Are Hybrid Theory and Meteora overrated?

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by Minty Loops, Feb 5, 2017.

  1. #21
    Elaine

    Elaine The One They Call Elaine. LPA VIP

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    Hybrid Theory especially is overrated because it's what catapulted LP into success. Meteora, being the sophomore album, kind of rode Hybrid Theory's coattails. Anything after that is way less well known, and therefore you'll see many more opinions on Hybrid Theory and Meteora than you would their other albums. If you look purely at that, I think it would be factually accurate to call those two albums "overrated" when contrasted with the base knowledge of the band's later work by the general music listening population.

    It's not necessarily a problem of being overrated, overexposed is a more accurate term. However, personally, among the people who do have exposure to more of the band's work as wholes and not random single releases beyond the first two albums? Yeah, totally overrated.
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2017
  2. #22
    TheZlajaZlo

    TheZlajaZlo Closing LPA Super Member

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    THIS.
    People underestimate HT and Meteora because how simple they are, compared to recent albums... I think it's harder to come up with something simple and memorable like intros to Crawling, In The End or Numb, than anything on ATS or THP.
     
  3. #23
    AThousandLivingTheories

    AThousandLivingTheories Mark The Graves

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    Overrated? No.
    But are the rest of the albums underrated? Other than MTM, yes.
     
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  4. #24
    Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    Meteora is just Hybrid Theory but worse. Hybrid Theory is just all the same once you get past the first song.
    I still like them,but nearly every song is the same. Compared to something like The Little Things Give You Away, I don't see what people see in Numb. Not that I dislike that song. It used to be one of my favorites, and one that got me into Linkin Park, but it sounds like pop with rock instrumentals. I guess nu-metal is the correct term.
     
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  5. #25
    mandylane

    mandylane Well-Known Member

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    how can every song be the same?
     
  6. #26
    Tocaraca

    Tocaraca A part of me screams away silently

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    Don't be pedantic with me. I meant they are really similar and provide very little variety. If you really needed a literal explanation, THERE YOU GO
     
  7. #27
    Agent

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    They are both borderline unlistenable because of badly the aged and because of the cringy lyrics.
     
  8. #28
    Michele

    Michele Praise Brad Delson, our Lord and Savior. LPA Addict

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    eh, i could listen atleast to Hybrid Theory each day.
     
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  9. #29
    Qwerty19

    Qwerty19 Well-Known Member

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    Hey, come one :lol:

    Both are some of easiest-to-digest, most ear-candie, super istenable stuff out there in LP discography. That's been a criticism towards those records. Being catchy dumbed-down oversimple music. But not listenable? Nah.

    And if they aged that badly, tons of fans wouldn't be so eager to sing "In The End" or "Numb" at live shows.
     
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  10. #30
    Bgrath

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    I don't find them overrated. Personally, they are what got me into the band, especially Meteora. Yes, the lyrics may be cringe worthy for most, but for people who are going through shit like I was and still am when I listen to them, they really help. Because it reminds you that you're not alone in your suffering. And the loud banging-ness of it all lets you kinda take out your anger, too. So no, I disagree. They are not overrated. They help people, like me.
     
  11. #31
    Forfeit to Break

    Forfeit to Break Well-Known Member

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    I agree with a lot of this. I knew of the singles before i bought either album and even though i was really into the band a tiny bit of me was slightly disappointed in the predictability and how samey alot of the tracks were, especially when compared to Reanimation which I absolutely loved.

    After listening to both albums a lot, I was pretty much able to write a couple of songs that although not good at all, (I was 14), would almost have been passable to be on either album, from a lyrical, structural and instrumental simplicity point of view anyway.

    That's what got me so hyped and enjoyed the MTM cycle so much, the fact they were switching things up and breaking out of their box was very exciting to me, and for a long time that album was my absolute favourite.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2017
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  12. #32
    Reanimate02

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    Neither of them are overrated. Hybrid Theory still kicks me in the face, Meteora still holds a special place in my heart :)
     
  13. #33
    Captain-EO

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    Of course they are. A lot of LP stuff is, including more recent songs like New Divide, but I'd argue that Hybrid Theory is more overrated than even Meteora. Hybrid Theory has nostalgia attached to it from start to finish, because it just came out at the right time. It came out at a time where angsty nu metal was at its peak and Linkin Park made it in a way that was accessible and still heavy. Instead of making heavy angst music that formed its own sort of subculture like Korn for example, Linkin Park made catchy angst music that didn't push many walls for its demographic.
     
  14. #34
    Agent

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    To me they are almost unlistenable. I know, loads of fans still love those earlier albums and that's fine. I'd probably love hearing In the End live purely for nostalgia's sake. I actually tried listening to HT/Meteora a couple of weeks back... and I'm sorry to say that neither albums resonated with me the way they used to. I've most definitely grown of out it. Its catchy in parts sure, but they both aged very poorly imo, although, I do still feel very nostalgic listening to them so there's that.
     
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  15. #35
    brady

    brady I am the LPA LPA Super Member

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    Certain aspects, yessssss
     
  16. #36
    A Wretched King

    A Wretched King Foreword

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    no, in fact theyre underrated. "Dont Stay", "Easier To Run", and "With You" didn't get any attention or the credit they deserved. Some of the best work the band has done.
     
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  17. #37
    Captain-EO

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    We're not discussing individual songs though. We're discussing the albums as a holistic unit, without the distinction of tracks.
     
  18. #38
    Deliveranze

    Deliveranze Well-Known Member

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    I feel Hybrid Theory EP and Reanimation was the best work from that era but Hybrid Theory has a lot to like. Rap-Rock was definitely a niche, mostly for the suburban youth, but LP definitely used hip hop as their sound and not a gimmick like dozens of other nu-metal/rap metal bands. Meteora continued that and the hip hop aspects are more apparent. I think with Hybrid Theory, the rock/metal influences were more apparent while most of the hip hop was displayed within the lyrics (metaphorical imagery, rhyme patterns). On Meteora, the hip hop/ dark Electronica sounds became it's signature and Mike mostly went with a simpler approach to the writing.

    Ironically, I hated HT when I first heard it due to the aged sound but I've learned to appreciate it. The band combined the technical aspects of their EP with the more accessible songwriting and lyrics of later records and that's pretty cool to think about. Meteora is pretty bad lyrically but it's still not that bad as people make it out to be. Easier To Run's verses are decent writing imo and Nobody's Listening's first verse leans more HT Era Shinoda, then say Rising Tied Era Shinoda.

    But they are overrated as records. Great rock/pop albums for sure but not exactly records that LP can't beat.
     
  19. #39
    zazofazo

    zazofazo Well-Known Member

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    Very overrated
    "OH LP MADE ONLY 2 RECORDS AND THE REST ARE NOT LINKING PORK WAA "
    Everytime I see this comment I want to bust a nut literally
     
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  20. #40
    Deliveranze

    Deliveranze Well-Known Member

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    LOL I was looking at another LP fansite (blasphemy I know) and some dude was complaining how LP is only making pop music because THP critically and commercially flopped.

    I was like dude, the band was gonna do this record regardless and THP was probably one of the best, if not the best, critical reception the band has recieved in a long time.
     

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