Thursday, June 7, 2012
:).
ACCESORIS:
belt - cinturon
scarf - bufanda
pocket - bolsillo
gloves - guantes
zip - cremallera
STYLE:
baggy - ancho
scarf - bufanda
pocket - bolsillo
gloves - guantes
zip - cremallera
STYLE:
baggy - ancho
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Noeeeeemi! :D (L)
Yesterday I woke up at 7:30.Yesterday it was hot.I walked to school.It took me 10 minutes.
I had lessons in the morning, I talked to Carol and I didn't listen to teachers. I ate what my mother made for lunch.In the afternoon i took a because I was punished.
Any because I left. All afternoon because I was in my room. Upset my mother because I was bored.
Caroooool :)
I woke up at 7:00. It was hot. I walked to school.
It took me 8 minutes.
In the morning I did my homework.
I had a sandwich for lunch.
I took a nap and I went out with my boyfriend.
I got home at 9.
My family was having dinner.
I wached a TV programme called protegidos on TV.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Restaurants in London and New York
Restaurants
Italian and Chinese restaurants are popular in both London and New York.There are also a lot of Indian and Thai restaurants in London and Mexican in New York.
Cafés
London has a lot of coffee shops.New York has 'diners'.These typical American cafés.
Where teenagers go
A survey of 13 to 16-year-old teenagers in London and new York found that:
· 85% regulary go to either burger bars or pizza restaurants.
· 80% say that their favourite place to celebrate a birthday is a music café or a sports café.
Eanting out in the UK and the USA
Restaurants
italian and CHINESEse restaurants are popular in both london and new york.There are also a lot of indian and thail restaurants in lodon and mexican restaurants in New yok
Cafés
London has a lot of coffe shops. New york has diners. These are typical American cafés.
Where teenagers go
A survey of 13 to 16-year-old teenagers in lodon and New york found that:
. 85% regularly go to either burger bars or pizza restaurants.
. 80% say that their favourite place to celebrate a birthday is a music cafe or a sports cafe
Thursday, March 22, 2012
City life or country life?
I don't like either city life or country life.The country life is boring and too quiet.And the city life is dangerous and noisy.I prefer the beach, because it is very relaxing.
Cyty life or Country life?
I love the cityty life in the winter and the country life in the summer.
EXPLANATION
Ilike living in the city because you can find everything you need more easily than in the country.
I like living in the country because life is more relaxing than in the city
EXPLANATION
Ilike living in the city because you can find everything you need more easily than in the country.
I like living in the country because life is more relaxing than in the city
I like city life o contry life?
I like city life.
I like the city, because I like going out and meeting people.
I like the city, because I like going out and meeting people.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The notebook ( El diario de Noa )
In the summer of 1940 in Seabrook, South Carolina. Noah and Allie met fell in love. Now an old man tells his fellow asylum the love story of these young people while reading the diary of Allie.
The film begins when an old friend of hers read a story between two young lovers, Allie and Noah. The story goes back to the summer of 1940Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) is a girl from a wealthy family that spends the summer in Seabrook. In carnival, Allie meets Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), a young man of the people working in the lumber mill. During the summer, Noah and Allie fall in love while they spend time together.
There they begin to live their love pure and transparent despite their social and economic differences. Allie's parents learn it and decide to separate them. One night when Noah and Allie are delayed live her life to the early morning, Allie parents to call the police to find it. Aware of this through a friend of Noah, this leads immediately to his house, where Allie is severely repressed by his mother, neglecting this at all times to Noah. After Noah leaves the house to retire and Allie runs after him and apologizes, he tells her he understands and has to go and makes you see that she has a life ahead with things that can never give them , she asks him to live together where you go, Noah says no time to respond and have yet to think about summer, Allie interprets this as he wants to end it and break. Allie's family decides to leave Seabrook the next day, before this Allie before he left, goes looking for Noah to work but can not find it and asks the best friend, who says they never finished, that you love and it will never stop loving him. Noah hears this and runs to fetch her home and realize reality. Devastated, he wrote a letter every day for a year, Allie's mother hides. Receiving no response, Noah moved to Atlanta. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, he enlisted in the Army during World War II, while studying at university Allie.
While studying, Allie volunteered ago as a nursing assistant for wounded soldiers and meets Lon Hammond, Jr. (James Marsden)-a young man, handsome, charming, and wealthy family. Lon and Allie are committed, and in the meantime, Noah returns home. His father tells you that you are selling your current home, so Noah buys the Old Windsor (the old abandoned house that Noah promised to restore Alli could live together). While on a visit to Charleston, South Carolina, Noah sees Allie walking down the street. He follows her to go into a restaurant where he sees Allie and Lon kissing. Devastated, Noah, restore the old house, believing that if he keeps his promise, Allie again. Once the house, Noah tries to sell it, but can not.
At present, it is clear that the old is Allie and Noah is the narrator. However, she does not recognize their children and families because of their dementia.
The film returns to 1947. While testing your wedding dress with family and friends, Allie reads about Noah's house in the newspaper and faints. After some thought, decided to go visit. Noah and Allie talk at dinner, and she makes it clear that is going to marry. They talk about their memories together, and when it's time to leave Allie, Noah asks him to return the next day because he has a surprise. The next day, Noah takes Allie to the lake in a canoe and start talking. On the way back home in the rain, Allie gets angry and asks why Noah never wrote. He tells her that he wrote a letter every day for a year. They kiss passionately and go home to make love. After two days of passion, Allie's mother appears as Noah is out and tells his daughter that Lon has followed her to Seabrook. Allie's mother takes her away and tells him that she also had a summer love and that is still seeing it sometimes. Once the home brings back to Noah, Allie's mother gives her daughter the bundle of 365 letters that Noah had written, saying he expected to take the right decision. Noah tells Allie that Lon is in town and that the last days have been wonderful, but that was very irresponsible. Noah was furious and accused of Lon only love your money, and says that if he goes, he will hate forever. He says that if you really want to be with Lon, then must go, because once lost it and could happen again. Confused, Allie leaves.
Distraught, Allie for your car, read his farewell letter to Noah and then drive to the hotel which houses Lon, to talk to him about what happened. Allie says she knows she has to be with Lon, which means he's staying with him. However, the picture changes to Noah, he hears a noise from a car outside. On rising, Allie sees in him, which apparently has left Lon to return with him.
Returning to the present, Allie realizes that she and Noah are the heroes of the story. A few minutes until it returns to fall into oblivion and begins to scream and push again to Noah. That same night Noah looks at the books and the audience discovers that Allie wrote the book with this message written on the front: "Read me this, and return with you every time." Noah see also a photo album, which has the audience that Noah and Allie were married, had children and lived a wonderful life together.
The next morning the nurse finds Noah in critical condition. He is saved from his heart attack and cast Allie's room when he returns from the hospital. She is awake and able to remember Noah and asks if your love is strong enough to do miracles and bring them together. Noah tells him that his love can do whatever they want to do. In the morning, both are found dead, sleeping peacefully beside and holding hands. The film closes with a flock of birds flying over a lake.
A film review : Km 31
This film is a horror movie.
Following a horrible street accident Agata is in a coma – and Catalina begins to experience the pain and terror that her unconscious sister is going through Catalina must try to solve the mystery of her twin sister’s accident at ‘Km. 31’ and discovers a local legend that tells of malignant spirits that prowl the highway ‘Km 31’ and who are said to prey on travellers… Following a series of terrifying events, Catalina realizes that their link is growing stronger and that her sister Agata is screaming for help from her unconscious state.With the help of Nuño, Agata’s long time friend and Omar, Agata’s boyfriend, they soon discover that not only is Agata in a coma, but she is also trapped between life and death, between reality and a terrible netherworld of evil spirits and ancient legend.
Following a horrible street accident Agata is in a coma – and Catalina begins to experience the pain and terror that her unconscious sister is going through Catalina must try to solve the mystery of her twin sister’s accident at ‘Km. 31’ and discovers a local legend that tells of malignant spirits that prowl the highway ‘Km 31’ and who are said to prey on travellers… Following a series of terrifying events, Catalina realizes that their link is growing stronger and that her sister Agata is screaming for help from her unconscious state.With the help of Nuño, Agata’s long time friend and Omar, Agata’s boyfriend, they soon discover that not only is Agata in a coma, but she is also trapped between life and death, between reality and a terrible netherworld of evil spirits and ancient legend.
A FILM REVIEW :TITANIC
tHIS FILM IS A ROMANCE.
4 years later a 100-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukator tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell, and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon Cal Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
day 8 international day of Women working:)
The International Day of Working Women and International Women's Day is celebrated on March 8. The first call took place in 1911 in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Switzerland extediéndose its commemoration since then many countries. In 1977 the General Assembly of the Organization of the United Nations (UN) declared March 8 as International Day for Women's Rights and International Peace. On March 8 commemorates the struggle of women for their participation, on equal terms with men in society and integral development as a person. Is a national holiday in some countries
women's international day
Phrases Day Woman 2012
mujer inspiradora de , paciente, silenciosa
No temas gritar tu soledad, por qué estás sola?
Cuando el amor se va de tu vida ha perdido él el timón que le conducía.
Mujer inquebrantable, cundo sientes que arrebatan lo que amas,
Tu llanto son mares sin calma
changes inspirational woman, patient, silent
Fear not scream your loneliness, why are you alone?
When love leaves your life has lost the rudder that he was driving.
Women unwavering, Cundo feel you snatch what you love,
Your tears are not calm seas
Cuando un hombre te lastima, tus heridas sangran
Los reveces del tiempo te hacen temblar
Pero temblando sigues confiando que un día llegará
Aquel que pueda abrir sus ojos para mirar tu alma.
When a man hurts you, your wounds bleed
The weather setbacks make you tremble
But trembling still hoping that one day come
He who can open their eyes to see your soul.
mujer inspiradora de , paciente, silenciosa
No temas gritar tu soledad, por qué estás sola?
Cuando el amor se va de tu vida ha perdido él el timón que le conducía.
Mujer inquebrantable, cundo sientes que arrebatan lo que amas,
Tu llanto son mares sin calma
changes inspirational woman, patient, silent
Fear not scream your loneliness, why are you alone?
When love leaves your life has lost the rudder that he was driving.
Women unwavering, Cundo feel you snatch what you love,
Your tears are not calm seas
Cuando un hombre te lastima, tus heridas sangran
Los reveces del tiempo te hacen temblar
Pero temblando sigues confiando que un día llegará
Aquel que pueda abrir sus ojos para mirar tu alma.
When a man hurts you, your wounds bleed
The weather setbacks make you tremble
But trembling still hoping that one day come
He who can open their eyes to see your soul.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Linkin parkkkkk!!! (LLL')
History
Early years (1996–1999)
The founding of Linkin Park began with three high school friends; Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson.[15] After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, Xero. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda’s make-shift bedroom studio in 1996.[15][16] Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal.[15] The lack of success and stalemate in progress prompted Wakefield, at that time the band's vocalist, to leave the band in search of other projects.[15][16] Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax and other bands.[17][18]
After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist, Chester Bennington, who was recommended by Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999.[19] Bennington, formerly of a post-grunge band by the name of Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style.[15] The band then agreed on changing its name from Xero to Hybrid Theory.[17] The newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material.[15] The band’s renaissance culminated with a change in name; from Hybrid Theory, the band once again changed its name, this time to Linkin Park, a play on and homage to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park.[15] However, despite these changes, the band still struggled to sign a record deal. After facing numerous rejections from several major record labels, Linkin Park turned to Jeff Blue for additional help. After failing to catch Warner Bros. Records on three previous reviews, Jeff Blue, now the vice president of Warner Bros. Records, helped the band sign a deal with the company in 1999. The band released its breakthrough album, Hybrid Theory, the following year.[19]
Hybrid Theory (2000–2002)
Main article: Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000.[20][21] The album, which represented half a decade’s worth of the band’s work, was edited by Don Gilmore.[15] Hybrid Theory was a massive commercial success; it sold more than 4.8 million copies during its debut year, earning it the status of best-selling album of 2001, while singles such as "Crawling" and "One Step Closer" established themselves as staples among alternative rock radio play lists during the year.[17] Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as Dracula 2000, Little Nicky, and Valentine.[17] Hybrid Theory won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Rock Album.[22] MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "In the End".[15] Through the winning of the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, Hybrid Theory’s overall success had catapulted the band into mainstream success.
During this time, Linkin Park received many invitations to perform on many high-profile tours and concerts including Ozzfest, Family Values Tour and KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas.[17][23] The band also formed its own tour, Projekt Revolution, which featured other notable artists such as Cypress Hill, Adema, and Snoop Dogg.[19] Within a year’s stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts.[15] The experiences and performances of the precocious band were documented in its first DVD, Frat Party at the Pankake Festival, which debuted in November 2001. Now reunited with former bassist Phoenix, the band began work on a remix album, dubbed Reanimation, which would include works from Hybrid Theory and non-album tracks also.[17] Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of Black Thought, Jonathan Davis, Aaron Lewis, and many others.[24] Reanimation claimed the second spot on the Billboard 200, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week.[25] Hybrid Theory is also in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums.[26]
Meteora (2002–2004)
Main article: Meteora (album)
Following the success of Hybrid Theory and Reanimation, Linkin Park spent a significant amount of time touring around the United States. The band members began to work on new material amidst its saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio.[27] The band officially announced the production of a new studio album in December 2002, revealing its new work was inspired by the rocky region of Meteora in Greece, where numerous monasteries have been built on top of the rocks.[28] Meteora features a mixture of the band's previous nu metal and rapcore styles with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and other instruments.[15] Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition,[15] going to No.1 in the US and UK, and No.2 in Australia.[16]
Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the Billboard charts at the time.[29] The album's singles, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Breaking the Habit", "Faint", and "Numb", received significant radio attention.[30] By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies.[31] The album's success allowed Linkin Park to form another Projekt Revolution, which featured other bands and artists including, Mudvayne, Blindside, and Xzibit.[15] Additionally, Metallica invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Deftones.[32] The band released an album and DVD, entitled Live in Texas, which consisted of audio and video tracks of some of the band's performances in Texas during the tour.[15] In early 2004, Linkin Park started a world tour titled the Meteora World Tour. Supporting bands on the tour included Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Story of the Year.
Meteora earned the band multiple awards and honors. The band won the MTV awards for Best Rock Video for "Somewhere I Belong" and the Viewer's Choice Award for "Breaking the Habit".[33] Linkin Park also received significant recognition during the 2004 Radio Music Awards, winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards.[33] Although Meteora was not nearly as successful as Hybrid Theory, it was the third best selling album in the United States during 2003.[17] The band spent the first few months of 2004 touring around the world, first with the third Projekt Revolution tour, and later several European concerts.[17]
Side projects (2004–2006)
Mike Shinoda interviewed with MTV Thailand in Bangkok
Following Meteora's success, the band postponed working on a new studio album for the next few years. Instead, Linkin Park continued to tour and work on many side projects. Bennington appeared on DJ Lethal’s "State of the Art" and other work with Dead by Sunrise, while Shinoda did work with Depeche Mode.[17] In 2004, the band began to work with Jay-Z to produce another remix album, entitled Collision Course. The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed a new band, Fort Minor, as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released its debut album, The Rising Tied, to critical acclaim.[34][35] At the same time, the band's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues.[36] After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.[37]
Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of hurricane Charley in 2004 and later hurricane Katrina in 2005.[17] The band donated $75,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in March 2004.[38] They also helped relief efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called "Music for Relief".[39] Most notably, however, the band participated at Live 8, a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness.[40] Alongside Jay-Z, the band performed on Live 8's stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a global audience.[40] The band would later be reunited with Jay-Z at the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006, during which they performed "Numb/Encore", en route to winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.[41] They were joined on stage by Paul McCartney who added verses from the song "Yesterday". They would later go on to play at the 2006 Summer Sonic music festival, which was hosted by Metallica in Japan.[42]
Minutes to Midnight (2006–2008)
Main article: Minutes to Midnight (album)
Linkin Park performing at 2007's Novarock Festival
Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007.[8] The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed.[43] Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from its previous nu metal sound.[44] Warner Bros. Records officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States.[45] After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band members opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes.[46] Minutes to Midnight sold over 625,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.[11]
The album's first single, "What I've Done", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse within the same week.[47] The single was acclaimed by listeners, becoming the top-ranked song on the Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.[48] The song is also used in soundtrack for the 2007 action film, Transformers. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the Styles of Beyond song "Second to None" which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards.[49] The band also saw success with the rest of the albums singles, "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", "Given Up", and "Leave Out All the Rest", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with Busta Rhymes on his single "We Made It", which was released on April 29.[50]
Linkin Park's touring and live shows have, among other things, included a performance at Live Earth Japan on July 7, 2007.[51] and headlining Download Festival in Donington Park, England and Edgefest in Downsview Park, Toronto, Canada. The band completed touring on its fourth Projekt Revolution tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, before finishing on a double night at the O2 arena in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight.[52] However, he stated the band will first embark on a United States tour to gather inspiration for the album.[52] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bennington said that the band had already begun writing new material for the album, and Shinoda too stated that the album could well be released in late 2009. Mike Shinoda also announced a live CD/DVD entitled Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes, which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.[53]
A Thousand Suns (2008–2011)
Main article: A Thousand Suns
Linkin Park performing at Sonisphere Festival in Finland.
In May 2009, Linkin Park announced they were working on a fourth studio album, which was planned to be released on 2010. Shinoda told IGN that the new album would be 'genre-busting,' while building off of elements in Minutes to Midnight.[54] He also mentioned that the album would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge."[55] Bennington also addressed the media to confirm that Rick Rubin would return to produce the new album. The band later revealed the album would be called A Thousand Suns.[56]
While working on the new album, Linkin Park worked with successful film composer Hans Zimmer to produce the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.[57] The band released a single for the movie, entitled "New Divide". Joe Hahn created a music video for the song, which featured clips from the film.[58] On June 22, Linkin Park played a short set in Westwood Village after the premier of the movie.[59] After completing work for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the band returned to the studio to finalize their album.[60]
On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song entitled "Not Alone" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage.
On April 26, the band released an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, a game called 8-Bit Rebellion! It featured the band as playable characters, and a new song called "Blackbirds" which was unlockable by beating the game. The song was also later released as an iTunes bonus track on A Thousand Suns.
A Thousand Suns was released on September 14. The album’s first single, "The Catalyst", was released on August 2. The band promoted their new album by launching a concert tour, which started in Los Angeles on September 7.[61][62][63] Linkin Park also relied on MySpace to promote their album, releasing two additional songs, "Waiting for the End" and "Blackout" on September 8.[64][65][66][67] Furthermore, a documentary about the album's production, entitled Meeting of A Thousand Suns, was available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.[68] The venue of the debut live performance of the single was Griffith Observatory, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies.[69][70][71] "Waiting for the End" was released as the second single of A Thousand Suns.
