Linkin Park: Rocks or Sucks?

I started writing this post in November 2007 and I have finished it tonight after some checking. Hasty, fast, not doing much for this blog, but I believe I have done my best. I do warn you though that this is one of those big, long posts so... you know the deal.

As long as I’ve been in school this year, one of the most commonly said things, whether online or off, is and I quote:

“Linkin Park sucks.”

Thinking about the fame of the Grammy Award-winning band from “Cali-zona” (Mike, Brad, Phoenix, Mr. Hahn, and “that other guy whose name I keep forgetting” (Rob!) are from California. Chestan is from Arizona) and comments like the above after hearing so much praise from the Net made me think about my status as a fan of the group (especially since I name MTM as my favorite album by them), along with the status quo of the fan base. Sorry to divert focus from the “Morning” but it’s time to divulge into the “Meteora,” my friends. This post is about the popularity of, well, Linkin Park!

Over the course of  3-4 days, I’ve asked my fellow Seniors who listen to rock music about their opinions on LP and whether they “rock” or “suck.” However, due to stresses from having to write two research papers and the fact we were finishing those in the computer lab, I left my notepad there. Fortunately, I remember the various data I recorded (I cannot wait to start Journalism this spring - it would do this blog a lot of good):

• 12 people say they “rock.”
• 7 people say they “suck.”
• One person is left in-between. (Ironically, that’s the name of a track on “Minutes to Midnight.” Of course, no pun was intended).
• A few comments on the “Linkin Park Rocks” side: “They rock nice!” “They just do what they do.”
• A few comments on the “Linkin Park Sucks” side: “They used to rock; they don’t now.” “Their old stuff: great. Their new album: atrocious!” “They ripped off U2 with the cover of their new album.” “Linkin Park sucks because they suck.”
• Other comments can be found in the AIM forums, along with an essay on “What’s Wrong with the American Music Industry.” There is also an Encyclopedia Dramatica article on them but I didn’t read it because I knew what was going to be on it. Some reporter I am XD.
  

I have also done a poll on my deviantART account, asking my public (thusly, fellow fans among said public) about their opinion on Linkin Park:

• 10 deviants (67%) said they “rock my socks!”
• 2 deviants (13%) said they “suck @$#!”
• 3 deviants (20%) said “Meh…” (This option was added later so it might hurt the authenticity and accuracy of this data).

Comments included the likes of “Yay, Linkin Park!” juxtaposed with those of “Guess I'm of two who thinks they're crap. Pretty goes for many of the 'nu-metal' generation of bands.” One person, however, felt that “there needed to be a better word for ‘meh.’” Therefore, counting the opinions of the comments on the poll, 3 were among those 10 who feel their music saved their mortal souls while two are saying that they shame the rock genre itself with their presence and are awaiting the day their music died.

To get an idea of the reasons people had the opinions they had, I conducted another polling.

• As for “Why Do You Like Linkin Park?”: no deviants (0%) said I like the band members (surprisingly), 2 deviants (33%) said They sound good, 1 deviant (17%) said I can relate to the music, 2 deviants (33%) said All of the above, and 1 deviant (17%) said Other.
• As for “Why Do You Hate Linkin Park?”: 1 deviant said "If I had a nickel for every band that used Anthrax's 'I'm The Man' as a blueprint for their careers ..." (they're unoriginal). Nobody answered, contrary to the evidence in the preceding paragraph (maybe I just caught a bad break or something).
• As for “Why are you ‘meh’ for Linkin Park”?: 2 deviants (40%) said Other while 1 deviant (20%) said I don't really have an opinion. Two people voted for blank choices.
  

How perplexing this data is with how it seem to contradict each other. The irony of the “meh” poll is that it was the one with the most comments but it was the “like” with the most votes. Does that mean Linkin Park is still on the rise, if not on top? Yet, of any selection, that one person chose unoriginality as a reason to dislike the band (which I‘ll get to in a second).

Therefore, according to the opinions above, while I am among the legions of fans who continue to enjoy the “Hybrid Theory,” there are those who feel that Linkin Park has “sold out” with MTM, along with having become “uncool” (then again, I like a girl group that isn’t taken as seriously as other girl groups, with their “Kids” counterparts possibly taking their place at the #1 spot, if not already have. In addition, my favorite member of said group is one of the weakest vocally, making her a polar opposite to Chester Bennington). Back on topic, the current popularity of LP is sustaining yet hard to say. Take a look at one fan’s recent concert-going experience.

Now, fans complain that the latest album of Linkin Park makes them sound “like any other band now” (going back to the “unoriginal” argument). However, Mike said in an interview that they would be going away from their signature “nu-metal” sound. Isn’t that a form of warning? Meanwhile, their “Reanimation” album was trashed by an interviewee, saying they’d hit rock bottom with it. However, it’s one of the challenges of the music industry - maintaining artistic integrity while “pleasing the fans.” I think LP did the former and the fan reaction is as askew as the “blog opinions/Oricon sales” ratio of the “Mikan” single. One fan commented on the album, saying (and I quote):

Therefore, Minutes to Midnight gets a thumbs up. Cheerio, LP! Like all fans, we have various tastes in music. How does Linkin Park comes into the mix? Take a look at this MSN conversation between a fellow Linkin Park fan and me as he shares his opinions:

Anyway, the entire point of this article is this question: “Does Linkin Park rock or suck?” If you like full-blast nu-metal, you would prefer the old. If you are into somewhat softer while some integrity of their old sound, you may like “Minutes to Midnight.” If you like either genre, more power to you since you may like either. However, it all comes down to the taste of the listener.

In fact, why am I answering such an open-ended question? It’s like asking whether Morning Musume is “saikou” or “saiaku.” It’s like trying to analyze my love for Koharu and Chester and why I put those two completely different singers at the same level. I don’t think there’s a definite answer, depending only on the “fan.” (Great… this entry just went the road of that ill-fated post I mentioned). Besides, according to sources, “Minutes to Midnight” polarized fans and critics alike. Plus, at the end of the first day of surveying my Senior fans, I had more “Linkin Park Sucks” than “Linkin Park Rocks” and all of that changed after the following days where the “Rocks” slowly overpowered the “Sucks.”

As for me, yeah, Linkin Park still rocks. May have yet to see a Projekt Revolution show and I haven’t seen all of the videos but I consider myself a fan and that’s enough for a group like LP, or any group for that matter. Even if Ishikawa Rika was being, as Seether bluntly put it, “a @#$%ing hypocrite” when she says she appreciates her fans, fan appreciation is a factor into the connectivity of a band. (Fun fact: due to the backlash and lackluster performance (not to mention bad timing and bad promotion) from “beautifulgarbage,” international band Garbage nearly disbanded. Instead, they took a hiatus and came back with “Bleed Like Me.” Not one of my favorite albums by them but I admire Garbage for not giving up. Back when MTM came out, I often compared the situation to “beautifulgarbage”). So, while Linkin Park still has time to rock, they will always rock on in my heart and while the naysayers will “erase the world in gray,” the sun shall set as a new dawn approaches (either for them or for me or “for you“).

“Shadow of the Day” references aside, I’m Magi-Kat and I’m signing off, reminding you to remember that “life is one time” and “you‘ll get a chance“!