The memories of my childhood are as vivid and clear as day and night. As a member of the 90’s generation, I’m often stricken with bouts of nostalgia and the yearning desire to take trips down memory lane. Aside from TV shows, music is often the perfect remedy to sate the urges of recollection and reflection. Perhaps the artist to have one of the biggest influences during my childhood was the band Linkin Park.

It was the year 2000 when Linkin Park dropped their first album, Hybrid Theory. It was definitely a lot different than the music I grew up listening to at the time. A lot of my background prior to the new millennium consisted of mainly R&B and Hip Hop music. Rock seemed like a weird concept for a black kid as it was mainly listened to by my white peers. If you were caught listening to it, you would often get this look as if they were confused or surprised that a black kid would listen to that kind of music. I feel because of some of the rap elements that Linkin Park’s music had, people who were accustomed to rap would be able to gain more of an appreciation for rock music and would have the opportunity to discover more that the world of rock would have to offer.

I still remember the days I would jam “In the End” and other singles from that album such as “One Step Closer”, “Papercut”, and “Crawling”. Reanimation came out 2 years later and would be their first remix album which not only allowed me to get a taste of what can really be done with some of their classics, it also opened me to certain songs I happened to miss out on at the time. “Pts.Of.Athrty”, a rework of the original song “Points of Authority”, was the first single I heard from Reanimation and it happened to play on the network cartoon block, Toonami (another cornerstone of my childhood that we’ll touch upon at a later date). In 2003, Meteora would be released and would still carry the nu-metal momentum that Hybrid Theory initiated. Singles like “Faint”, “Somewhere I Belong”, and “Breaking the Habit” would help to paint a picture of my middle school years. These songs would help me during those turbulent times as I would come to grasp a hold of my true identity and overcome many hardships that my family had experienced during that period.

Their next album, Minutes to Midnight, would carry a different tone than their previous albums and would be a sign of departure from their unique nu-metal sound in favor of a more alternative sound. “What I’ve Done”, “Shadow of the Day”, and “Leave Out All the Rest” would be prime examples of such alternative influence. Not particular one of my favorite albums, but loved nonetheless. A Thousand Suns would be released in 2010 and is considered to be their “experimental album” capturing various genres and elements and would focus on human fears such as nuclear warfare. “The Catalyst” definitely provided a lot of energy Linkin Park had always demonstrated and hits like “When They Come For Me” and “Waiting For the End” often caught me in a trance I could always vibe to. “Iridiscent” was something that also hit home as well for me. The release of Living Things in 2012 for some reason didn’t capture my attention as much aside from their single “Burn It Down”. Nothing else from that album really remained in my memory, but perhaps another listen will help to change that.

Their latest album, The Hunting Party, was like a breath of fresh air as it seemed like a return of their rock and nu-metal roots that helped to change the game for music back in the day. “Guilty All the Same” is jam that brings out the inner rocker in everybody and “Until It’s Gone” brings me back to that memorable sound enjoyed in their Meteora album. Over the years they’ve brought in memorable moments like their Linkin Park/Jay-Z collaboration, Collision Course, their single ”Not Alone” in support for victims of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, the hit collaboration with rapper Busta Rhymes resulting in the awesome hit “We Made It”, their team up with EDM DJ Steve Aoki for singles “A Light That Never Comes” and, their most recent, “Darker Than Blood”. Also, who could forget the side projects by members Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington, Fort Minor and Dead By Sunrise respectively. All in all, Linkin Park will forever be one of my favorite artists of all time and will forever be a fundamental part of my growth over the years. Thanks again for the memories.