Linkin Park reached No.8 in Billboard Social 50, a chart of the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites.[72] In other Billboard Year-End charts, the band reached No.92 in the "Top Artists" chart,[73] as well as A Thousand Suns reaching No.53 in the Year-End chart of the Billboard Top 200 albums[74] and No.7 in the 2010 Year-End Rock Albums, and "The Catalyst" reaching No.40 in the Year-End Rock Songs chart.[75]
On January 11, 2011, an updated version of Download to Donate for Haiti was launched, called Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0, with more songs to download. For the updated compilation, the band released Keaton Hashimoto's remix of "The Catalyst" from the "Linkin Park featuring YOU" contest.[76] "Burning in the Skies" was released as the third official single of A Thousand Suns on March 21, 2011.
Shinoda designed two t-shirts, in which the proceeds will go to Music For Relief to help the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disasters.[77][78] Music For Relief released Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan, another compilation of songs, in which the proceeds will go to Save the Children.[79]
On April 13, 2011, Shinoda confirmed that the album's fourth single will be "Iridescent". He also confirmed that there will be a new, slightly shorter version of the song, which will be part of the soundtrack of the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, continuing the streak of Linkin Park songs being the theme songs of the Transformers films (after "What I've Done" and "New Divide"), as well as the fact that a music video will be shot for the single.[80] The video was directed by Joe Hahn, who directed the videos for both of the previous songs.
The band were nominated for six Billboard Awards in 2011 for Top Duo/Group, Best Rock Album for A Thousand Suns, Top Rock Artist, Top Alternative Artist, Top Alternative Song for "Waiting for the End" and Top Alternative Album for A Thousand Suns, but did not win any award.[81]
The band charted in numerous Billboard Year-End charts in 2011. The band was No.39 in the Top Artists Chart,[82] No.84 in the Billboard 200 Artists chart,[83] No.11 in the Social 50 Chart,[84] No.6 in the Top Rock Artists Chart,[85] No.9 in the Rock Songs Artists Chart,[86] No.16 in the Rock Albums Chart,[87] No.4 in the Hard Rock Albums Chart,[88] and No.7 in the Alternative Songs Chart.[89]
Fifth album (2011–present)
In June 2011, Bennington revealed to Kerrang! that Linkin Park has begun working on new material for their next album. He explained, "We've been working on a new record for the past two months. The music is great and we're well ahead of where we're expecting to be. There aren't a whole lot of noises going on, but there are a lot of good songs. It will probably get a very polarized reaction. Which pleases me. As an artist, I want a reaction." The singer added that the band would be looking to tackle controversial topics on their new album, rather than the more personal subjects of their older material. "We've learned how to write serious songs and serious lyrics. We've learned how to deal with politics, faith and other things. Those are things that can get preachy really quickly, which we don't want to do. So you need to learn to talk to people and not at people", he said.[90]
Rick Rubin will be a producer on the new album. "Typically we'll have a once-a-week meeting to go listen to the songs that they're coming up with and talk about them. For so early in the project, they are much further along than they have been on the last two albums we did. On A Thousand Suns there were still a lot of irons in the fire. We knew, 'OK, we can't do this forever. Let's leave this batch and we'll come back and address it when we start up again'", Rubin said.[91]
In July 2011, Bennington told Rolling Stone that Linkin Park aims to produce a new album every eighteen months, and that he would be shocked if a new album did not come out in 2012. The band continues to record and produce new material even while touring. Bennington commented on Linkin Park's schedule, stating, "Touring for two years is excruciating. When we would tour for two years even the most resilient person in the band, at the end of that, was fucking miserable."[92] He further elaborated on their ideas in an interview with MTV saying, "We do have a really great head start. We've got some great music, some good ideas. The creativity has continued to flow for us for the last few years, consistently."[93] He later revealed in another interview in September 2011 that the band was still in the beginning phases of the next album, saying "We just kind of began. We like to keep the creative juices flowing, so we try to keep that going all the time...we like the direction that we're going in."[94]
In November 8, 2011, the band was awarded with a Global Leadership Award at the Global Leadership Awards Dinner of the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Association of the United States of America, for their efforts to highlight the importance of the UN and for utilizing their fan base to help those in need through Music For Relief. The band also announced their "Power the World" campaign.[95] "Power the World" encourages their fans to donate in order to give one million families in Haiti solar-powered lights, since the country still faces severe energy poverty. The project supports the Sustainable Energy For All initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[96] The band released several YouTube videos to promote the campaign.[97][98][99]
Musical style
Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combine the alternative metal,[7] nu metal,[100][101] and rap rock[101][102] sound with influences and elements from hip-hop, alternative rock,[103] and electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. William Ruhlmann from Allmusic regarded it as "a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style,"[104] whereas Rolling Stone described their song "Breaking the Habit" as "risky, beautiful art".[105]
In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented with their established sound and drew influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles, a process Los Angeles Times compares to a stage in U2's work.[106] In it, only two of the songs feature rapping, and the majority of the album can be considered alternative rock.[107][108] NME magazine's Dan Silver criticized the band's approach, calling it the "sound of a band trying and failing to forge a new identity", and referring to the song "Hands Held High", a song about terrorist attacks and war, as "far and away the funniest thing you will hear all year".[109]
The vocal interplay between Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda plays as a major part within Linkin Park's music, with Bennington being the lead vocalist and Shinoda as the rapping vocalist. On Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight, Shinoda sings lead vocals on "In Between", "Hands Held High", and on the B-side "No Roads Left". On numerous songs from band's fourth album, A Thousand Suns, such as the album's four singles, both Shinoda and Bennington sing. On most of the record's tracks, the band notably used electronic drumbeats along with outro drumbeats. The album has been regarded as a turning point in the band's musical career by notable critics. James Montgomery, of MTV, compared the record to Radiohead's Kid A,[110] while Jordy Kasko of Review, Rinse, Repeat likened the album to both Kid A and Pink Floyd's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon.[111] Shinoda stated that he and the other band members were deeply influenced by Chuck D and Public Enemy. He elaborated: "Public Enemy were very three-dimensional with their records because although they seemed political, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on in there too. It made me think how three-dimensional I wanted our record to be without imitating them of course, and show where we were at creatively".[112] One of the record's political elements is its samples of notable speeches by American political figures
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries.[1] Its following studio album, Meteora, continued the band's success, topping the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003, and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world.[2] In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth greatest band of the music video era and the third best of the new millennium behind Oasis and Coldplay.[3] Billboard ranked Linkin Park #19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart.[4]
Having adapted the nu metal and rap metal genres to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora,[5][6][7] the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007.[8][9] The album topped the Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year.[10][11] The band has collaborated with several other artists, most notably with rapper Jay-Z in their mashup EP Collision Course, and many others included on Reanimation.[6] The band's most recent work, the concept album A Thousand Suns, was released on September 8, 2010. Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy Awards.
Early years (1996–1999)
History
Early years (1996–1999)
The founding of Linkin Park began with three high school friends; Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson.[15] After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, Xero. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda’s make-shift bedroom studio in 1996.[15][16] Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal.[15] The lack of success and stalemate in progress prompted Wakefield, at that time the band's vocalist, to leave the band in search of other projects.[15][16] Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax and other bands.[17][18]
After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist, Chester Bennington, who was recommended by Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999.[19] Bennington, formerly of a post-grunge band by the name of Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style.[15] The band then agreed on changing its name from Xero to Hybrid Theory.[17] The newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material.[15] The band’s renaissance culminated with a change in name; from Hybrid Theory, the band once again changed its name, this time to Linkin Park, a play on and homage to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park.[15] However, despite these changes, the band still struggled to sign a record deal. After facing numerous rejections from several major record labels, Linkin Park turned to Jeff Blue for additional help. After failing to catch Warner Bros. Records on three previous reviews, Jeff Blue, now the vice president of Warner Bros. Records, helped the band sign a deal with the company in 1999. The band released its breakthrough album, Hybrid Theory, the following year.[19]
Hybrid Theory (2000–2002)
Main article: Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000.[20][21] The album, which represented half a decade’s worth of the band’s work, was edited by Don Gilmore.[15] Hybrid Theory was a massive commercial success; it sold more than 4.8 million copies during its debut year, earning it the status of best-selling album of 2001, while singles such as "Crawling" and "One Step Closer" established themselves as staples among alternative rock radio play lists during the year.[17] Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as Dracula 2000, Little Nicky, and Valentine.[17] Hybrid Theory won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Rock Album.[22] MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "In the End".[15] Through the winning of the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, Hybrid Theory’s overall success had catapulted the band into mainstream success.
During this time, Linkin Park received many invitations to perform on many high-profile tours and concerts including Ozzfest, Family Values Tour and KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas.[17][23] The band also formed its own tour, Projekt Revolution, which featured other notable artists such as Cypress Hill, Adema, and Snoop Dogg.[19] Within a year’s stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts.[15] The experiences and performances of the precocious band were documented in its first DVD, Frat Party at the Pankake Festival, which debuted in November 2001. Now reunited with former bassist Phoenix, the band began work on a remix album, dubbed Reanimation, which would include works from Hybrid Theory and non-album tracks also.[17] Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of Black Thought, Jonathan Davis, Aaron Lewis, and many others.[24] Reanimation claimed the second spot on the Billboard 200, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week.[25] Hybrid Theory is also in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums.[26]
Meteora (2002–2004)
Main article: Meteora (album)
Following the success of Hybrid Theory and Reanimation, Linkin Park spent a significant amount of time touring around the United States. The band members began to work on new material amidst its saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio.[27] The band officially announced the production of a new studio album in December 2002, revealing its new work was inspired by the rocky region of Meteora in Greece, where numerous monasteries have been built on top of the rocks.[28] Meteora features a mixture of the band's previous nu metal and rapcore styles with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and other instruments.[15] Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition,[15] going to No.1 in the US and UK, and No.2 in Australia.[16]
Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the Billboard charts at the time.[29] The album's singles, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Breaking the Habit", "Faint", and "Numb", received significant radio attention.[30] By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies.[31] The album's success allowed Linkin Park to form another Projekt Revolution, which featured other bands and artists including, Mudvayne, Blindside, and Xzibit.[15] Additionally, Metallica invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Deftones.[32] The band released an album and DVD, entitled Live in Texas, which consisted of audio and video tracks of some of the band's performances in Texas during the tour.[15] In early 2004, Linkin Park started a world tour titled the Meteora World Tour. Supporting bands on the tour included Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Story of the Year.
Meteora earned the band multiple awards and honors. The band won the MTV awards for Best Rock Video for "Somewhere I Belong" and the Viewer's Choice Award for "Breaking the Habit".[33] Linkin Park also received significant recognition during the 2004 Radio Music Awards, winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards.[33] Although Meteora was not nearly as successful as Hybrid Theory, it was the third best selling album in the United States during 2003.[17] The band spent the first few months of 2004 touring around the world, first with the third Projekt Revolution tour, and later several European concerts.[17]
Side projects (2004–2006)
Mike Shinoda interviewed with MTV Thailand in Bangkok
Following Meteora's success, the band postponed working on a new studio album for the next few years. Instead, Linkin Park continued to tour and work on many side projects. Bennington appeared on DJ Lethal’s "State of the Art" and other work with Dead by Sunrise, while Shinoda did work with Depeche Mode.[17] In 2004, the band began to work with Jay-Z to produce another remix album, entitled Collision Course. The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed a new band, Fort Minor, as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released its debut album, The Rising Tied, to critical acclaim.[34][35] At the same time, the band's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues.[36] After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.[37]
Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of hurricane Charley in 2004 and later hurricane Katrina in 2005.[17] The band donated $75,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in March 2004.[38] They also helped relief efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called "Music for Relief".[39] Most notably, however, the band participated at Live 8, a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness.[40] Alongside Jay-Z, the band performed on Live 8's stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a global audience.[40] The band would later be reunited with Jay-Z at the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006, during which they performed "Numb/Encore", en route to winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.[41] They were joined on stage by Paul McCartney who added verses from the song "Yesterday". They would later go on to play at the 2006 Summer Sonic music festival, which was hosted by Metallica in Japan.[42]
Minutes to Midnight (2006–2008)
Main article: Minutes to Midnight (album)
Linkin Park performing at 2007's Novarock Festival
Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007.[8] The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed.[43] Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from its previous nu metal sound.[44] Warner Bros. Records officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States.[45] After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band members opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes.[46] Minutes to Midnight sold over 625,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.[11]
The album's first single, "What I've Done", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse within the same week.[47] The single was acclaimed by listeners, becoming the top-ranked song on the Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.[48] The song is also used in soundtrack for the 2007 action film, Transformers. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the Styles of Beyond song "Second to None" which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards.[49] The band also saw success with the rest of the albums singles, "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", "Given Up", and "Leave Out All the Rest", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with Busta Rhymes on his single "We Made It", which was released on April 29.[50]
Linkin Park's touring and live shows have, among other things, included a performance at Live Earth Japan on July 7, 2007.[51] and headlining Download Festival in Donington Park, England and Edgefest in Downsview Park, Toronto, Canada. The band completed touring on its fourth Projekt Revolution tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, before finishing on a double night at the O2 arena in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight.[52] However, he stated the band will first embark on a United States tour to gather inspiration for the album.[52] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bennington said that the band had already begun writing new material for the album, and Shinoda too stated that the album could well be released in late 2009. Mike Shinoda also announced a live CD/DVD entitled Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes, which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.[53]
A Thousand Suns (2008–2011)
Main article: A Thousand Suns
Linkin Park performing at Sonisphere Festival in Finland.
In May 2009, Linkin Park announced they were working on a fourth studio album, which was planned to be released on 2010. Shinoda told IGN that the new album would be 'genre-busting,' while building off of elements in Minutes to Midnight.[54] He also mentioned that the album would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge."[55] Bennington also addressed the media to confirm that Rick Rubin would return to produce the new album. The band later revealed the album would be called A Thousand Suns.[56]
While working on the new album, Linkin Park worked with successful film composer Hans Zimmer to produce the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.[57] The band released a single for the movie, entitled "New Divide". Joe Hahn created a music video for the song, which featured clips from the film.[58] On June 22, Linkin Park played a short set in Westwood Village after the premier of the movie.[59] After completing work for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the band returned to the studio to finalize their album.[60]
On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song entitled "Not Alone" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage.
On April 26, the band released an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, a game called 8-Bit Rebellion! It featured the band as playable characters, and a new song called "Blackbirds" which was unlockable by beating the game. The song was also later released as an iTunes bonus track on A Thousand Suns.
A Thousand Suns was released on September 14. The album’s first single, "The Catalyst", was released on August 2. The band promoted their new album by launching a concert tour, which started in Los Angeles on September 7.[61][62][63] Linkin Park also relied on MySpace to promote their album, releasing two additional songs, "Waiting for the End" and "Blackout" on September 8.[64][65][66][67] Furthermore, a documentary about the album's production, entitled Meeting of A Thousand Suns, was available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.[68] The venue of the debut live performance of the single was Griffith Observatory, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies.[69][70][71] "Waiting for the End" was released as the second single of A Thousand Suns.
Linkin Park reached No.8 in Billboard Social 50, a chart of the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites.[72] In other Billboard Year-End charts, the band reached No.92 in the "Top Artists" chart,[73] as well as A Thousand Suns reaching No.53 in the Year-End chart of the Billboard Top 200 albums[74] and No.7 in the 2010 Year-End Rock Albums, and "The Catalyst" reaching No.40 in the Year-End Rock Songs chart.[75]
On January 11, 2011, an updated version of Download to Donate for Haiti was launched, called Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0, with more songs to download. For the updated compilation, the band released Keaton Hashimoto's remix of "The Catalyst" from the "Linkin Park featuring YOU" contest.[76] "Burning in the Skies" was released as the third official single of A Thousand Suns on March 21, 2011.
Shinoda designed two t-shirts, in which the proceeds will go to Music For Relief to help the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disasters.[77][78] Music For Relief released Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan, another compilation of songs, in which the proceeds will go to Save the Children.[79]
On April 13, 2011, Shinoda confirmed that the album's fourth single will be "Iridescent". He also confirmed that there will be a new, slightly shorter version of the song, which will be part of the soundtrack of the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, continuing the streak of Linkin Park songs being the theme songs of the Transformers films (after "What I've Done" and "New Divide"), as well as the fact that a music video will be shot for the single.[80] The video was directed by Joe Hahn, who directed the videos for both of the previous songs.
