Linkin Park!

             It's time to let people know: Linkin Park is my 2nd all time favorite band behind the music masters the Beatles, but blogs on that band have been done to death. Think about it. Linkin Park's DEBUT album sold 24 millions copies. Unbelievably successful. Their follow up would be considered an impossible feat after that freshman effort, but Meteora in undoubtedly their best album. This band is collossally talented.
            I was barely six years old when I first heard the song "One Step Closer" on the radio. It blew my little mind away. My mom told me who they were and asked if I would like the album they released. I said yes with great enthusiasm and Hybrid Theory became one of the most played albums in the car, only when dad wasn't around, he hated this "boy band".
            This boy band was anything but. Every album they've released has at least 4 chart topping singles every single time. That's why they take their time between album releases. World tours, promotional music videos, and interviews and award shows don't take place in two weeks, you know.
            Meteora came out in 2003 and my grandma sent it to Washington as a birthday gift. I couldn't get enough of the hardcore rap-rock elements they stressed on every single song. It was amazing. It's still one of my top ten all time favorite albums and my number one summer album because every song has great energy and it makes me think of swimming in the pool, soaking up the sun, Washington State, my mom, wild waves enchanted village...
            Minutes to Midnight(2007) got backlash for beng too slow and too soft. I thought it was a damn good follow up to the impossible to duplicate Meteora. The best bands always experiment. It helps them grow as artists and as people. If I had to play the same genre my whole career, I'd feel so one dimensional. This album is pretty good and  tracks 3-6 were four consecutive mega smash hits in North America and in Europe, the two most important continents.
             A Thousand Suns(2010), now even I had a mixed reaction when I first heard it. It's a bizarre album but why wouldn't it be? It's a concept album. After a few listens, it grew on me, and now this slow, weird album has me just as into its songs as I've ever been into "Faint", "From the Inside", "Points of Authority", "No More Sorrow", or "By Myself".
              Living Things breathed a sigh of relief into many LP fans mouths. I love it too. It's the best record since Meteora. Every song is a triumph. There are five rap-rock songs which is a huge number compared to the previous two releases by them. "Castle of Glass" is a standout as the best song on the album. It has inspired vocal performances, soothing music, and phenomenal lyrics. I can't get enough of the entire record.
              One thing I must point out before I end this topic is that this band is an inspiration to all us aspiring rockers. The band has had NO public tensions, NO severe drug or alcohol problems, there have been NO lineup changes since their first album came out, and their musical ability and vocal ranges have not diminished in the very least, which is amazing given all the screaming and yelling Chester has had to do almost nonstop since 2000. I also must say Chester and Mike harmonizing either in clean vocals or in screaming while the other raps, it's just one of the best things you'll ever hear. The way their voices gel is a once in a decade thing.
              The only other great two way harmonies that even rival Bennington and Shinoda are Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, David Gilmour and Richard Wright of Pink Floyd, Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis, and of course John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles.