This was in The Washington Post and was just re-released for some reason on their website: Linkin Park, Refusing to Grow Up By David Segal Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, March 26, 2003; Page C05 A quadrillion-selling debut album and the love of peeved and pimpled boys across the country have failed to wipe the grimace off the face of Linkin Park. Apparently neither fame nor babes nor buckets of cash have improved the mood of this California quintet, which delivers 36 minutes of juvenile furor on "Meteora," the group's second album of originals. It was a little easier to buy the lads' angst in 2001, when they were just one of a dozen acts gene-splicing alternative metal and hip-hop. Limp Bizkit gets credit for creating this sound, but Linkin Park subtracted the naughty words, added earnest agony and sold nearly 8 million copies of "Hybrid Theory," making it the year's best-selling album. It was the anti-parent band that parents could tolerate. For the kid who felt the indefinable pique of life as a white 12-year-old but couldn't shout "I did it all for the [sex]!" without blushing -- a requirement for Bizkit fans who wanted to sing that group's finest chorus -- these were the dudes. Given that a follow-up took two years, you'd think Linkin Park has been retooling its sound, or delving into emotions other than everyone-hates-me rage. Pshaw. "Meteora" is one of the most gutless sophomore albums in pop history. It risks nothing. It steadfastly refuses to do anything but repeat itself. You listen and sense a band that is either cowering in fear -- for the love of God, let's just stick to what worked the last time -- or is too inept or lazy to evolve. I suspect it's the former because "Meteora" feels like a con from start to finish. How so? For one, there's something bogus about a multi-platinum act that can think of nothing else to howl about except the emotional brutalities of the cavity-prone years, the subject of every single song here. Linkin Park is being deceived, belittled, ignored and mistreated. A lyrical sampling tells the whole monotonous story. "I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress, handful of anger, held in my chest," sings vocalist-rapper Mike Shinoda on "Nobody's Listening." "I want to let go of the pain I've felt so long, erase all the pain till it's gone." (From the first single, "Somewhere I Belong.") "If I could take all the shame to the grave I would." ("Easier to Run.") "I took what I hated and made it a part of me." ("Figure.09.") "Time won't heal this damage anymore." ("Faint.") It's an orgy of self-pity. Now, there is a fine tradition in rock of multimillionaires exploiting the pent-up resentments of fans living with Mom and Dad and from allowance to allowance. But "Meteora" is just so blatant about this exploitation that you sort of feel embarrassed for these fellas, the way you do listening to a politician pander for votes. It's hard to imagine these guys mean much of this, and they stay so relentlessly on their dour message that you wonder if they feel trapped. The music breaks as little new ground as the lyrics. Guitarist Brad Delson switches from delicate strums to power chords, then back again; Shinoda rap-sings the opening verse, then the song leaps into hyperdrive and co-vocalist Chester Bennington grabs the mike to scream the chorus. All the while, turntablist Joseph Hahn scratches at vinyl in the background. The pattern changes only twice, and both times Linkin Park offers glimmers of potential. There's the moody but funky instrumental called "Session," which hands center stage to Hahn for an excellent turntable solo. And there's "Nobody's Listening," which starts with a fetching flute sample and a spare rap beat -- but reverts quickly to the sound, pace and mood of every Linkin Park number. The band is so terrified of failure it has arrested its own creative development. "Meteora" will sell, but these guys can't pretend to be eighth-graders forever.
Personally, I like this article. He didn't just say, "Oh, the album was terrible. Don't buy it." He actually took the time to elaborate on why he didn't like it, and I agree with a lot of the things he talks about. Almost every song, with the exception of maybe 1 or 2 songs, are about the same thing. Being ignored, pretty much. The lyrics are pretty bad as well. Sure, they threw in some big words that we've never heard before, but they also use the word "pain" itself way too much. I hear it in almost every song it seems. Hybrid Theory didn't have one song with the word "pain" in it. They used metaphors to describe how they were feeling. They didn't come right out and scream they were in pain. That's why I don't think Meteora is one of the best albums of 2003. It's way too repetitive, every song has the same basic structure (again, with the exception of 1 or 2 songs) and it seems like Linkin Park tried to hard on this CD. It's not a terrible album, I just feel that the band could've done so much better. Maybe 3 is the lucky number.
Second albums are not the easiest ones. This guy should've been more comprehensive. Many bands have been victim of the one-hit-wonder virus but not LP, and these bands are often not as much "attacked" as this. But yeah, he took the time to say why he hated this. And now kidnappig time :chemist: .
What is linkin park all about to you? Do they sing about being happy and dancing and talkin to girls and playing on slides and swings? Or are they about real life? Personally, I feel that 'pain', 'being ignored', and all that other depressing stuff never really ends. How could you like this article? Obviously who ever wrote it can't relate to what LP is saying because they dont go through what we go through on a daily basis. I'm not bashing you or anything, i just dont understand how a LP fan could 'like' this article..
What is linkin park all about to you? Do they sing about being happy and dancing and talkin to girls and playing on slides and swings? Or are they about real life? Personally, I feel that 'pain', 'being ignored', and all that other depressing stuff never really ends. How could you like this article? Obviously who ever wrote it can't relate to what LP is saying because they dont go through what we go through on a daily basis. I'm not bashing you or anything, i just dont understand how a LP fan could 'like' this article.. [/b][/quote] By liking it, I meant that I like how he explained why he didn't like it. And, don't get me wrong, Meteora is a great album, but it's 11 songs of the same subject.
By liking it, I meant that I like how he explained why he didn't like it. And, don't get me wrong, Meteora is a great album, but it's 11 songs of the same subject. [/b][/quote] Ok, i can understand that. What more can linkin park bring to the table in your opinion?
Ok, i can understand that. What more can linkin park bring to the table in your opinion? [/b][/quote] Well, I'd rather them have an album more like Hybrid Theory. All the songs have different lyrical ideas for the most part. Almost every song on Meteora has the same lyrical idea. Also, the songs all have pretty much the same exact structure. They need to expand themselves and start playing with song structure, otherwise their third album just may turn me away from them.
Well, I'd rather them have an album more like Hybrid Theory. All the songs have different lyrical ideas for the most part. Almost every song on Meteora has the same lyrical idea. Also, the songs all have pretty much the same exact structure. They need to expand themselves and start playing with song structure, otherwise their third album just may turn me away from them. [/b][/quote] So with reanimation's song structure and with hybrid theory's lyrical structure with metaphors and whatnot?
It's not a bad article. Like Will said, at least he elaborated on his reasons for not liking the album. I don't agree with it 100% but I respect his opinion. Mike said that with Numb (and the video), they were not 'force-feeding the emotional content' to their audience but that's what happens in a lot of the songs in 'Meteora': we get force-fed the emotional content because there's not enough imagery, metaphor, etc. 'Meteora' isn't all that bad but there's a lot that could be improved on. 'Hybrid Theory' definitely beats 'Meteora' and personally, I felt that songs like 'And One' from the EP were good in terms of the lyrics. Let's hope the third album will be more successful... It's harsh criticism but sometimes, that's exactly what a band needs if they want to improve. LP still rock.
To me it really doesn't matter. As long as it sounds good. Simple as that. Although the writer does make a point, almost the whole album is about the same topic.
The only reason why Meteora is like one subject because Mike wrote the songs in the same period. What I mean is that his feelings were the same when he wrote each song. Same goes for Chester. On the other hand, Hybrid theory was written in like 6 or more years. Mike and Chester had time for their feelings to change.Get my point?
Yep. I understand what you're saying, but how many other rock albums do you listen to where just about every song is about the same thing?
This article is pretty good. I respect the opinion of the writer, but I do not totally agree with him. I do agree that the lyrical content wasn't as deep or impressive as the lyrics on Hybrid Theory. And it's also true that the song structure is getting repetitive and old. Yet, LP is still a great band, they just need to change things up a bit and improve their lyrics. All in all, this article makes an LP fan think, but they did not deserve such a direct attack as this. I mean they are better than a lot of bands out there, let's just hope they improve on the third album, and the same writer ends up writing an article on how much they rock.
I still dont understan how you guys 'like' this article. This article sucks to me. Yea he elaborates on what he dosent like about it, but he still says things that make me wanna puke, like "Meteora" is one of the most gutless sophomore albums in pop history." Linkin Park is not 'pop' music.. I guess ill just leave this one for the books.