The band were nominated for six Billboard Awards in 2011 for Top Duo/Group, Best Rock Album for A Thousand Suns, Top Rock Artist, Top Alternative Artist, Top Alternative Song for "Waiting for the End" and Top Alternative Album for A Thousand Suns, but did not win any award.[81]
The band charted in numerous Billboard Year-End charts in 2011. The band was No.39 in the Top Artists Chart,[82] No.84 in the Billboard 200 Artists chart,[83] No.11 in the Social 50 Chart,[84] No.6 in the Top Rock Artists Chart,[85] No.9 in the Rock Songs Artists Chart,[86] No.16 in the Rock Albums Chart,[87] No.4 in the Hard Rock Albums Chart,[88] and No.7 in the Alternative Songs Chart.[89]
Fifth album (2011–present)
In June 2011, Bennington revealed to Kerrang! that Linkin Park has begun working on new material for their next album. He explained, "We've been working on a new record for the past two months. The music is great and we're well ahead of where we're expecting to be. There aren't a whole lot of noises going on, but there are a lot of good songs. It will probably get a very polarized reaction. Which pleases me. As an artist, I want a reaction." The singer added that the band would be looking to tackle controversial topics on their new album, rather than the more personal subjects of their older material. "We've learned how to write serious songs and serious lyrics. We've learned how to deal with politics, faith and other things. Those are things that can get preachy really quickly, which we don't want to do. So you need to learn to talk to people and not at people", he said.[90]
Rick Rubin will be a producer on the new album. "Typically we'll have a once-a-week meeting to go listen to the songs that they're coming up with and talk about them. For so early in the project, they are much further along than they have been on the last two albums we did. On A Thousand Suns there were still a lot of irons in the fire. We knew, 'OK, we can't do this forever. Let's leave this batch and we'll come back and address it when we start up again'", Rubin said.[91]
In July 2011, Bennington told Rolling Stone that Linkin Park aims to produce a new album every eighteen months, and that he would be shocked if a new album did not come out in 2012. The band continues to record and produce new material even while touring. Bennington commented on Linkin Park's schedule, stating, "Touring for two years is excruciating. When we would tour for two years even the most resilient person in the band, at the end of that, was fucking miserable."[92] He further elaborated on their ideas in an interview with MTV saying, "We do have a really great head start. We've got some great music, some good ideas. The creativity has continued to flow for us for the last few years, consistently."[93] He later revealed in another interview in September 2011 that the band was still in the beginning phases of the next album, saying "We just kind of began. We like to keep the creative juices flowing, so we try to keep that going all the time...we like the direction that we're going in."[94]
In November 8, 2011, the band was awarded with a Global Leadership Award at the Global Leadership Awards Dinner of the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Association of the United States of America, for their efforts to highlight the importance of the UN and for utilizing their fan base to help those in need through Music For Relief. The band also announced their "Power the World" campaign.[95] "Power the World" encourages their fans to donate in order to give one million families in Haiti solar-powered lights, since the country still faces severe energy poverty. The project supports the Sustainable Energy For All initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[96] The band released several YouTube videos to promote the campaign.[97][98][99]
Musical style
Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combine the alternative metal,[7] nu metal,[100][101] and rap rock[101][102] sound with influences and elements from hip-hop, alternative rock,[103] and electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. William Ruhlmann from Allmusic regarded it as "a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style,"[104] whereas Rolling Stone described their song "Breaking the Habit" as "risky, beautiful art".[105]
In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented with their established sound and drew influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles, a process Los Angeles Times compares to a stage in U2's work.[106] In it, only two of the songs feature rapping, and the majority of the album can be considered alternative rock.[107][108] NME magazine's Dan Silver criticized the band's approach, calling it the "sound of a band trying and failing to forge a new identity", and referring to the song "Hands Held High", a song about terrorist attacks and war, as "far and away the funniest thing you will hear all year".[109]
The vocal interplay between Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda plays as a major part within Linkin Park's music, with Bennington being the lead vocalist and Shinoda as the rapping vocalist. On Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight, Shinoda sings lead vocals on "In Between", "Hands Held High", and on the B-side "No Roads Left". On numerous songs from band's fourth album, A Thousand Suns, such as the album's four singles, both Shinoda and Bennington sing. On most of the record's tracks, the band notably used electronic drumbeats along with outro drumbeats. The album has been regarded as a turning point in the band's musical career by notable critics. James Montgomery, of MTV, compared the record to Radiohead's Kid A,[110] while Jordy Kasko of Review, Rinse, Repeat likened the album to both Kid A and Pink Floyd's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon.[111] Shinoda stated that he and the other band members were deeply influenced by Chuck D and Public Enemy. He elaborated: "Public Enemy were very three-dimensional with their records because although they seemed political, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on in there too. It made me think how three-dimensional I wanted our record to be without imitating them of course, and show where we were at creatively".[112] One of the record's political elements is its samples of notable speeches by American political figures
Early years (1996–1999)
The founding of Linkin Park began with three high school friends; Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson.[15] After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, Xero. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda’s make-shift bedroom studio in 1996.[15][16] Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal.[15] The lack of success and stalemate in progress prompted Wakefield, at that time the band's vocalist, to leave the band in search of other projects.[15][16] Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax and other bands.[17][18]
After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist, Chester Bennington, who was recommended by Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999.[19] Bennington, formerly of a post-grunge band by the name of Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style.[15] The band then agreed on changing its name from Xero to Hybrid Theory.[17] The newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material.[15] The band’s renaissance culminated with a change in name; from Hybrid Theory, the band once again changed its name, this time to Linkin Park, a play on and homage to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park.[15] However, despite these changes, the band still struggled to sign a record deal. After facing numerous rejections from several major record labels, Linkin Park turned to Jeff Blue for additional help. After failing to catch Warner Bros. Records on three previous reviews, Jeff Blue, now the vice president of Warner Bros. Records, helped the band sign a deal with the company in 1999. The band released its breakthrough album, Hybrid Theory, the following year.[19]
Hybrid Theory (2000–2002)
Main article: Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000.[20][21] The album, which represented half a decade’s worth of the band’s work, was edited by Don Gilmore.[15] Hybrid Theory was a massive commercial success; it sold more than 4.8 million copies during its debut year, earning it the status of best-selling album of 2001, while singles such as "Crawling" and "One Step Closer" established themselves as staples among alternative rock radio play lists during the year.[17] Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as Dracula 2000, Little Nicky, and Valentine.[17] Hybrid Theory won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Rock Album.[22] MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "In the End".[15] Through the winning of the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, Hybrid Theory’s overall success had catapulted the band into mainstream success.
During this time, Linkin Park received many invitations to perform on many high-profile tours and concerts including Ozzfest, Family Values Tour and KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas.[17][23] The band also formed its own tour, Projekt Revolution, which featured other notable artists such as Cypress Hill, Adema, and Snoop Dogg.[19] Within a year’s stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts.[15] The experiences and performances of the precocious band were documented in its first DVD, Frat Party at the Pankake Festival, which debuted in November 2001. Now reunited with former bassist Phoenix, the band began work on a remix album, dubbed Reanimation, which would include works from Hybrid Theory and non-album tracks also.[17] Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of Black Thought, Jonathan Davis, Aaron Lewis, and many others.[24] Reanimation claimed the second spot on the Billboard 200, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week.[25] Hybrid Theory is also in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums.[26]
Meteora (2002–2004)
Main article: Meteora (album)
Following the success of Hybrid Theory and Reanimation, Linkin Park spent a significant amount of time touring around the United States. The band members began to work on new material amidst its saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio.[27] The band officially announced the production of a new studio album in December 2002, revealing its new work was inspired by the rocky region of Meteora in Greece, where numerous monasteries have been built on top of the rocks.[28] Meteora features a mixture of the band's previous nu metal and rapcore styles with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and other instruments.[15] Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition,[15] going to No.1 in the US and UK, and No.2 in Australia.[16]
Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the Billboard charts at the time.[29] The album's singles, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Breaking the Habit", "Faint", and "Numb", received significant radio attention.[30] By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies.[31] The album's success allowed Linkin Park to form another Projekt Revolution, which featured other bands and artists including, Mudvayne, Blindside, and Xzibit.[15] Additionally, Metallica invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Deftones.[32] The band released an album and DVD, entitled Live in Texas, which consisted of audio and video tracks of some of the band's performances in Texas during the tour.[15] In early 2004, Linkin Park started a world tour titled the Meteora World Tour. Supporting bands on the tour included Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Story of the Year.
Meteora earned the band multiple awards and honors. The band won the MTV awards for Best Rock Video for "Somewhere I Belong" and the Viewer's Choice Award for "Breaking the Habit".[33] Linkin Park also received significant recognition during the 2004 Radio Music Awards, winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards.[33] Although Meteora was not nearly as successful as Hybrid Theory, it was the third best selling album in the United States during 2003.[17] The band spent the first few months of 2004 touring around the world, first with the third Projekt Revolution tour, and later several European concerts.[17]
Side projects (2004–2006)
Mike Shinoda interviewed with MTV Thailand in Bangkok
Following Meteora's success, the band postponed working on a new studio album for the next few years. Instead, Linkin Park continued to tour and work on many side projects. Bennington appeared on DJ Lethal’s "State of the Art" and other work with Dead by Sunrise, while Shinoda did work with Depeche Mode.[17] In 2004, the band began to work with Jay-Z to produce another remix album, entitled Collision Course. The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed a new band, Fort Minor, as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released its debut album, The Rising Tied, to critical acclaim.[34][35] At the same time, the band's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues.[36] After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.[37]
Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of hurricane Charley in 2004 and later hurricane Katrina in 2005.[17] The band donated $75,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in March 2004.[38] They also helped relief efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called "Music for Relief".[39] Most notably, however, the band participated at Live 8, a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness.[40] Alongside Jay-Z, the band performed on Live 8's stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a global audience.[40] The band would later be reunited with Jay-Z at the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006, during which they performed "Numb/Encore", en route to winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.[41] They were joined on stage by Paul McCartney who added verses from the song "Yesterday". They would later go on to play at the 2006 Summer Sonic music festival, which was hosted by Metallica in Japan.[42]
Minutes to Midnight (2006–2008)
Main article: Minutes to Midnight (album)
Linkin Park performing at 2007's Novarock Festival
Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007.[8] The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed.[43] Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from its previous nu metal sound.[44] Warner Bros. Records officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States.[45] After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band members opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes.[46] Minutes to Midnight sold over 625,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.[11]
The album's first single, "What I've Done", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse within the same week.[47] The single was acclaimed by listeners, becoming the top-ranked song on the Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.[48] The song is also used in soundtrack for the 2007 action film, Transformers. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the Styles of Beyond song "Second to None" which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards.[49] The band also saw success with the rest of the albums singles, "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", "Given Up", and "Leave Out All the Rest", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with Busta Rhymes on his single "We Made It", which was released on April 29.[50]
Linkin Park's touring and live shows have, among other things, included a performance at Live Earth Japan on July 7, 2007.[51] and headlining Download Festival in Donington Park, England and Edgefest in Downsview Park, Toronto, Canada. The band completed touring on its fourth Projekt Revolution tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, before finishing on a double night at the O2 arena in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight.[52] However, he stated the band will first embark on a United States tour to gather inspiration for the album.[52] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bennington said that the band had already begun writing new material for the album, and Shinoda too stated that the album could well be released in late 2009. Mike Shinoda also announced a live CD/DVD entitled Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes, which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.[53]
A Thousand Suns (2008–2011)
Main article: A Thousand Suns
Linkin Park performing at Sonisphere Festival in Finland.
