They have paid their dues….In a world of music we are rarely ever surrounded by bands that make such an impact. To many people worldwide the Beatles are regarded as the best rock band to ever grace our earth. In my opinion that isn’t quite true.
In a day and age of free downloading, file sharing, and mp3’s bands are stranding on the shelf waiting to be picked up. Selling albums nowadays is very hard to do, and unlike when the Beatles were selling out like crazy, bands nowadays are struggling to break the 500, 000 mark of gold status. But once in a generation there is resurgence and the music community is rocked to the core and has no choice but to stand up and take notice. Enter Linkin Park. The Nu-Metal turned Alternative rock band that exploded the very second they entered the new millennium. With only 3 albums under there belt, they have already sold over 50 million albums worldwide, 2 Grammy awards to call their own and 8 number 1 songs. With all 3 of their outstanding albums debuting at number 1 and first week sale numbers that match the Beatles how could you not be impressed. Chester Bennington (Lead Vocals, Songwriter), Mike Shinoda (Emcee, Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards and Songwriter), Brad Delson (Lead Guitar), Dave “Phoenix” Farrell (Bass Guitar) and Joe Hahn( Turntables and Programming) have all built themselves on hard work.
Incredible achievements to date – Linkin Park success came after being rejected numerous times on a record deal knocking on doors over a 3 year period (1996 -1999). They struggled to sign a record deal three times with Warner Bros. Records. It was such a low period for Linkin Park. They changed their band name initially from Xero, to Hybrid Theory, and finally to Linkin Park. Why Linkin Park? Well the story goes that, they wanted to change their name to Lincoln Park, a place in Santa Monica, CA but they needed a domain name for their web site and chose the name Linkin Park instead because it was readily available and cheap. Being determined and persistent, and after facing numerous rejections from several major record labels, Linkin Park turned to Jeff Blue for additional help who is now the vice president of Warner Bros. Records, helped the band sign a deal with the company in 1999. The band released their breakthrough album, Hybrid Theory, the following year. The rest is history.
Stepping out of the scene of another mediocre rock band, these men have focused there art on brilliant lyrics and innovative music videos that capture the eye and leave you dazzled. From starting off to humble beginnings to playing to a worldwide audience of sold out arenas averaging 50,000 fans Linkin Park has set themselves above all the rest… and maybe set themselves on a whole other level compared to the Beatles.
