I'm a member of a prog rock/metal group on facebook that actually agree's that they kept it alive. Quite a few of them also like ATS. That did surprise me a bit.
Dayum, I can't believe I'm only just now finding out about this. What really confounds me is how people (the "metal community" in particular) somehow think that Linkin Park has always been a "metal" band of sorts. It's really obvious to those of us who have listened to Hybrid Theory and Meteora, and beyond, that LP is not, and never has been, strictly a metal band. Even their beloved first two albums can't really be called "metal", unless we default to "nu-metal" (which I'm still not convinced is a real sub-genre). Both of those albums had a lot going for them in terms of the variety in their sound, while keeping a consistent theme that connects the songs. When I say variety, I mean the sample and effects that gave the songs their own identity, something that could make them stand out. I'm also referring to the hip-hop elements that were seamlessly fused with hard rock, which should make it quite obvious that the albums as a whole really weren't metal (as far a "traditional" definitions go). Instead, the first album (and the second album to a lesser extent) were indeed hybrid fusions of different sounds and long-standing music genres, not just one genre in particular. It's so frustrating when there are all of these misconceptions/misunderstandings that can be cleared up after a little bit of research, but people are unwilling to put in the effort to do the research, and choose to remain ignorant. On a side note: Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I have really come to despise how toxic Internet culture has become, especially in music circles. I can tell you with absolute certainty that I would not go out of my way to mercilessly bash a band (popular or not), or ridicule those who actually enjoy the music that that band produces. There is such a distinct lack of respect these days on the Internet, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why people feel such a strong need to go into "attack" mode when discussing music. I will admit that I have attempted to passionately defend Linkin Park when people would give me a hard time about it, but I did try to remain reasonable with my choice of words, and how I went about explaining what kind of band LP is, and why I respect them so much. If people could just be more willing to hear one another out without defaulting to personal attacks and broad generalizations about a band or artist they know little about, we would be much better off as a music-based community.
Kind of a weird observation. Their albums were mostly non-metal after Meteora (with the exception of THP). I'm confident that there was not one metal song on ATS.
So they say, whoever they are, that first impressions can haunt you for the rest of your life. Such is the cause for a band like Linkin Park. They came onto the music scene when Nu-Metal was the "king" of radio rock. Back in the day, the venues to listen to and discover music were really, really narrow. Sure, the internet was around, however, social media hadn't exactly taken over yet. It was a more simple time where circles were much smaller and the world was a much larger place. The majority of music discovery back then was either through your radio or at your local music scene. Back then, musicians that you heard on radio were a world away from you even dreaming of a way for them to interact with you, and versely, a way for them to get music to you. It was a time where big music corporations had the market cornered on what people listened to. Looking at it this way, the general population at the time got to meet Linkin Park for the first time and really got to establish a first impression of the band. With the radio hits like One Step Closer, Crawling, In The End, Points Of Authority and Papercut, the first impression of a band with raging guitars and vocals chock-full of angst, it was not at all unheard of to put the band in a group of bands that were considered Metal. The majority of the bands that shared a musical likeness to Linkin Park, including them, were, in fact, offered to tour with the travelling metal festival: Ozzfest. Upon looking at such facts, it is easy to see why the first impression of Linkin Park has roots with the metal community.
You guys run in weird circles. From what I've seen over the past 15 years, even people who think "only the first two were good" generally never considered LP 'metal' in the slightest. Maybe the younger kids, but by and large they were always considered a pretty routine hard rock band comparable to, like, Three Days Grace or a Breaking Benjamin. The idea that they popularized radio hard rock is a weird one too, Korn was significantly heavier before Linkin Park and were radio gargantuan for years.
LPA as a whole sure seems to have very similar opinions on music that I really don't see outside of LPA too much, to say the least.
I don't understand what you're getting at. Are you insinuating I'm accusing you of "I am far too mature for the dated styling's of the Linkin Park of old!" type of thing, like I'm criticizing you for being snobbish or something? That's not it, but listening to the bulk of you talk about genres like rap and pop music always gives me the impression that I don't think a lot of you guys listen to much rap or pop music. Most of you seem to very much come from "the same place" musically and it shows when describing new Linkin Park, or other current popular music. How this plays out here is I think you guys seem to recall back when nu-metal was popular, but far from being lauded as an excellent rock band, Linkin Park were considered at best derivative of a lot of the other bands at the time (and at worst, "pussy" versions of them). I think a lot of you are actually under the impression they were at one point this respected, critically praised heavy metal act that bravely shook that reputation to branch out and risk being mocked for it, and that's never what happened.
I was making a joke, not @ you - sorry For the record, I love current pop music and I don't like nu-metal fans so I guess I'm the one sane person here.