In May 2009, Linkin Park announced they were working on a fourth studio album, which was planned to be released on 2010. Shinoda told IGN that the new album would be 'genre-busting,' while building off of elements in Minutes to Midnight.[54] He also mentioned that the album would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge."[55] Bennington also addressed the media to confirm that Rick Rubin would return to produce the new album. The band later revealed the album would be called A Thousand Suns.[56]
While working on the new album, Linkin Park worked with successful film composer Hans Zimmer to produce the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.[57] The band released a single for the movie, entitled "New Divide". Joe Hahn created a music video for the song, which featured clips from the film.[58] On June 22, Linkin Park played a short set in Westwood Village after the premier of the movie.[59] After completing work for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the band returned to the studio to finalize their album.[60]
On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song entitled "Not Alone" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage.
On April 26, the band released an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, a game called 8-Bit Rebellion! It featured the band as playable characters, and a new song called "Blackbirds" which was unlockable by beating the game. The song was also later released as an iTunes bonus track on A Thousand Suns.
A Thousand Suns was released on September 14. The album’s first single, "The Catalyst", was released on August 2. The band promoted their new album by launching a concert tour, which started in Los Angeles on September 7.[61][62][63] Linkin Park also relied on MySpace to promote their album, releasing two additional songs, "Waiting for the End" and "Blackout" on September 8.[64][65][66][67] Furthermore, a documentary about the album's production, entitled Meeting of A Thousand Suns, was available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.[68] The venue of the debut live performance of the single was Griffith Observatory, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies.[69][70][71] "Waiting for the End" was released as the second single of A Thousand Suns.
Linkin Park reached No.8 in Billboard Social 50, a chart of the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites.[72] In other Billboard Year-End charts, the band reached No.92 in the "Top Artists" chart,[73] as well as A Thousand Suns reaching No.53 in the Year-End chart of the Billboard Top 200 albums[74] and No.7 in the 2010 Year-End Rock Albums, and "The Catalyst" reaching No.40 in the Year-End Rock Songs chart.[75]
On January 11, 2011, an updated version of Download to Donate for Haiti was launched, called Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0, with more songs to download. For the updated compilation, the band released Keaton Hashimoto's remix of "The Catalyst" from the "Linkin Park featuring YOU" contest.[76] "Burning in the Skies" was released as the third official single of A Thousand Suns on March 21, 2011.
Shinoda designed two t-shirts, in which the proceeds will go to Music For Relief to help the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disasters.[77][78] Music For Relief released Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan, another compilation of songs, in which the proceeds will go to Save the Children.[79]
On April 13, 2011, Shinoda confirmed that the album's fourth single will be "Iridescent". He also confirmed that there will be a new, slightly shorter version of the song, which will be part of the soundtrack of the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, continuing the streak of Linkin Park songs being the theme songs of the Transformers films (after "What I've Done" and "New Divide"), as well as the fact that a music video will be shot for the single.[80] The video was directed by Joe Hahn, who directed the videos for both of the previous songs.
The band were nominated for six Billboard Awards in 2011 for Top Duo/Group, Best Rock Album for A Thousand Suns, Top Rock Artist, Top Alternative Artist, Top Alternative Song for "Waiting for the End" and Top Alternative Album for A Thousand Suns, but did not win any award.[81]
The band charted in numerous Billboard Year-End charts in 2011. The band was No.39 in the Top Artists Chart,[82] No.84 in the Billboard 200 Artists chart,[83] No.11 in the Social 50 Chart,[84] No.6 in the Top Rock Artists Chart,[85] No.9 in the Rock Songs Artists Chart,[86] No.16 in the Rock Albums Chart,[87] No.4 in the Hard Rock Albums Chart,[88] and No.7 in the Alternative Songs Chart.[89]
Fifth album (2011–present)
In June 2011, Bennington revealed to Kerrang! that Linkin Park has begun working on new material for their next album. He explained, "We've been working on a new record for the past two months. The music is great and we're well ahead of where we're expecting to be. There aren't a whole lot of noises going on, but there are a lot of good songs. It will probably get a very polarized reaction. Which pleases me. As an artist, I want a reaction." The singer added that the band would be looking to tackle controversial topics on their new album, rather than the more personal subjects of their older material. "We've learned how to write serious songs and serious lyrics. We've learned how to deal with politics, faith and other things. Those are things that can get preachy really quickly, which we don't want to do. So you need to learn to talk to people and not at people", he said.[90]
Rick Rubin will be a producer on the new album. "Typically we'll have a once-a-week meeting to go listen to the songs that they're coming up with and talk about them. For so early in the project, they are much further along than they have been on the last two albums we did. On A Thousand Suns there were still a lot of irons in the fire. We knew, 'OK, we can't do this forever. Let's leave this batch and we'll come back and address it when we start up again'", Rubin said.[91]
In July 2011, Bennington told Rolling Stone that Linkin Park aims to produce a new album every eighteen months, and that he would be shocked if a new album did not come out in 2012. The band continues to record and produce new material even while touring. Bennington commented on Linkin Park's schedule, stating, "Touring for two years is excruciating. When we would tour for two years even the most resilient person in the band, at the end of that, was fucking miserable."[92] He further elaborated on their ideas in an interview with MTV saying, "We do have a really great head start. We've got some great music, some good ideas. The creativity has continued to flow for us for the last few years, consistently."[93] He later revealed in another interview in September 2011 that the band was still in the beginning phases of the next album, saying "We just kind of began. We like to keep the creative juices flowing, so we try to keep that going all the time...we like the direction that we're going in."[94]
In November 8, 2011, the band was awarded with a Global Leadership Award at the Global Leadership Awards Dinner of the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Association of the United States of America, for their efforts to highlight the importance of the UN and for utilizing their fan base to help those in need through Music For Relief. The band also announced their "Power the World" campaign.[95] "Power the World" encourages their fans to donate in order to give one million families in Haiti solar-powered lights, since the country still faces severe energy poverty. The project supports the Sustainable Energy For All initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[96] The band released several YouTube videos to promote the campaign.[97][98][99]
Musical style
Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combine the alternative metal,[7] nu metal,[100][101] and rap rock[101][102] sound with influences and elements from hip-hop, alternative rock,[103] and electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. William Ruhlmann from Allmusic regarded it as "a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style,"[104] whereas Rolling Stone described their song "Breaking the Habit" as "risky, beautiful art".[105]
In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented with their established sound and drew influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles, a process Los Angeles Times compares to a stage in U2's work.[106] In it, only two of the songs feature rapping, and the majority of the album can be considered alternative rock.[107][108] NME magazine's Dan Silver criticized the band's approach, calling it the "sound of a band trying and failing to forge a new identity", and referring to the song "Hands Held High", a song about terrorist attacks and war, as "far and away the funniest thing you will hear all year".[109]
The vocal interplay between Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda plays as a major part within Linkin Park's music, with Bennington being the lead vocalist and Shinoda as the rapping vocalist. On Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight, Shinoda sings lead vocals on "In Between", "Hands Held High", and on the B-side "No Roads Left". On numerous songs from band's fourth album, A Thousand Suns, such as the album's four singles, both Shinoda and Bennington sing. On most of the record's tracks, the band notably used electronic drumbeats along with outro drumbeats. The album has been regarded as a turning point in the band's musical career by notable critics. James Montgomery, of MTV, compared the record to Radiohead's Kid A,[110] while Jordy Kasko of Review, Rinse, Repeat likened the album to both Kid A and Pink Floyd's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon.[111] Shinoda stated that he and the other band members were deeply influenced by Chuck D and Public Enemy. He elaborated: "Public Enemy were very three-dimensional with their records because although they seemed political, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on in there too. It made me think how three-dimensional I wanted our record to be without imitating them of course, and show where we were at creatively".[112] One of the record's political elements is its samples of notable speeches by American political figures
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries.[1] Its following studio album, Meteora, continued the band's success, topping the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003, and was followed by extensive touring and charity work around the world.[2] In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth greatest band of the music video era and the third best of the new millennium behind Oasis and Coldplay.[3] Billboard ranked Linkin Park #19 on the Best Artists of the Decade chart.[4]
Having adapted the nu metal and rap metal genres to a radio-friendly yet densely layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora,[5][6][7] the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007.[8][9] The album topped the Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year.[10][11] The band has collaborated with several other artists, most notably with rapper Jay-Z in their mashup EP Collision Course, and many others included on Reanimation.[6] The band's most recent work, the concept album A Thousand Suns, was released on September 8, 2010. Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy Awards.
Early years (1996–1999)
History
Early years (1996–1999)
The founding of Linkin Park began with three high school friends; Mike Shinoda, Rob Bourdon, and Brad Delson.[15] After graduating from high school, the three began to take their musical interests more seriously, recruiting Joe Hahn, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield to perform in their band, Xero. Though limited in resources, the band began recording and producing songs within Shinoda’s make-shift bedroom studio in 1996.[15][16] Tensions and frustration within the band grew after they failed to land a record deal.[15] The lack of success and stalemate in progress prompted Wakefield, at that time the band's vocalist, to leave the band in search of other projects.[15][16] Farrell also left to tour with Tasty Snax and other bands.[17][18]
After spending a considerable time searching for Wakefield's replacement, Xero recruited Arizona vocalist, Chester Bennington, who was recommended by Jeff Blue, the vice president of Zomba Music in March 1999.[19] Bennington, formerly of a post-grunge band by the name of Grey Daze, became a standout among applicants because of the dynamic in his singing style.[15] The band then agreed on changing its name from Xero to Hybrid Theory.[17] The newborn vocal chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington helped revive the band, inciting them to work on new material.[15] The band’s renaissance culminated with a change in name; from Hybrid Theory, the band once again changed its name, this time to Linkin Park, a play on and homage to Santa Monica’s Lincoln Park.[15] However, despite these changes, the band still struggled to sign a record deal. After facing numerous rejections from several major record labels, Linkin Park turned to Jeff Blue for additional help. After failing to catch Warner Bros. Records on three previous reviews, Jeff Blue, now the vice president of Warner Bros. Records, helped the band sign a deal with the company in 1999. The band released its breakthrough album, Hybrid Theory, the following year.[19]
Hybrid Theory (2000–2002)
Main article: Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000.[20][21] The album, which represented half a decade’s worth of the band’s work, was edited by Don Gilmore.[15] Hybrid Theory was a massive commercial success; it sold more than 4.8 million copies during its debut year, earning it the status of best-selling album of 2001, while singles such as "Crawling" and "One Step Closer" established themselves as staples among alternative rock radio play lists during the year.[17] Additionally, other singles from the album were featured in films such as Dracula 2000, Little Nicky, and Valentine.[17] Hybrid Theory won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song "Crawling" and was nominated for two other Grammy Awards: Best New Artist and Best Rock Album.[22] MTV awarded the band their Best Rock Video and Best Direction awards for "In the End".[15] Through the winning of the Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, Hybrid Theory’s overall success had catapulted the band into mainstream success.
