Linkin Park’s singles can often inspire the question “haven’t they already written this song?” An mp3 that does the rounds from time to time mixes Numb (on the left) and Pushing Me Away (on the right) to illustrate this with almost comical effect:
All Linken Park Songs Sound Exactly The Same.
As shown below, and forgive the hyperbole, much more than they sound the same all Linkin Park songs look the same. And while it’s easy to criticize the band for their overuse of a formula that’s by now cliche, the similarity between their tracks at least holds a lesson on the importance of song arrangement in pop music production.
The Linkin Park Formula
The standard Linkin Park structure looks like this:
- Quiet intro: Each song has a relatively quiet two-measure intro.
- The instrumental kicker: The full band come in together on the down-beat, and play two or four high energy measures, usually instrumental.
- Quiet verse: The song eases off for a verse or two, heightening the dynamic contrast between the song’s sections.
- Heavy chorus: Usually the same chords established in the kicker, with Chester screaming over top for added emotion.
Here’s how it “looks” in practice. Each image below shows the audio level in (roughly) the first 90 seconds of a Linkin Park song. Note that I adjusted the tempo of a few tracks for better visual alignment:
Numb (on the left) and Pushing Me Away (on the right)
Linkin Park remixes with Korg TRITON, TRITON-Rack, MS2000 and Electribes
Propelled by a unique mixture of hip-hop with elements of alt metal, electronica and classic rock, the southern California quintet Linkin Park has gathered an enormous and diverse following. The band has remained in the Billboard Top 20 for more than 80 weeks, with more than 13 million albums sold worldwide and over 8 million copies of its debut CD, Hybrid Theory, sold in the U.S. alone. Hybrid Theory was nominated for three GRAMMY awards in 2002, winning the Best Hard Rock Performance GRAMMY for “Crawling.”
However, the members of Linkin Park are not content to rest on past successes. They have already embarked on a new project – a remix album of the songs featured on Hybrid Theory – to demonstrate the breadth of styles they can work in. Korg products rank prominently among the tools Linkin Park is utilizing for the remix album, including the ever-popular TRITON, TRITON-Rack, MS2000 and Electribes.
“We are experimenting with things that are not guitars, and that’s where the keyboard elements come in,” band MC Mike Shinoda commented. “It’s a very heavy sample and keyboard driven album. One piece of gear I’m using and like a lot is the TRITON-Rack – it’s really light and versatile. There are so many sounds and ways to manipulate those sounds to make them your own that you don’t just have to grab and use a stock sound. ” He continued, “I also used the Electribes a bit. I used the ESo1 in particular to manipulate vocals or beats. There are certain effects in there that you can’t get with other equipment.”
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They kind of got attacked at first thanks to the title, but realistically all this was was a promotion for a CD and the equipment they use. They make good music regardless of how a song opens, every song is diverse in it’s own way.
linkin park rules
Thank you for information.
Thank for your post.
I had just finished demonstrating to my sister that Numb and Pushing Me Away are precisely the same. Both very nice songs that I like, but pound for pound the same formula. I played them both on YouTube side by side. In the intro, they even do the same prolonged note (“the sacrifice of hiding in a liiiiieeee”/”every step that I take is another mistake to youuuuuu”) by the lead with the backing rapper complementing. I was going to put them together with Audacity and make pretty much the same blog, but decided to google it first.
My thought is that, they have a formula that works and it sounds good, but agree that a lot of Linkin Park songs are cliché and it’s not so much that it gets tiresome, because they’re all good songs, it’s just that they’re forgettable. A lot of bands that are really originally have formulaic music, but that varies enough to be *original* so it doesn’t matter. This is just verbatim repetition.
I think you make a good point, this does indeed demonstrate the importance of arrangement in pop music.
l.p iz the best band the world has eva produced….they r simply the best of the best…i m a hardcore fan of l.p…all the band members r x-celent n r lovd by people worldwide… ***i luv dm***
Hey, fuck this, every song can look the same if you change tempo and pitch -_-“
Umm, no they don’t. The point is not the tempo nor the pitch, but the pattern of quiet, loud, quiet, loud… etc.
WTF it is what it does and what it means to the person that hears it period. Ya all can go all you want and when you get as big as they are, then come talk to me.
Linkin Park is the worst band to ever disgrace the music industry.
I would love to hear a sample of your music lollinkinpark. What you got??
Your article was interesting in terms of the tendency for Linkin Park to pursue a certain musical structural arrangement or progression. It is clear that some LP tracks “look” the same through the lens of audio levels. As you described, these audio levels correspond with the differing degrees of intensity within the intro, kicker, verse, and chorus. As far as “sounding” the same, I can admit that there are a few songs that are similarly arranged and may utilize similar notes, chords, and beats. But the diversity and variety of auxiliary sounds is part of what differentiates each track and defines the ingenious creativity of their music. Though a song may “look” the same through the decibel lens, if you take a moment to absorb the differences in elements like auxiliary sounds, tempo, harmonies, rise and fall, and underlying pulse/rhythms, you will allow yourself to be inspired and discover the originality and beauty of their art.
Thank you oh so very, very much:) you are the rare one who get’s it…..Nice