Linkin Park

    The late 1990's saw the explosion of a new genre evolved from a combination of 80's metal and hip-hop. This genre, known as nu-metal, featured a straightforward, but powerful, sound that captured millions of people across America. Bands such as Limp Bizkit, Korn, and System of a Down built strong followings with their heavy songs that featured many of pop punk's essential themes and humor. The leader, though, was a group who came onto the scene in 2000, known as Linkin Park.

    Linkin Park was a unique band in that it was the first to feature a dual vocal combination consisting of a rapper, Mike Shinoda, and a singer, Chester Bennington. Their vocal chemistry served as the spark that lit up the band's flame, which quickly led to a contract with Warner Bros. Records. Their 2000 debut album, Hybrid Theory, became a chart topper and exposed the world to a whole new musical style. How does this relate to pop punk? Two reasons: 1. Linkin Park and many other nu-metal bands wrote songs about similar themes as pop punk songs and were often very angry, and 2. Nu-metal became popular right as the second wave of pop punk became a known commodity, and therefore served as a legitimate rival to the genre. Linkin Park was soon an arena headliner while still maintaining a middle-class mentality, which has only helped to increase their fanbase through kind treatment of their fans. Their 2003 release, Meteora (in all honesty, Meteora is my personal favorite album by any artist all time), continued their success, going multiplatinum. What this basically means is that bands like Linkin Park have been an important factor in confirming the fact that pop punk has actually played the sidekick in most cases to other genres, and that it has needed to adapt massively in order to stay alive. This is why the modern genre is so different from that of the early 1990's. The world is complex, as is music. Every genre and band feeds off of each other and adjusts to each other, and this is what pop punk and nu-metal have done to survive and thrive in American society.

REFLECTION:

Can you think of any other genres that may have caused pop punk to adjust for survival? If so, which ones?

CITATION:

Tyrangiel, Josh. "Linkin Park Steps Out." Time. Jan. 28 2002: n.p. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 14 Apr 2012.