During this time, Linkin Park received many invitations to perform on many high-profile tours and concerts including Ozzfest, Family Values Tour and KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas.[17][23] The band also formed its own tour, Projekt Revolution, which featured other notable artists such as Cypress Hill, Adema, and Snoop Dogg.[19] Within a year’s stretch, Linkin Park had performed at over 320 concerts.[15] The experiences and performances of the precocious band were documented in its first DVD, Frat Party at the Pankake Festival, which debuted in November 2001. Now reunited with former bassist Phoenix, the band began work on a remix album, dubbed Reanimation, which would include works from Hybrid Theory and non-album tracks also.[17] Reanimation debuted on July 30, 2002, featuring the likes of Black Thought, Jonathan Davis, Aaron Lewis, and many others.[24] Reanimation claimed the second spot on the Billboard 200, and sold nearly 270,000 copies during its debut week.[25] Hybrid Theory is also in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums.[26]
Meteora (2002–2004)
Main article: Meteora (album)
Following the success of Hybrid Theory and Reanimation, Linkin Park spent a significant amount of time touring around the United States. The band members began to work on new material amidst its saturated schedule, spending a sliver of their free time in their tour bus' studio.[27] The band officially announced the production of a new studio album in December 2002, revealing its new work was inspired by the rocky region of Meteora in Greece, where numerous monasteries have been built on top of the rocks.[28] Meteora features a mixture of the band's previous nu metal and rapcore styles with newer innovative effects, including the induction of a shakuhachi (a Japanese flute made of bamboo) and other instruments.[15] Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition,[15] going to No.1 in the US and UK, and No.2 in Australia.[16]
Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week, and it ranked as the best selling album on the Billboard charts at the time.[29] The album's singles, including "Somewhere I Belong", "Breaking the Habit", "Faint", and "Numb", received significant radio attention.[30] By October 2003, Meteora sold nearly three million copies.[31] The album's success allowed Linkin Park to form another Projekt Revolution, which featured other bands and artists including, Mudvayne, Blindside, and Xzibit.[15] Additionally, Metallica invited Linkin Park to play at the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003, which included well-known acts such as Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Deftones.[32] The band released an album and DVD, entitled Live in Texas, which consisted of audio and video tracks of some of the band's performances in Texas during the tour.[15] In early 2004, Linkin Park started a world tour titled the Meteora World Tour. Supporting bands on the tour included Hoobastank, P.O.D. and Story of the Year.
Meteora earned the band multiple awards and honors. The band won the MTV awards for Best Rock Video for "Somewhere I Belong" and the Viewer's Choice Award for "Breaking the Habit".[33] Linkin Park also received significant recognition during the 2004 Radio Music Awards, winning the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year ("Numb") awards.[33] Although Meteora was not nearly as successful as Hybrid Theory, it was the third best selling album in the United States during 2003.[17] The band spent the first few months of 2004 touring around the world, first with the third Projekt Revolution tour, and later several European concerts.[17]
Side projects (2004–2006)
Mike Shinoda interviewed with MTV Thailand in Bangkok
Following Meteora's success, the band postponed working on a new studio album for the next few years. Instead, Linkin Park continued to tour and work on many side projects. Bennington appeared on DJ Lethal’s "State of the Art" and other work with Dead by Sunrise, while Shinoda did work with Depeche Mode.[17] In 2004, the band began to work with Jay-Z to produce another remix album, entitled Collision Course. The album, which featured intermixed lyrics and background tracks from both artists' previous albums, debuted in November 2004. Shinoda also formed a new band, Fort Minor, as a side project. With the aid of Jay-Z, Fort Minor released its debut album, The Rising Tied, to critical acclaim.[34][35] At the same time, the band's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was deteriorating rapidly on account of several trust and financial issues.[36] After months of feuding, the band finally negotiated a deal in December 2005.[37]
Linkin Park also participated in numerous charitable events, most notably raised money to benefit victims of hurricane Charley in 2004 and later hurricane Katrina in 2005.[17] The band donated $75,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation in March 2004.[38] They also helped relief efforts for the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims by staging several charity concerts and setting up an additional fund called "Music for Relief".[39] Most notably, however, the band participated at Live 8, a series of charitable benefit concerts set up to raise global awareness.[40] Alongside Jay-Z, the band performed on Live 8's stage in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a global audience.[40] The band would later be reunited with Jay-Z at the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006, during which they performed "Numb/Encore", en route to winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.[41] They were joined on stage by Paul McCartney who added verses from the song "Yesterday". They would later go on to play at the 2006 Summer Sonic music festival, which was hosted by Metallica in Japan.[42]
Minutes to Midnight (2006–2008)
Main article: Minutes to Midnight (album)
Linkin Park performing at 2007's Novarock Festival
Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material. To produce the album, the band chose producer Rick Rubin. Despite initially stating the album would debut sometime in 2006, the album was delayed until 2007.[8] The band had recorded thirty to fifty songs in August 2006, when Shinoda stated the album was halfway completed.[43] Bennington later added that the new album would stray away from its previous nu metal sound.[44] Warner Bros. Records officially announced that the band’s third studio album, entitled Minutes to Midnight, would be released on May 15, 2007 in the United States.[45] After spending fourteen months working on the album, the band members opted to further refine their album by removing five of the original seventeen tracks. The album’s title, a reference to the Doomsday Clock, foreshadowed the band's new lyrical themes.[46] Minutes to Midnight sold over 625,000 copies in its first week, making it one of the most successful debut week albums in recent years. The album also took the top spot on the Billboard Charts.[11]
The album's first single, "What I've Done", was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse within the same week.[47] The single was acclaimed by listeners, becoming the top-ranked song on the Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.[48] The song is also used in soundtrack for the 2007 action film, Transformers. Mike Shinoda was also featured on the Styles of Beyond song "Second to None" which was also included in the film. Later in the year, the band won the "Favorite Alternative Artist" in the American Music Awards.[49] The band also saw success with the rest of the albums singles, "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", "Given Up", and "Leave Out All the Rest", which were released throughout 2007 and early 2008. The band also collaborated with Busta Rhymes on his single "We Made It", which was released on April 29.[50]
Linkin Park's touring and live shows have, among other things, included a performance at Live Earth Japan on July 7, 2007.[51] and headlining Download Festival in Donington Park, England and Edgefest in Downsview Park, Toronto, Canada. The band completed touring on its fourth Projekt Revolution tour before taking up an Arena tour around the United Kingdom, visiting Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, before finishing on a double night at the O2 arena in London. Bennington stated that Linkin Park plans to release a follow-up album to Minutes to Midnight.[52] However, he stated the band will first embark on a United States tour to gather inspiration for the album.[52] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Bennington said that the band had already begun writing new material for the album, and Shinoda too stated that the album could well be released in late 2009. Mike Shinoda also announced a live CD/DVD entitled Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes, which is a live video recording from the Projekt Revolution gig at the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 29, 2008, which was officially released on November 24, 2008.[53]
A Thousand Suns (2008–2011)
Main article: A Thousand Suns
Linkin Park performing at Sonisphere Festival in Finland.
In May 2009, Linkin Park announced they were working on a fourth studio album, which was planned to be released on 2010. Shinoda told IGN that the new album would be 'genre-busting,' while building off of elements in Minutes to Midnight.[54] He also mentioned that the album would be more experimental and "hopefully more cutting-edge."[55] Bennington also addressed the media to confirm that Rick Rubin would return to produce the new album. The band later revealed the album would be called A Thousand Suns.[56]
While working on the new album, Linkin Park worked with successful film composer Hans Zimmer to produce the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.[57] The band released a single for the movie, entitled "New Divide". Joe Hahn created a music video for the song, which featured clips from the film.[58] On June 22, Linkin Park played a short set in Westwood Village after the premier of the movie.[59] After completing work for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the band returned to the studio to finalize their album.[60]
On January 19, 2010, Linkin Park released a new song entitled "Not Alone" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief called Download to Donate for Haiti in support of the Haiti Earthquake crisis. On February 10, 2010, Linkin Park released the official music video for the song on their homepage.
On April 26, the band released an app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, a game called 8-Bit Rebellion! It featured the band as playable characters, and a new song called "Blackbirds" which was unlockable by beating the game. The song was also later released as an iTunes bonus track on A Thousand Suns.
