Consisting of songs initially available exclusively for the Linkin Park fan club, Songs from the Underground is nothing more than a collector's item, although it showcases an interesting picture of the band. Some tracks are independent cuts, such as the opener, which sounds typical for latter-day Linkin Park, all polished, focused, and gloomy (maybe a tad overly streamlined too); the band's "lost" classic ballad "My December"; and the surprisingly raw "Qwerty" and "And One," which are nice throwbacks to the band's pre-debut days, although "Qwerty" doesn't benefit from encroaching on Slipknot's turf by one riff too many. The rest is padded out by remixes and covers, which are able to stand as independent tunes, not mangled rehashes that make you reach for the originals: "Sold My Soul to Yo Mama" (maiden name "Papercut") is given a great reggae/dub treatment, which works wonders with LP's heavy riffs and Mike Shinoda's table-scratching, and the live version of Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike," done with Chris Cornell, is bound to be a winner -- the man really gels with rap-based rock bands. The long droning gimmick at the end of the record is perfunctory, but helps to highlight the EP's most intriguing point: the band abandons its chart-oriented focus and brevity for a more meandering approach, and kicks out some versatile, if not as immediately gripping, music in the process. But this is only a small experiment done with old material, and so Songs from the Underground remains of cursory interest for people outside of the band's fan circle.Consisting of songs initially available exclusively for the Linkin Park fan club, Songs from the Underground is nothing more than a collector's item, although it showcases an interesting picture of the band. Some tracks are independent cuts, such as the opener, which sounds typical for latter-day Linkin Park, all polished, focused, and gloomy (maybe a tad overly streamlined too); the band's "lost" classic ballad "My December"; and the surprisingly raw "Qwerty" and "And One," which are nice throwbacks to the band's pre-debut days, although "Qwerty" doesn't benefit from encroaching on Slipknot's turf by one riff too many. The rest is padded out by remixes and covers, which are able to stand as independent tunes, not mangled rehashes that make you reach for the originals: "Sold My Soul to Yo Mama" (maiden name "Papercut") is given a great reggae/dub treatment, which works wonders with LP's heavy riffs and Mike Shinoda's table-scratching, and the live version of Temple of the Dog's "Hunger Strike," done with Chris Cornell, is bound to be a winner -- the man really gels with rap-based rock bands. The long droning gimmick at the end of the record is perfunctory, but helps to highlight the EP's most intriguing point: the band abandons its chart-oriented focus and brevity for a more meandering approach, and kicks out some versatile, if not as immediately gripping, music in the process. But this is only a small experiment done with old material, and so Songs from the Underground remains of cursory interest for people outside of the band's fan circle.false2024-12-29 08:08:15Songs From the Underground20092009-05-122009-05-1242Alternative MetalAlternative RockBluesRap RockRock1113582159221fdc51fc2-e038-4df2-bf3a-c0838c4be681f59c5520-5f46-4d2c-b2c4-822eabf534191a883b6f-cb6a-33a7-b87e-c13dec54cdfe/media/data/media5/Music/Linkin Park/Songs From the Underground/folder.jpgChris CornellJoseph “Joe” HahnLinkin ParkLinkin ParkLinkin Park is an American rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, and drummer Rob Bourdon, with vocalist Chester Bennington also part of the band until his death in 2017. Categorized as alternative rock, Linkin Park's earlier music spanned a fusion of heavy metal and hip hop, while their later music features more electronica and pop elements.
Linkin Park rose to international fame with their debut studio album, Hybrid Theory (2000), which became certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Released during the peak of the nu metal scene, the album's singles' heavy airplay on MTV led the singles "One Step Closer", "Crawling", and "In the End" all to chart highly on the US Mainstream Rock chart. The lattermost also crossed over to the #2 spot on the nation's Billboard Hot 100. Their second album, Meteora (2003), continued the band's success. The band explored experimental sounds on their third album, Minutes to Midnight (2007). By the end of the decade, Linkin Park was among the most successful and popular rock acts.
The band continued to explore a wider variation of musical types on their fourth album, A Thousand Suns (2010), layering their music with more electronic sounds. The band's fifth album, Living Things (2012), combined musical elements from all of their previous records. Their sixth album, The Hunting Party (2014), returned to a heavier rock sound, while their seventh album, One More Light (2017), was a substantially more pop-oriented record. Linkin Park went on an indefinite hiatus following the suicide of longtime lead vocalist Bennington in July 2017 and have not recorded or toured since then. Since Bennington's death, they have only released 20th-anniversary editions of their first two studio albums, as well as a greatest hits album, Papercuts, in 2024.
Linkin Park is among both the best-selling bands of the 21st century and the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 100 million records worldwide. They have won two Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, two Billboard Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, 10 MTV Europe Music Awards, and three World Music Awards. In 2003, MTV2 named Linkin Park the sixth-greatest band of the music video era and the third-best of the new millennium. Billboard ranked Linkin Park No. 19 on the Best Artists of the Decade list. In 2012, the band was voted as the greatest artist of the 2000s in a Bracket Madness poll on VH1. In 2014, the band was declared as "The Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now" by Kerrang!.