
To say that Linkin Park is not really metal is sort of true, however, and I say this mostly because of the direction they took on their following album. I know this is not metal, but rather, rap metal. And rap metal is a pretty touchy area because very few are able to keep fans of both camps happy. Limp Bizkit especially comes to mind when I think about rap metal failures.
So let’s take a tour of Linkin Park’s Debut CD:
Cover: .8/1.0: A rather gray cover with a soldier holding a flag with butterfly wings. The album cover is okay, and a t shirt of this guy really is nice to wear, but overall, it is not that interesting. However, the album artwork really reflects the title and music of the album, aptly named, Hybrid Theory. The hybrid in this case is fusing rap and metal together. I don’t know how successful they were at doing this, but from the looks of it, the album cover was carefully chosen for the music. Nicely done.
Music: 4.5/6.0: For someone who has listened to heavy metal for a long time and hasn’t listened to this album in ages, doing a review like this is going to be very difficult.
Papercut is the first track on here, and it isn’t as angst filled as the other tracks on here. It’s all about a face within you that laughs and makes fun of you for doing the wrong moves. Hmm… so maybe it is angst filled. Oh well. Either way, this is one of my favorite tracks on the album, as it hits moderately hard.
One Step Closer is a track I don’t really listen to anymore, mostly because I have heard this song endlessly on the radio. This is about someone that keeps getting pushed over the edge by someone and they are one step closer to breaking. Eh. Decent enough, but a little bit on the simple side. Not that it’s a bad thing.
With You is a song all about the good and the bad times you can have with friends, whether you are dreaming or not. To me, this is less angst filled as compared to the rest of them. I think this song is also good, but not really their best.
Points of Authority is a good song. I think this is one of the better songs on the album, and the overall feel of the song is better than most. Angst filled? Yes, but I still think it’s a pretty good song. So far, I am beginning to see why so many kids are liking Linkin Park these days.
Crawling was the first song I ever heard by Linkin Park, and it is another song that has been overkilled by radio. Hell, someone came up to me and saw me and starting singing this song in the mall a long time ago (see the mall rant). That pissed me off, because it was a song that I cared for the least. At least sing Pushing me Away or a Place For My Head if you’re going to start crap with me. But that’s the point; those two songs aren’t radio friendly.
Runaway is as angsty as they come. Holy crap, I could literally hear the fat overweight 14 year old girls reciting this to their mothers saying that they want to run away (and then come back 4 hours later). The overall feel to the song is good, but not good enough to really save this song from being comical. Lame.
By Myself is another song that keeps asking questions like “What should I do?” Lyrics like, “Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness, or do I trust no one and live in loneliness?” Lyrics like that aren’t too sugarcoated, and that’s what makes this a relatively strong song. The song is more or less a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.
In the End is probably what made Linkin Park what it is today, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a really bad thing. The song itself is a real good one, despite the fact that it’s more or less about death and saying that it doesn’t matter how good or bad you are, in the end, it doesn’t matter. Lot’s of Goths must adore this one, because this is the first track thus far that hints about death (and they love that crap). The song itself is good, but to be honest with you, airplay REALLY killed this song, more so than any other Linkin Park song ever produced. It’s getting so bad that this song is on the Muzak, and yes you read correctly. See below, but I think all of this constant playing of a song isn’t going to help anyone. Just a thought.
A place for my head has a cool bass line in it, which I enjoy. The song itself is all about a moocher overstaying his welcome. I can relate. Hell, I know lots of people that ask me for favors constantly that I don’t want to do. The screaming part of the end is something I especially like, and I usually don’t like screaming vocals at all. This song is special, and this is why I call it one of my favorite tracks.
Forgotten sounds more like the typical rap rock fusion than the other things on here. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of rap and rock in here. This song is also one of the more aggressive songs on this album, and that makes it an album listening to.
Cure for the Itch sure is weird. This is like an instrumental. Or maybe I should call it a demonstration, because this sounds like it was completely done on machine. The drums sound even more fake than the other tracks. I wouldn’t call this an instrumental, by any means. I always skip this one.