A Thousand Suns was released on September 14. The album’s first single, "The Catalyst", was released on August 2. The band promoted their new album by launching a concert tour, which started in Los Angeles on September 7.[61][62][63] Linkin Park also relied on MySpace to promote their album, releasing two additional songs, "Waiting for the End" and "Blackout" on September 8.[64][65][66][67] Furthermore, a documentary about the album's production, entitled Meeting of A Thousand Suns, was available for streaming on the band's MySpace page. On August 31, 2010, it was announced that the band would perform the single live for the first at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.[68] The venue of the debut live performance of the single was Griffith Observatory, an iconic location used in Hollywood movies.[69][70][71] "Waiting for the End" was released as the second single of A Thousand Suns.
Linkin Park reached No.8 in Billboard Social 50, a chart of the most active artists on the world's leading social networking sites.[72] In other Billboard Year-End charts, the band reached No.92 in the "Top Artists" chart,[73] as well as A Thousand Suns reaching No.53 in the Year-End chart of the Billboard Top 200 albums[74] and No.7 in the 2010 Year-End Rock Albums, and "The Catalyst" reaching No.40 in the Year-End Rock Songs chart.[75]
On January 11, 2011, an updated version of Download to Donate for Haiti was launched, called Download to Donate for Haiti V2.0, with more songs to download. For the updated compilation, the band released Keaton Hashimoto's remix of "The Catalyst" from the "Linkin Park featuring YOU" contest.[76] "Burning in the Skies" was released as the third official single of A Thousand Suns on March 21, 2011.
Shinoda designed two t-shirts, in which the proceeds will go to Music For Relief to help the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disasters.[77][78] Music For Relief released Download to Donate: Tsunami Relief Japan, another compilation of songs, in which the proceeds will go to Save the Children.[79]
On April 13, 2011, Shinoda confirmed that the album's fourth single will be "Iridescent". He also confirmed that there will be a new, slightly shorter version of the song, which will be part of the soundtrack of the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, continuing the streak of Linkin Park songs being the theme songs of the Transformers films (after "What I've Done" and "New Divide"), as well as the fact that a music video will be shot for the single.[80] The video was directed by Joe Hahn, who directed the videos for both of the previous songs.
The band were nominated for six Billboard Awards in 2011 for Top Duo/Group, Best Rock Album for A Thousand Suns, Top Rock Artist, Top Alternative Artist, Top Alternative Song for "Waiting for the End" and Top Alternative Album for A Thousand Suns, but did not win any award.[81]
The band charted in numerous Billboard Year-End charts in 2011. The band was No.39 in the Top Artists Chart,[82] No.84 in the Billboard 200 Artists chart,[83] No.11 in the Social 50 Chart,[84] No.6 in the Top Rock Artists Chart,[85] No.9 in the Rock Songs Artists Chart,[86] No.16 in the Rock Albums Chart,[87] No.4 in the Hard Rock Albums Chart,[88] and No.7 in the Alternative Songs Chart.[89]
Fifth album (2011–present)
In June 2011, Bennington revealed to Kerrang! that Linkin Park has begun working on new material for their next album. He explained, "We've been working on a new record for the past two months. The music is great and we're well ahead of where we're expecting to be. There aren't a whole lot of noises going on, but there are a lot of good songs. It will probably get a very polarized reaction. Which pleases me. As an artist, I want a reaction." The singer added that the band would be looking to tackle controversial topics on their new album, rather than the more personal subjects of their older material. "We've learned how to write serious songs and serious lyrics. We've learned how to deal with politics, faith and other things. Those are things that can get preachy really quickly, which we don't want to do. So you need to learn to talk to people and not at people", he said.[90]
Rick Rubin will be a producer on the new album. "Typically we'll have a once-a-week meeting to go listen to the songs that they're coming up with and talk about them. For so early in the project, they are much further along than they have been on the last two albums we did. On A Thousand Suns there were still a lot of irons in the fire. We knew, 'OK, we can't do this forever. Let's leave this batch and we'll come back and address it when we start up again'", Rubin said.[91]
In July 2011, Bennington told Rolling Stone that Linkin Park aims to produce a new album every eighteen months, and that he would be shocked if a new album did not come out in 2012. The band continues to record and produce new material even while touring. Bennington commented on Linkin Park's schedule, stating, "Touring for two years is excruciating. When we would tour for two years even the most resilient person in the band, at the end of that, was fucking miserable."[92] He further elaborated on their ideas in an interview with MTV saying, "We do have a really great head start. We've got some great music, some good ideas. The creativity has continued to flow for us for the last few years, consistently."[93] He later revealed in another interview in September 2011 that the band was still in the beginning phases of the next album, saying "We just kind of began. We like to keep the creative juices flowing, so we try to keep that going all the time...we like the direction that we're going in."[94]
In November 8, 2011, the band was awarded with a Global Leadership Award at the Global Leadership Awards Dinner of the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Association of the United States of America, for their efforts to highlight the importance of the UN and for utilizing their fan base to help those in need through Music For Relief. The band also announced their "Power the World" campaign.[95] "Power the World" encourages their fans to donate in order to give one million families in Haiti solar-powered lights, since the country still faces severe energy poverty. The project supports the Sustainable Energy For All initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.[96] The band released several YouTube videos to promote the campaign.[97][98][99]
Musical style
Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combine the alternative metal,[7] nu metal,[100][101] and rap rock[101][102] sound with influences and elements from hip-hop, alternative rock,[103] and electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. William Ruhlmann from Allmusic regarded it as "a Johnny-come-lately to an already overdone musical style,"[104] whereas Rolling Stone described their song "Breaking the Habit" as "risky, beautiful art".[105]
In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented with their established sound and drew influences from a wider and more varied range of genres and styles, a process Los Angeles Times compares to a stage in U2's work.[106] In it, only two of the songs feature rapping, and the majority of the album can be considered alternative rock.[107][108] NME magazine's Dan Silver criticized the band's approach, calling it the "sound of a band trying and failing to forge a new identity", and referring to the song "Hands Held High", a song about terrorist attacks and war, as "far and away the funniest thing you will hear all year".[109]
The vocal interplay between Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda plays as a major part within Linkin Park's music, with Bennington being the lead vocalist and Shinoda as the rapping vocalist. On Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight, Shinoda sings lead vocals on "In Between", "Hands Held High", and on the B-side "No Roads Left". On numerous songs from band's fourth album, A Thousand Suns, such as the album's four singles, both Shinoda and Bennington sing. On most of the record's tracks, the band notably used electronic drumbeats along with outro drumbeats. The album has been regarded as a turning point in the band's musical career by notable critics. James Montgomery, of MTV, compared the record to Radiohead's Kid A,[110] while Jordy Kasko of Review, Rinse, Repeat likened the album to both Kid A and Pink Floyd's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon.[111] Shinoda stated that he and the other band members were deeply influenced by Chuck D and Public Enemy. He elaborated: "Public Enemy were very three-dimensional with their records because although they seemed political, there was a whole lot of other stuff going on in there too. It made me think how three-dimensional I wanted our record to be without imitating them of course, and show where we were at creatively".[112] One of the record's political elements is its samples of notable speeches by American political figures
Thursday, February 2, 2012
My history
Hello!
Last weekend I went to a "Falla " introduction ( a Valencian typical festival. It's the day when the members of the neighbourhood association meet).And I went to the camping site.My friends and I went to the beach at night. I had a good weekend.
Last weekend I went to a "Falla " introduction ( a Valencian typical festival. It's the day when the members of the neighbourhood association meet).And I went to the camping site.My friends and I went to the beach at night. I had a good weekend.
MY history
Hi,
Last Saturday I went with my friends to the beach to spend the day, we were happy because we were planning for some time .............
the afternoon in a hurry all day we went to eat something, aI spentnd home
Last Saturday I went with my friends to the beach to spend the day, we were happy because we were planning for some time .............
the afternoon in a hurry all day we went to eat something, aI spentnd home
Memories. Looking back..#
I prefer the past to the present, because I remember it, and I like it and want to go back, but I can not, and sometimes I like to go back and remember small details that are forgotten with time.
Last Saturday I went shopping to Valencia , and bought some jeans and a scarf, I saw many shops, and walk a lot, I got tired, but it was worth , because I had a great time.
Last Saturday I went shopping to Valencia , and bought some jeans and a scarf, I saw many shops, and walk a lot, I got tired, but it was worth , because I had a great time.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wembley Stadium
THE GOLDEN GATE :D'
The Golden Gate Bridge, is a suspension bridge located in California, United States, linking San Francisco Peninsula in the north to southern Marin. "Golden Gate" is also the name of the strait in which the bridge is built, and named after the Straits of Constantinople, also called the Golden Gate, and that connected Europe with Asia.
The Golden Gate is the most famous bridge in San Francisco despite not being the largest in this city, as the Bay Bridge is the main road.
In the decade after the First World War the traffic in the region of the Bay of San Francisco was multiplied by seven, so that the ferry system was unable to accommodate this growth. Listed as a suspension bridge, built between 1933 and 1937, with an approximate length of 1,280 meters, is suspended from two towers of 227 m in height. It has a six-lane roadway (three in each direction) and has protected lanes for pedestrians and bicycles available. The bridge also carries a canal and down the large amount of energy necessary for the development of the area where power lines and fuel lines. Under the structure, leaving 67 m height for the passage of ships through the bay. The Golden Gate was the greatest engineering feat of its time. It was painted with urgency to prevent rapid oxidation produced in the steel structure by the Pacific Ocean.
The London Eye
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)