LINKIN
PARK - Meteora
The hybrid heavy tunes of Linkin
Park (fusing
Metal, rap, borderline boyband vocals, technology and DJ-ing) has pushed
them to the forefront of their contemporaries after only one album (and
a remixed version of it). Some purists feel they're making a mockery of
true hard music, but I have to admit, some of the songs are overpoweringly
infectious, well constructed and accomplished. I've said it many times
over, I'd rather that kids get into this kind of music than not at all
- it may well partially be a commercialized trend, but at least has more
guts and outspoken elements than your run of the mill boyband.
Meteora
does have some philosophy behind it, much of emotional urgency and
vented angst-ridden suppressed aggression. Emotional struggle, self-blame,
trust broken and gained and reflections of insecurities will find a large
audience amid kids who have these feelings of alienation, labeled outsiders
or outcasts - here they get a voice - not all of them want to go the goth
route - here's another avenue to feel understood.
In the sleeve each song
gets a note on its creation, bringing the listener a little deeper into
their creative workings.
Meteora also contains a short film on
the giant scale collaborative making of the album's cover artwork. Screensavers
and additional exclusive stuff can be unlocked via the internet.
4 / A
- Paul Blom
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