The last track here is also my favorite: Pushing me Away. It’s about someone lying to be with someone and then realizing that they aren’t going to do it anymore. I am not too keen on the lyrics, but the good feel to the song is what makes up for it.
I don’t know if I am being really generous or not here. Overall, the songs are good, but they really aren’t anything that unique and special. I mean, bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn do things like this all the time. One may argue that this type of argument can be countered that Priest and Maiden sound similar, but I can tell a difference. With these two bands and Linkin Park, it’s sort of hard.
My complaints lie in the guitar and drums, which would be the core of a real metal band. But this band has record equipment and a DJ, so I doubt it would hurt the band that much. The guitars and drums just sound average, which is okay for a band like Linkin Park, but not okay for a metal band that is serious about heavy metal. There were times where I thought the drums were really machines and not a person. Hell, when I first bought this, I myself thought it was a machine. Though this would improve a bit on the third album, it should be clear that Linkin Park is not metal. It just isn’t. If it were, it wouldn’t have a DJ and have more than just a few simple chords being played.
I am scoring higher than I should only because the sound and feel to this album is good. The songs are radio friendly so that means anyone can enjoy it. The songs themselves stay in your head, whether you like it or not.
Replay Value: 1.7/3.0: I am sure that pretty much everyone who has listened to the radio in the past four years has this CD, but is the CD really worth it? I mean, if you heard this songs so many times you probably are not going to want it. I mean, I don’t really have an urge to go out and buy Britney Spears’ new album, do I? I believe that Linkin Park is the modern day Twisted Sister. They are the victims of overplay, even though most of the stuff they have put out thus far is listenable.
Many so called “true” metal heads hate them because the lyrics, playing, and overall feel of the music just sucks that appeals to people over the age of 15. And let’s not forget the fact that there is some rap on here. That’s considered a metal sacrilege. People, please cut the shit. Seriously. I mean people aren’t exactly wrong for exactly bashing Linkin Park. Like I have said, the guitar work is rather plain, the drums are plain, and the lyrics overall are a bit too sugarcoated in some songs. I think the problem here is that the reason why some people hate Linkin Park is because they are being compared to bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. If I wanted Judas Priest, I know where to go: my room. Maybe the reason why I like Linkin Park is because they style and approach to a heavy song is different than the other bands I love, and let’s face it: having a different approach to something is never really a bad thing.
But there is a limit to how much you could hear these songs, and sadly, the American music industry is trite, boring, and uninteresting, and the fact of the matter is that a lot of bands sound very similar to Linkin Park. Moreover, hearing songs like In the End over and over and over to the point of starting killing sprees really does more harm than good. Nothing wrong with exposure, but I think it needed to be stopped when you hear that music on Muzak. That’s a serious problem.
Bonuses:
-.5 for being on Muzak: This bugs the living hell out of me, and I really seriously now wonder what is going to happen to Linkin Park in the next few years. The song, “In the End” is on the muzak where I work. I am not making this up. Even though this song is close to four years old today; to have a rock/rap band having their stuff played on MUZAK could only draw one conclusion: this band is in serious trouble. I have heard of overplay on the radio, but this is just ridiculous.
Total: 6.5/10: I am a little bit torn here.
On the whole, I did enjoy the music, and on many levels, I still enjoy it now. This is probably the only Nu Metal that I have tolerated over the years.
Part of me feels like I am going too easy because the lyrics, drumming, and guitar work is just not as good as the other bands. But then again, I am not doing a comparison of Iron Maiden Vs Linkin Park. To do that with a band like this is just silly. Another part of me wants to give more points because there are some real good songs here. But then again, after looking at this album in full, I do see some problems here, and some of them are serious.
If wouldn’t be until another two years that they would produce another album. Unfortunately, it showed Linkin Park’s true intentions. A remix album. A rap rock band has finally went with the radio friendly crowd and chose the rap route. Surprised? If you heard Linkin Park on the radio more than once, you shouldn’t be.
So instead of coming up with some new material, they decide to rehash and remix their older material. Such a surprise, hm? After seeing their next album, I started to lose a great deal of respect for Linkin Park. Just like with many other bands I know: it only goes downhill from here.