Okay, from the title alone you've probably got a bad first impression of this topic. Like this'll just be another one of those posts were some well-meaning but ignorant kid comes up and says "Why you be hating on my favourite game/movie/song/potato?" and the answer is usually to the effect of "we feel its quality doesn't warrant its popularity." No, I'm here to give my own thoughts on the matter, and then leave it open for you to discuss afterwards.
So, Linkin Park; hugely popular Nu Metal / experimental band, yet so many people seem to roll their eyes when the name is attatched to something. They're so huge now that they're frequently hired to write tie-in songs for big-budget piece of shit blockbusters like Revenge of the Fallen and Medal of Honor. So if they're so successfull, why is it that many are quick to dismiss them?
For me personally, it's that I feel... well, guilty by association. We all know the stereotypical LP fan, right? Little emo kid with his black hair in his eyes, writing his crappy faux-introspective poetry and listening to Crawling on endless repeat. You're not that guy: You have a life, you dress like a normal person, you go out, you most certainly don't listen to Linkin Park. When it comes down to it, I stopped listening because I didn't want to be lumped in with those sad little probably-hypothetical bastards. It got to the point where I would frown upon anyone who even mentioned the name in a positive light, even my friends and family.
Fast forward to more recent times, I heard Papercut for the first time in a long time and, yeah I dug it. It got into the rhythm, enjoyed the riffs, and appreciated the expressions of paranoia, having dealt with some in my past. And I found that, yeah, I still kinda enjoy a lot of their stuff, one or two what-was-I-thinking moments aside. I then realised that I had no reason to worry about being lumped in with the sterotypical fan: I never did the emo look,I can't write poetry for shit, and I've always hated Crawling, even when I was an unapologetic fan.
So this leads me to wonder if most of the hate is based on the same stigma that Linkin Park is for emos and no-one else, and whether such hate is really justified or just overreaction. Would you agree?
Maybe some of you have gone through the same cycle, maybe you just lost interest and moved on, and probably a few of you never liked them to begin with and feel that their quality doesn't warrant their popularity. Any other points, bring 'em up, I'm open to anything.
Of course, for the blockbuster tie-ins, the eye-rolling is mostly because those songs are marketing ploys, nothing more. Goes for anyone, really.
So, Linkin Park; hugely popular Nu Metal / experimental band, yet so many people seem to roll their eyes when the name is attatched to something. They're so huge now that they're frequently hired to write tie-in songs for big-budget piece of shit blockbusters like Revenge of the Fallen and Medal of Honor. So if they're so successfull, why is it that many are quick to dismiss them?
For me personally, it's that I feel... well, guilty by association. We all know the stereotypical LP fan, right? Little emo kid with his black hair in his eyes, writing his crappy faux-introspective poetry and listening to Crawling on endless repeat. You're not that guy: You have a life, you dress like a normal person, you go out, you most certainly don't listen to Linkin Park. When it comes down to it, I stopped listening because I didn't want to be lumped in with those sad little probably-hypothetical bastards. It got to the point where I would frown upon anyone who even mentioned the name in a positive light, even my friends and family.
Fast forward to more recent times, I heard Papercut for the first time in a long time and, yeah I dug it. It got into the rhythm, enjoyed the riffs, and appreciated the expressions of paranoia, having dealt with some in my past. And I found that, yeah, I still kinda enjoy a lot of their stuff, one or two what-was-I-thinking moments aside. I then realised that I had no reason to worry about being lumped in with the sterotypical fan: I never did the emo look,I can't write poetry for shit, and I've always hated Crawling, even when I was an unapologetic fan.
So this leads me to wonder if most of the hate is based on the same stigma that Linkin Park is for emos and no-one else, and whether such hate is really justified or just overreaction. Would you agree?
Maybe some of you have gone through the same cycle, maybe you just lost interest and moved on, and probably a few of you never liked them to begin with and feel that their quality doesn't warrant their popularity. Any other points, bring 'em up, I'm open to anything.
Of course, for the blockbuster tie-ins, the eye-rolling is mostly because those songs are marketing ploys, nothing more. Goes for anyone, really.
