While sitting in bed the other day, I thought to myself, "I wonder what ever happened to Linkin Park?" (Evidently they are working on a seventh album). I was obsessed with Linkin Park in my rebellious middle school days, and in a lot of ways, I think they've been under appreciated and underrated as a band.
Their first album, "Hybrid Theory," is one of the top 50 best-selling albums of all time, up there with legends like The Eagles, Eminem and Led Zeppelin. They have sold over 68 million albums worldwide and have won 2 Grammy Awards. For reference, Green Day, a band almost anyone 15 and older can name, has sold more than 75 million records and won 5 Grammy Awards.
Yet while you can find references to Green Day in pop culture pretty easily, I never see anything about Linkin Park. This upsets me for several reasons. First of all, Linkin Park just makes really dope music. They are constantly changing their sound, and while some criticize this, I think it's cool that they experiment and don't get stuck continually making the same music (looking at you, Taylor Swift and One Direction).
In a lot of ways I also think they have set the stage for some bands today to exist. I know many will disagree with me, but to me Twenty One Pilots is just a poor man's Linkin Park, mixing rap/hip hop and synth rock or pop in songs. I suppose you can say the Beastie Boys set the stage for Linkin Park to exist as well, but isn't all of life just building on what someone else made? At this point in the universe's history there's not much that has not been done or said yet.
Honestly, I just want someone, anyone, to talk about Linkin Park with. I'm tired of hearing about Twenty One Pilots and Justin Bieber (though JB's latest album was fire, not gonna lie) and Taylor Swift, especially Taylor Swift.
Perhaps I'll write an appreciation post about Nickleback or Pitbull next. I know we all love them, right?
