I've been listening to Linkin Park for years and every time I put on 'In the End' or 'Numb' it takes me back to high school. My brother says it's old music but I think their songs have something timeless about them. What do you guys think? Is there something special about their sound that keeps it from going out of style?
What keeps Linkin Park relevant is that they mixed rock with electronic elements and rap at a time when that was fresh, but they did it in a way that didn't get trapped in the 2000s - the emotional angst in their lyrics is something anyone understands regardless of what era you grew up in. Plus, that sound is pretty distinctive and hard to replicate, so you don't get that feeling that it's "dated" music like you do with other artists from the same period. Your brother probably doesn't realize that nostalgia is only one factor; a lot of people who didn't even live through those years keep discovering and loving their albums because they just work.
Nostalgia is powerful, but I think it goes deeper than that for you. Their songs work because they have a really solid emotional structure - they don't rely on production effects specific to that era to hit hard, you know? Listen to how the chord progression in "Numb" or the tension they build is almost minimalist underneath all that synth and electronics - it holds up well. Plus, Chester Bennington had this rare ability to sound genuinely vulnerable without getting cheesy, and that doesn't become dated because people still feel that young and out of place in high school no matter what year it is.
I think both things go together, but it's not just that they mixed genres well back then - it's that their lyrics deal with anxiety, alienation, and feeling trapped. Those are problems that didn't disappear in 20 years, so when you listen to "Numb" now it still hits just as hard even if you're 35 and not in high school anymore. The guy's right that it's old music, but what keeps it alive is that it doesn't depend on being trendy with technology or context - the anguish Chester sang about is still super relevant, and that's what makes it stand the test of time.
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