#43: Linkin Park

When the paper's crumpled up it can't be perfect again

Back from the All Star Break with Linkin Park, who would easily be number one if this was done 8 years ago.

Wiki Says: Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries. Its following studio album, Meteora, continued the band's success, topping the Billboard 200’s album charts in 2003, and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world.[2] In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth greatest band of the music video era and the third best of the new millennium behind Oasis and Coldplay.

Having adapted the nu metal and rap metal genres to a radio-friendly yet densely-layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007. The album topped the Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year. The band has collaborated with several other artists, most notably with rapper Jay-Z in their mashup EP Collision Course, and many others included on Reanimation. Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and have won two Grammy Awards.

Discovery: Hybrid Theory (2000)

Reanimation (2002)- Other Artist collaborations of Hybrid Theory songs

Meteora (2003)

Collision Course (2004)- Six remixes with Jay-Z songs

Minutes to Midnight (2007)

A Thousand Suns (2010)- Unreleased

Other releases: (As artist: Hybrid Theory) Hybrid Theory EP (1999)

"It's Goin' Down" (2002) with The X-Ecutioners

Favorite Songs: 10. Forgotten
9. Crawling
8. Breaking the habit
7. Numb
6. H! Vltg3
5. Kyur 4 Th Ich
4. 1 stp Klosr
3. In the End
2. Pushing Me Away
1. Papercut

Years Active: 1996-Present

Never seen them live

As I said, if this was middle school, Linkin Park would be #1 on this countdown (of about 10 artists), Hybrid Theory and Meteora would be my two favorite albums, and "Pushing Me Away" would be my favorite song. But as time progressed, I lost my enjoyment for Linkin Park. I love their Reanimation album, but hated Collision Course, probably because Reanimation had multiple artists as opposed to just one rapper. By time Minuted to Midnight had come out I had stopped following the band closely. Despite that, their early stuff I still love to this day. The mix of hip-hop and rock sits very well with me. I wish more people knew their remix stuff and their songs from back before they were called Linkin Park.

Reading this over, that above paragraph didn't quite do justice. Hybrid Theory was one of the most important albums of my life. The first time i saw the video for "Crawling" on MTV (ha!) I thought, "I think I'm going to really like this band". Sure enough, I started loving them. I have mp3 files from way back before Hybrid Theory was ever going to happen. I have songs from their old bands. Linkin Park was excellent, and I have no regrets as to how much I liked them back in the day.

Up Next: The Nutty Boys of London!