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Sure, they may not have the most complex guitar out there and their songs are very structurally similar, but really, Linkin Park's "Hybrid Theory" was one of the catchiest, most energetic, and innovative cds to come out in quite a while. I loved their first release, loved the remix album just as much, and have been salivating over this new album. So, does it live up to their past two records? Lets go track by track-
1. Foreword- a short intro with speeding up percussion (the sound of a cd burner being beaten up) erupting into the sound of shattering glass and launching you into the next track.
2. Don't Stay- An aggressive guitar driven track with some really awesome dj scratching. Chester Bennington (singer) mixes up the verses with some awesome screaming.
3. Somewhere I Belong- The first single of Meteora sounds like it was constructed from the ground up to be a radio hit in the vein of In The End. That said, the interesting sampling and really beautiful piano part make this track a very memorable in its own right.
4. Lying From You- Heavy, sample laced guitar riffs and thunderous vocals make this one of the most mammoth tracks on the album
5. Hit The Floor- One of my favorites, Hit The Floor features some spectacular samples, skull crushing riffs and screaming, and some real tricky rapping from Mike Shinoda (emcee). I love the bridge, and the chorus has the same sort of weirdly catchy syncopation as By Myself (off Hybrid Theory).
6. Easier To Run- Ugh, my least favorite. Everything about this track smacks of an ill fated attempt to recapture the awesome grandeur off their old single, "Crawling". Though the rapping part is alright, Chester's chorus is revoltingly sappy and boring.
Overall, this album is musically more advanced and distinguished than Linkin Park's past attempts. However, it is not as gripping, powerful, or focused as Hybrid Theory or even Reanimation. Though a number of songs seem attempt to duplicate past successes- Don't Stay and Ones Step Closer, Somewhere I Belong and In The End, Lying From You and With You, Easier to Run and Crawling, Figure 9 and By Myself, Numb and Pushing Me Away- they seldom capture the elements that made Hybrid Theory such an outstanding album. Nowhere is there the frenetic razor beats of Papercut, the infamous "Shut up!"s of One Step Closer, or the emotional meltdown of A Place for My Head. Meteora excels in other ways, however. The tracks are more diverse, from the techno pop of Breaking the Habit to the ingenious hip hop of Nobody's Listening to the grinding elements of Hit the Floor, the songs on the album are on a whole more different from each other than they were on Hybrid Theory. Newcomers to LP won't be disappointed, but I think long time fans will find them selves yearning for the band's former punch. In fact, its probable that Meteora will not commercially match Hybrid Theory- though a lot of the tracks are soft and catchy, not as many just scream to be heard again. Another gripe is that this is one very short cd- though there isn't a lot of filler, you feel like they keep working up to something grand and never quite achieve it (though Numb, the best track, is last, one amazing song tacked on at the end does not make the rest of the cd monumental). Don't get me wrong, this is a good album and is well deserving of your money, I just think that there is something missing that prevents it from being a 5 star album.
Whether rock-rap or rapcore is going to live on for awhile or die off and fly into history next to other music genres that were short-lived remains speculated over constantly. I, personally, think that rock-rap will live on as long as it wants if talented artists like Linkin Park stay behind the wheel of it's driving force. Before anyone dares to stereotype this and throw it on the shelf next to their dust-growing albums of the same type, or their "got way too old, way too fast" Limp Bizkit CD's, this album DEFINITELY deserves several listens, although just one spin should get you hooked. How, you might ask? It's as simple as the fact that this is one of those rare albums where there simply is not a bad song on the entire thing. One can spin the entire CD without coming across a skippable track or a gut-wretching, space-filling interlude, which can't be said about too many groups in this style of music.
But that's just where the band lies. The music itself is no typical rapcore. The emotionally charged lyrics on all the songs take the music to a level that Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst can't even dream of achieving. Adrenaline-pumping hard rock songs such as "Papercut", "With You", "One Step Closer", "Crawling" and "Runaway" will silence the skeptical on the heavy metal matter. Mike Shinoda gets a chance to show off his flowing skills on "Points Of Authority", "By Myself", and co-operates on the rock vocals on "Forgotten". More melodic, but by no means quieter or calmer songs include "In The End", "A Place For My Head", and the album's finale "Pushing Me Away". The band's sound itself has influences from A Perfect Circle, Deftones, House Of Pain, Nine Inch Nails, Papa Roach, Videodrone, and numerous others.
Fortunately, this version of the album has two added tracks attached to it. "My December" and "High Voltage", which were originally released on the band's no-longer-available EP, are gracefully added onto here for some extra touch. Although "High Voltage" doesn't exactly fit the mood of the rest of the album, "My December" should have made it onto "Hybrid Theory"'s final cut, ranging as one of the groups best songs, amazingly moving and talented. The implemation of the keyboards in the tune are something not seen very often in Linkin Park's work, aside from "In The End". This is not to mention that Chester Bennington's voice is absolutely beautiful and amazing on "My December". "High Voltage" in itself is a decent song, although it is completely hip-hop and un-parallelled with the rest of the album. Definitely deserves a listen though, especially for the added DJ effects and whatnot.
In my opinion, the best songs on the album are "In The End", "Papercut", "My December", and "Pushing Me Away", although it's next to impossible to choose favorites, as every track is equally amazing. Don't stereotype this album with the rest of it's genre and forget about it. This is a must-have.
A good number of my friends look at me with mild disgust when I suggest that Linkin Park owns a unique brand of musical genius. But as someone who listens to large quantities of music from mainstream to indie, I contend that no one has mastered the art of rap-rock like they have (Quarashi is the only band I can think of that even belongs in the same neighborhood). There's an almost mathematical perfection to both Hybrid Theory and Meteora, their first two full, non-remix albums. Ultimately, Linkin Park has offered something that I couldn't find anywhere else.
I'm not one to say that bands shouldn't change and mature. But, honestly, I didn't want to see Linkin Park change, because they're already unique. They have changed in Minutes to Midnight, and the metamorphosis isn't a positive one.
Upon a first listen, two things are glaring:
1) Mike Shinoda's rapping presence is minimal. I've always preferred Chester's raspy vocals to Shinoda's rapping, but he's so underutilized on this album that you realize that he's an integral part to the Linkin Park sound. The fusion of his rapping and Chester's vocals combined with excellent beats and melodies makes the band.
2) There are a lot of songs that almost qualify as ballads. The good news is, most of them are pretty pleasant. Chester really does have a great voice- even when he isn't screaming and rasping. The bad news is that they take up slots on the album that I wanted to see filled with the rap-rock-electronica-metal that immediately entranced me on Hybrid Theory and Meteora.
Undoubtedly, this album is the type that grows each time you play it, but it simply doesn't do what fans of the band wanted it to do. There are a few hints of where the band has been. Stand-outs What I've Done, Bleed It Out, Given Up, and No More Sorrow all convince me that this may actually be Linkin Park and not some evil clone band from Mars.
Again, the album isn't bad- I enjoyed it even on the first listen, but most of it doesn't really do anything to distinguish itself from the type of alt-rock that you can find almost anywhere. |