Linkin Park Biography
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Free Encyclopedia.”
Linkin Park is a six-piece nu metal
band from California.
* * * *
Music
The music of Linkin Park is a mix
of alternative metal, rap, electronic, and hip-hop sounds. Like others in the nu
metal genre, their sound has been criticized as being overly commercial and
mainstream-friendly.
Band History
Linkin Park began in the
surroundings of Mike Shinoda's bedroom studio, where he and friend Brad Delson
recorded the band's first material in 1996. The two had attended Agoura High
School together in Los Angeles-suburb Agoura Hills, where they met the band's
drummer, Rob Bourdon. Shinoda met up with DJ Joseph Hahn while studying
illustration at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Meanwhile, attending
UCLA, Delson shared an apartment with bassist Dave Farrell, who left the band
after college and returned a year later. At this point, along with vocalist Mark
Wakefield, they named themselves Xero (after revising the former name Super Xero)
and recorded several demo tracks. They were never signed and the project
floundered.
Shinoda advertised for a vocalist,
choosing Chester Bennington, a transplanted Arizona native who started making
records when he was 16. They immediately started to write and record music.
At first they called themselves
'Hybrid Theory' after the addition of Bennington (the idea being that they were
a hybrid of hard rock and rap), but due to a trademark issue with a band called
Hybrid they were forced to change their name. Some discarded ideas were Clear,
Probing Lagers, Ten PM Stocker and Platinum Lotus Foundation. Eventually, they
settled on Lincoln Park, suggested by Bennington because after band practice he
would have to drive past Lincoln Park in Santa Monica to get home. However the
domain "lincolnpark.com" cost more than the band could afford, so they changed
the spelling to Linkin Park.
Working with an independent label,
the band recorded the album Hybrid Theory EP, which featured "Carousel",
"Technique", "Step Up", "And One", "High Voltage", and "Part of Me".
After being signed to Warner
Brothers in 1999 their first album, Hybrid Theory, was released in 2000. It was
the top-selling album in the United States and New Zealand in 2001, with the hit
singles "One Step Closer", "Crawling", "Papercut", "In The End" and "Points of
Authority". The album was notable for its absence of profanity, in contrast to
many other nu metal bands' songs.
Linkin Park were part of the
Ozzfest in 2001, touring along side Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Crazy Town, Papa
Roach, and Disturbed. Linkin Park also created their own tour - Projekt:
Revolution, and on it have toured with Cypress Hill, Adema, DJ Z-Trip, Xzibit,
Mudvayne and Blindside.
In 2002, they released a hip-hop
remix album of their Hybrid Theory album, called Reanimation, featuring many
underground hip-hop figures, with an artistic direction mainly dictated by
Shinoda and Hahn. They also released a remix version of their song, "Points Of
Authority".
In 2003 their new studio album was
released, titled Meteora, which debuted at #1 in the US and UK, and #2 in
Australia. It contained the singles, "Somewhere I Belong", "Faint", "Numb",
"From The Inside", "Lying From You", and "Breaking The Habit". Later in the
year, they joined forces with fellow nu-metal band Limp Bizkit and Metallica for
the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003. From this tour, Linkin Park released a new
CD/DVD set called Live in Texas. This set contains tracks from their three
previous records, and was filmed on location at their Summer Sanitarium
performances in Dallas and Houston, Texas .
In 2004, Linkin Park created the
Meteora World Tour. This tour included Linkin Park, P.O.D., Hoobastank, and
Story of the Year.
In 2004, Linkin Park was touring
with Snoop Dogg, The Used, Korn, and Less Than Jake on the main stage, and No
Warning, Ghostface, Funeral for a Friend, M.O.P., and Downset on the second
stage as part of Projekt Revolution 2004. They also had a travelling DJ, Z-Trip
with them, along with Irvin the Urban Action Figure.
On November 30, 2004, Linkin Park
released Collision Course, a collaboration with rapper Jay-Z featuring rap-style
remixes ("mash-ups") of songs from Meteora and Hybrid Theory using lyrics from
Jay-Z's repertoire. Collision Course debuted at #1 in the US, but peaked at #17
in the UK. In the Netherlands Collision Course topped the charts at 7th place.
Their first Collision Course hit single, Numb/Encore, reached #1 at the Free
Record Shop Download Charts in the Netherlands.
On the eve of its initial public
offering in May 2005, Linkin Park demanded to be released from its contract with
Warner Brothers Music on the grounds of a lack of confidence. The band is in
negotiations with the label over a new record contract. Linkin Park still has
four albums outstanding on its 2000 record contract. [1]
Linkin Park is currently writing
and recording a new album, set to be released in 2006 (although work has been
stopped due to the contract re-negotiations). Mike Shinoda is also in the
process of releasing a hip-hop side project under the moniker Fort Minor. It
reportedly features several well-known underground rappers, including Gift of
Gab, and will be released on September 12th, 2005.
On July 2, 2005 Linkin Park
preformed in Live 8 at Philadelphia, USA, performing part of their set with
Jay-Z.
Members
Chester Bennington (vocals /
guitar)
Mike Shinoda (alias: Fort Minor)
(vocals / sampling / rhythm guitar, keyboard)
Joe Hahn (aliases: Chairman Hahn,
Mr. Hahn) (turntables / samples)
Brad Delson (guitar)
Rob Bourdon (drums)
David 'Phoenix' Farrell (bass)
Alic Stone - Chief Production
Manager
Kenny Hausauer - Extra Screamer
Vernon Goodwin - Bag Pipes
* * * *
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URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linkin_park
Date Article Copied:
July 11, 2005
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