I still dont understan how you guys 'like' this article. This article sucks to me. Yea he elaborates on what he dosent like about it, but he still says things that make me wanna puke, like "Meteora" is one of the most gutless sophomore albums in pop history." Linkin Park is not 'pop' music.. I guess ill just leave this one for the books. [/b][/quote] Just because we're fans of Linkin Park doesn't mean that we have to stand up for them every waking minute.
Do not lie to yourself. If you hate something from your favorite band, be honest with you. But if you like it (as me), don't care about what people say. It's your choice, your personal tastes.
I personally can agree with things said in that article. Before you get the wrong idea, let me try and explain this. Being a fan of Linkin Park since basically the beginning of their debut, I've wanted to hear more and more of them. Linkin Park had something going on in their first album that just attracted you. It's a reason I cannot explain. There are very few bands that have gotten this feeling from me, and it's like, a feeling where their music can be listened to over and over again and it's just something you can't get sick of. I can listen to other bands, yeah, but it's something in the music that just draws me to want to continuously hear it. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I hope you understand. Now, being a fan for those past two years, I've waited on their next album and how much the album would rule with the extent that their music style would change. Unfourtunately, Meteora let me down in many ways. First, lyrical wise, because like Will said, it's too repeative and being a song writer myself, if you use certain words too much in your songs, people don't like it. The other problem was song structure. Aside from majority of the music, it's always the following: Music intro, Mike rapping, Chester singing chorus, Mike rapping again, Chester's chorus, Chester's verse after the chorus, end. Or it's changed to: Chester sings verses and chorus, Mike does back up. I thought that 'Nobody's Listening' was a very good step for one reason only, and that's because it was really different from the rest of Meteora. If you do remove the chorus, it becomes a type of song we haven't seen on any of LP's albums so far. It's a diverse rap song that does what they did before. It's mixing a flute, with beats, etc. The rest of the songs are the simple riffs with beats with some orchestra strings faded. Don't look at me as a hater, because I really am not. Just waiting for two years, and seeing how it was promoted so, with all the things they showed us like 'Breaking the Habit', I was let down when I heard it. It was like, "Okay, I've listened to it, now what?" It didn't make me replay it over again at that time. Where as with Hybrid Theory, it would be "Damn, I have to listen to that again!" and you do so. This time around I know for a fact Linkin Park, just like any new artist(s) do. They don't take new chances with the fear of faliure. Meteora is a great album, but the fact that the band didn't really expand on what they did, was not so great. When I see Linkin Park now, they're no longer a band with their new sound--it's more like they're falling in with all these other bands that scream and yell about the same things. I've seen/heard a lot of those bands, and it just might be me, but lyrically wise, they could have done better. Take it like this, you're a fan of a band for many, many years and all the hype you get for their new album turns out to be put to nothing, it's really kind of disappointing. Bottom line is I think LP played it too safe. What could LP add to their music? I would like to see more emotion lyric-wise, because Hybrid Theory had that draw, so I know they can do it again. I would like to see an evolution in their music. Something like the evolution in Meteora, but with the same feel Hybrid Theory gave off. I have much confidence Linkin Park will make another perfect album, maybe it wasn't this time around, but I'm waiting for that one moment in time where you pick up your earphones and hear the music and think to yourself, "Now this is the Linkin Park I used to know," not something like "Okay, I liked their older stuff better." I have a lot of assumptions on why Meteora seemed to miss a lot, but that's besides the point. The article does explain a lot and there are a lot I agree with, which I'm not afraid to admit. No band is perfect, but if the band continues to work at it, eventually they'll get it right.
the band is by far to me, the best out there, but yeah, this album what got me the most, is the fact that they use the verse/choris/verse/choris/bridge/choris wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much. they need change ups, and i long for a good gee-tar or guitar solo by brad, not long, but just enough, this is a good album and kept me satisfide, i like the flute, and the ten piece in bth, but yes, they need more change ups. the subjects are basicly the same, they can change them up a bit yes, but i dont mind having 2 or 3 songs like meteora on the third album, becuase to me, that lp, thats whats on ht and meteora, thats there sound, they shouldnt totally discard every thing that they have done. Just they need to change it up a bit
aaaw I was gonna post this but you bet me to it lol oh well, I disagree with whoever wrote that article though, they're stupid.