Linkin Park and Me
I first heard of Linkin Park when I was in College, and my friends older brother was a fan. At the time, I have to admit that I found their sound "scary" and could probably be quoted as saying something along the lines of "I could never listen to that kind of music!".
Then I reached my angsty Uni years, and discovered them a bit better through videos that fans had created using some of the bands tracks from Hybrid Theory and added them to FMV videos from various Final Fantasy games, which I was - of course - a huge fan of at the time.
For the rest of my Uni years, I will admit that Linkin Park were my go-to band when I was pissed off and needed to vent. However, over the years, they have become the band that I always go to - not when I'm angry or pissed off - but when I need a pick-me-up.
They are, literally, the only band that I can go back to and always want to listen to, because generally I tend to get bored by albums, especially if I have listened to them a lot. But, with Linkin Park, I never seem to get bored of them, I feel like I can always go back to them.
I've had the fortune to see them live twice (first in Sheffield, in January 2008 and then again in the summer of 2008 when they put on their Projekt Revolution, alongside Jay-Z at Milton Keynes Bowl), and I really wish that they would tour the UK more often!!
The Hunting Party
The Hunting Party feels like such an unexpectedly refreshing change from what I've been listening to for the past five or so years.
Mike Shinoda is quoted as saying [of this album]:
"We wanted to make an album with the visceral and chaotic spirit that we feel is missing in rock music right now."And it's true, the industry has been missing this kind of rock music. It is so nice to hear actual instruments; the strum of a guitar and the roll of drums, that aren't masked behind synthesisers. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with synth, but my gosh, hearing those instruments was just amazing, because I hadn't even noticed how missing being able to hear raw instruments, have been - not only from Linkin Park music, but
for the industry as a whole, especially commercially - I haven't even noticed how devoid the industry has been of really good rock music. And I don't mean the candy-pop / yacht-rock music that is performed by little boys who don't have a clue, as they've walked straight out of Music School into a Music Contract, and think that the world owes them a favour, as they "sing" about things that don't matter.
I do think that there are way too many artists and bands around at the minute, who have been trained to create the ideal music industry fodder, and there are not enough raw talents who can pick up a guitar and write their own music and lyrics without the help of a so-called "expert" - sure, collaborate, but too many covers are over-saturating the industry.
I'm not saying that I necessarily think that everyone should think of Linkin Park as the band that every artist should aspire to be like. What I'm trying to say is that they have made me take a look at what I listen to, and what the industry has been offering us over the past few years. As a result, I really think that there needs to be a change in the way the music industry signs new artists, and I think less focus needs to be put on Music Schools and Reality Shows.
Buy The Hunting Party from Amazon
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