Linkin Park is one of those bands who earned much of their well-deserved acclaim for being a positive force for many people--myself included. They contained a gene within their musical DNA that most other bands of their ilk lacked. The ability to capture the raw feelings of an entire generation and, through catchy hooks, righteous riffs, and a vocal performance to be reckoned with, guide us through to catharsis, was their rare gift.
And even as they drifted away from their nu metal origins, Chester Bennington was still a constant factor that maintained the emotional core of Linkin Park. He was a man, full of heart, full of passion, who was a persevering light that many looked up to.
Learning of such a seemingly unstoppable force losing the battle with his own inner demons, was something that many fans, myself included, had trouble coming terms with. Even with seven years having passed since that fateful day, it's never truly felt like he was gone; how could anyone with an energy like Bennington's could just up and leave this universe? While many were coming to terms with the thought that the band could break up entirely, many of us still held hope that one of these days we’ll once again be able to say “I just heard the new Linkin Park album!”
And lo, seven years, a new vocalist by the name of Emily Armstrong, one fantastic concert reunion, three new singles, and one album announcement later, Linkin Park has done what many consider to be the impossible--and with flying colors. That album is finally here, and it is with great jubilation that me and many a Linkin Park faithful can say those words.
Which is why it is with great sadness, that I have to add “…and I didn’t care for it”.
But before I delve into the cavernous depths of the negative, I would first like to set up camp at the positives. Before the sordid discovery of her ties to the Church of Scientology and convicted rapist Danny Masterson that killed the hype for a little while, Emily Armstrong was initially welcomed with open arms, as she displayed a vocal prowess that would have made the late Chester Bennington proud.
High octane rasped screaming expertly mixed with intimate clean singing, Armstrong delivers the type of candor that is no less expected from a Linkin Park vocalist. From the live reunion show to the studio album proper, one can’t help but be brought to tears of joy and optimism. Seriously, it cannot be stressed enough just how great she is as a vocalist. Even as someone who isn’t particularly huge into the pop-oriented side of Linkin Park, I cannot deny that the reason they sound as great as they do, is largely due in part of the vocals. Armstrong’s singing is no exception. From the throwback nu metal ragers of IGYEIH, Two Faced, Heavy is the Crown, and Casualty, to the pop/alt rock tracks like Over Each Other, Cut the Bridge, and Good Things Go, Armstrong easily serves as the crown jewel for the record.
Unfortunately, all the praise I have for the album just about ends there. Aside from Armstrong’s ability to elevate most of the tracks, the rest of the album’s qualities leaves me with a feeling of being underwhelmed and frustrated, which have grown upon repeated listens. When the singles for this album began rolling in, all I could think of was, “Yo, not gonna lie… I don’t care for this song! Or this one! Or THIS one!”
The Emptiness Machine is a pop rock song reminiscent of Minutes to Midnight. But the way this song sounds, it’s about as sonically compelling as a Chevrolet car commercial filmed over a mountain side with a dramatic narration before announcing the price of the car as well as the APR financing. Heavy is the Crown tries to echo the same might and pluck as the Meteora era, with a chord progression reminiscent of the hit song “Faint”, but it felt less like a return to form and more like a retread of an old path, long since unkempt with new boots on. And Over each other is an attempt at an alternative rock power ballad that feels like something straight out of the Imagine Dragons playbook. Soaring choruses with vague lyrics over a processed and overly polished pop song, just with some guitars so that it isn’t truly void of any grit. Upon hearing the rest of the records, I came to the conclusion that the first three singles pretty much summarized what the album would be; 32 minutes of an underwhelming journey down memory lane.
