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Being a loyal LP fan from day one I can conclude that this is by far the best of Linkin Park's three records and judging by the proclaimed history of the album, probably one of the best Alt Rock albums of the decade. The team of Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington pivot this genre to new heights providing catchy tunes and heavy riffs, this album will please those looking for good solid rock. Can't wait until the new album with a present late 2010 release date.
The mix of hip-hop, heavy metal and alternative styles combine into a whole new style that is chaotic, but perfectly blended at the same time. Although this is the first official album that Linkin Park released, there is nothing amateur about it. The voice of Chester Bennington is very dynamic in the way that is sounds when he screams. The music and the vocals blend together perfectly, with a style that is very unique to the band. Mike Shinoda raps in a very mellow tone, beating rhythmically and smooth along with the industrial, nu metal sound that became the trademark of the band. It sounds like two or three different voices overlapping to create a multi-toned sound unlike anything else. The mix between Chester singing and Mike rapping creates many different feelings and rhythms uncharacteristic of any other band, many times enhancing the intended emotion much better than one person could.
This album is interesting because rock and roll died many years ago. Seriously, though, the test is this: will anyone who is not a teenager living in 2000 like Linkin Park by the time 2050 rolls around. Some white boys think they need to try to play it but in fact Beethoven rocked more than they do. Sad. No. They're not relevant at all.
BUT, I believe that the use of electronica and scratching used in this album helps out a bit, seeing that not many nu-metal bands that incorporate rapping can use electronic soundscapes to good use. It was one of the very few CDs that I owned at the time, but this album found its way on repeat throughout my 7th grade year. Still, it's a rather average output for an overhyped band. For the rest of this album, I should hate it, but I don't. Mike Shinoda is an average MC, and vocalist Chester Bennington is pretty bad at what he does. I feel much worse for that reason now. Then, after about 2 years, there was a phase I had when I completely regretted owning this album, going all the way to making fun of them for the wrong reasons and even destroying my copy of the album.
Now, let's go to this day. In no way am I big on this album as I was back in 2001/02, due to the fact that I discovered a lot of better music out there, but I also realized that there is far worse than this. I remember when I was 13 years old, I bought this album a year after it originally came out. However, what you hear is nothing but angst and internal struggles for the most part, and while there are plenty of bands I listen to that focus on that, they pull it off much better than what LP does. A good example is "Shut up when I'm talking to you" from "One Step Closer". The songwriting is extremely basic, mostly verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, and there's barely any semblance of musicianship other than the basic chord progression. There are so many faults with it, but then again, this is much better than the re-hash of this album the band would do with Meteora, the awful remix album Reanimation, the pointless Jay-Z collaboration, or even worse yet, Minutes to Midnight. This album isn't highly recommended by me.
Linkin Park were one of my favorite bands, and naturally, I bought Meteora around the time it came out as well. For example, "Cure For the Itch" is a nice instrumental that's a far cry and a nice break from the rest of the album. First off, the lyrical content has much more you can relate to when you were younger than when you mature. To my surprise, you don't hear any profanities, which is uncommon for a lot of nu-metal acts. The songs give me a feeling of deja vu, especially the non-singles, because it should be obvious that you can't let go of your past. If you have to go with one LP album, go with this.
THIS REVIEW GOES DIRECTLY TO MR.MAGIC MIDGET, YOU ARE A PIECE OF CRaP, THESE GUYS ROCK, IF THEY SUCK AS BAD AS YOU SAY WHY DID THIS ALBUM SELL OUT PLATINUM, USE YOUR HEAD RETARD, STOP TRYING TO BE SUCH A DIE HARD ROCK FAN, WE GET IT DUDE YOU LIKE THE OLD SCHOOL ROCK AND THATS COOL, BUT DON'T HATE ON THEM FOR NOT MAKING AN OLD SCHOOL ROCK ALBUM, THEY ARE A DIFFERENT GENRE AND SOME PEOPLE HAPPEN TO THINK THEY'RE GREAT. ITS CALLED FUSION THATS WHATS THEY DO, I LIKE RAP AND HIP HOP AND I BOUGHT THIS ALBUM AND LIKED IT, BUT WHEN I READ YOUR REVIEW I WANTED TO HUNT YOU DOWN AND CHEW YOUR FACE OFF. DON'T BE SUCH A HATER.
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