What do you mean "too mainstream?" Green Day is just as mainstream and they're one of the most political bands I know, especially as of late.
Pretty much this. It's not as if you become unpolitical if you become a mainstream artist. However, when speaking about Linkin Park, though they have a few politically fueled songs, they aren't really a political band. They don't entirely express their views on the government, or dive deep into politics, unlike Green Day, Rage Against The Machine, or Serj Tankian to say a few.
I wouldn't say ATS was political. More of a social commentary, same as what Green Day does really. No LP or Green Day song pushes a particular political agenda...
Don't care to be honest. Not going to change my mind on stuff like this. Plus I can't see Chester or Mike running for mayor.
I consider them faux political. I mean sure the message on ATS is great, but it's a very general message and not very contentious, imo (now this is just my opinion, you may disagree).
Yeah, even now that they're writing less about personal angst they still have a pretty broad message. I like it this way but I don't think it's that politicised on the whole... I actually don't really like when they write a more political song and take that approach to it, like say Wretches and Kings and No More Sorrow.
Linkin Park does not like to write lyrics that openly state their views one way or another. They prefer metaphoric or vague lyrics that people can interpret in different ways (The exceptions being HHH, TLTGYA, and WTCFM in regards to criticism of the band). Plus as others have said, a lot of their lyrics are introspective and emotional/personal. "Political" bands are pretty open about what they're saying/criticizing, so no, I would not consider Linkin Park to be a "political" band. They might be in the future though, as they seem to be trending in more of the artistic/concept album/direct lyrics direction.
I don't see Green Day as political in the least, other than screaming about vague, indirect jabs at "You know like... the man, man..." on their latter albums. The song American Idiot (one of a grand total of 2 songs that were anything close to politically motivated) sounded like a lame NOFX b-side and it just got even worse with 21st Century Breakdown. Holiday was and to the day remains badass, however.
Yeah disregard that comment, my wording was off. It's more about the "image" they seem to have in the mainstream media. I stick with my "discography" point.
You can be plenty politically-neutral without being vague. For example, Dream Theater's song The Great Debate, which takes two separate verses to state the two different positions on stem cell research. They equally weigh both sides of the issue, and in the end just say "Pay attention to the questions we have raised." They don't take one side or the other, but they are incredibly specific about what the talking points are on both sides. Lyrics if you're interested: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/67221/ Fake edit: Turns out a commenter on the bottom of the page said exactly what I just said. I promise he isn't me, I didn't discover DT until a few years after that.