Long time member, Mike Shinoda is burdened to play both the captain of the crew and the navigator of the ship. Shinoda’s production style is too rigid, sintered and hinders Linkin Park’s musicianship. And while Shinoda may be good at writing melodies, he is far from one of the best. The pop melodies are obnoxious, the retreading of Hybrid Theory/Meteora are unsubtle and neutered, and the production has this inauthentic bombast to it, that overall, adds up to an end product from a band that’s trying to recapture a fire from a time long since past, but not with the vitae, energy and raw emotion of their older material. Here it all sounds more calculated, processed, clean, and packaged for mass consumption whilst the album is a mixed bag of styles old and new that don’t hit quite the same. Head honcho of the nu metal agenda, Holiday Kirk, states how the band should receive praise for writing songs that are on par with their earlier hits. While I think that these new songs may have hit back in the band’s early days, I respectfully have to disagree, that they are far from on par with their quality.
My biggest issue is that this band has a catching up problem. It’s been made clear with most of their releases post-Meteora that they are trying to replicate some of the trends of current day acts whilst not exactly capitalizing on them in a creative way. Most of their music has been more of a trial run than anything. Attempting to pay attention to what everyone else is doing whilst doing the bare minimum. We have seen this before with The Hunting Party as well, where they basically made a fan appeasement album so as to tell them “there we got your precious guitars, are ya happy now?”. The fault in retreading their old style is that they open themselves up with being not only dated, but outdated.
It is not that Linkin Park don’t do this sound competently enough, it is that I cannot help but compare it to other bands within the modern wave of nu metal and alternative music at large. It’s made painfully obvious to me that they have been surpassed by much of the modern developments within the current nu metal movement. Bad Omens, I Prevail, Hacktivist, Dropout Kings, Issues, Danger Kids, Notions, Spiritbox, Bring me the Horizon, Fire from the Gods, and Darke Complex, and Fever 333 to name a scant few, are bands who add a new twist to the nu metal ethos each time that would also have hit back in the heyday of nu metal as well. Hell, even the artists in other genres that were inspired by it, whether it be Hyperpop, Rapcore, Trap Metal, Rage, Emo Rap, Alternative Hip Hop, Alternative Rock, Digital Hardcore, Post-Hardcore, Metalcore, Drum n Bass, Industrial, Electronic Rock, Rap rock, etc. It all feels like the subsequent developments over the past seven years that Linkin Park have inspired have surpassed them in terms of quality whilst also making music that no doubt would have had a profound effect on the nu metal era of the early 00s. It’s one of the most prime examples of when the student have become the master. While the master becomes stuck in their ways.
A big criticism of the band is that they tend to take a complex emotion and dumb it down to a digestible and marketable degree, which I vehemently am against. What Linkin Park does is prioritize raw emotions as opposed to complex ones. It’s the catharsis of emotion rather than the process behind it. It’s what has made Linkin Park so beloved. But when it comes to this album, I kind of understand now. In that it feels like they took their older sounds from various eras of the band and dumbed it all down. Granted, it is understandable why the band has taken The safer approach. So they do not overstay their welcome and don’t do too much while trying to appease fans old and new. But the price the band pays is a frustrating lack of originality and drive.
While the return to the spotlight is triumphant, the new material remains something to be heard. It feels like it’s pointing up its finger up at full moon, focusing more on the finger and less on the infinite glory. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I am on the younger side, and that I would have been more appreciative it if the band did go all out and went in with fists swinging, and that this may all just be the opinion of a young whipper snapper whose musical opinions and tastes are different than that of my respected colleague and senior Holiday Kirk, but these are all opinions that I stand on.
No one can fill the void that Chester Bennington left. No. One. Especially not the bands that I’ve mentioned, try as they might. That’s why, in spite of everything, I still wish to express my delight for the band’s return. I still have love for them, flaws and all. They’ve been an important part of my life, as well as others in mine and older generations. And I wish for this band to also be just as important part of other people’s lives as well. Linkin Park is a band that’s always looked to the horizon. Maybe From Zero is simply the first in a journey of a thousand steps. While I may not have enjoyed the album as much as I would have liked, I still take great pride and joy out of finally being able to say, once again, “I just listened to the new Linkin Park album!”
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