The 1st ever time I listened to Linkin Park was the release of their Hybrid Theory album, which was 10 years ago. Wow. Now that I think about it, it’s been a decade. And the song which I remembered from the album was, One Step Closer. You see flying kung-fu shaolin type performers around.
The sound in the Hybrid Theory contained a lot of anger and sadness. A great mixture for the genre they categorized in. Though thinking about it, their sound have always been rock, alternative and somewhat, electronic.
Then in 2003, they released the Meteora album. The songs made famous were Somewhere I Belong, Breaking the Habit, Numb and Faint. This album to me sounded like there was struggle with a hint of giving up.
It was also during this time, I recall being in Melbourne when I ordered their special edition album which came with a t-shirt plus a DVD. I was very inspired by the music video; Breaking the Habit, with the sketchy style.
Plus, this was the year they had a concert right here in Malaysia! Mosh pit, baby! A concert I’d never forget, which you’d probably can only go now if you went to Singapore. Why? Let’s say, our so called higher-ups were unhappy of their performance behaviour. LOL! B*tches.
In 2007, they released their Minutes to Midnight album. The song I suppose most listeners can relate to would be from the Transformers sequel; What I’ve Done.
Funnily enough, when I re-watched this music video, they were already moving towards the awareness of wars. And in this album, their sound was about the suffering and hope.
Now in 2010, they’ve labeled their new album; A Thousand Suns. The sound is very much different from the past. It’s more electronic to me. Plus, when you listen, you can’t help but feel remorse or an annoying poking feeling.
A friend of mine said, you’d only enjoy the album if you listened to it from beginning to end. Because, it’s like they’re telling you a story. He said, they were talking about WWII. And I don’t think it could be far off, since the album booklet had much war imagery in it.
Then again, everyone interprets music differently – like, design. So, you tell me what you think of this?
This song is; The Catalyst. And while it’s a whole different sound from 2003, I’m gonna let myself immerse in it and sit in first. Slowly taking my time to envision the state of mind, the band members experienced when they created this album.