Review Summary: Before the rat race, before Linkin Park's popularity took its place
Before the explosion of One Step Closer’s “shut up” screams, before In the End became the highest-charting nu metal song of all time, Linkin Park existed as Hybrid Theory, referring to their fusion of rock and hip hop like many of their contemporaries. While
Limp Bizkit was topping charts with Nookie, Linkin Park was still unsigned, trying to hop on the nu metal bandwagon before it would inevitably crash and burn. Out of this came one of their earliest EP releases, eponymous to the band name at the time, demonstrating a profound base for the band to work off of.
Here, Mike Shinoda’s rap flow is arguably at its peak; the lyrics are nowhere near as accessible as on later releases, but his High Voltage demonstrates Shinoda’s complex vocabulary and intricate rhyming ability that rivals true MCs. Shinoda wears his underground rap influence on his sleeve on this EP, holding nothing back in terms of lyricism. On the other side of the vocal duo, influences from Chester Bennington’s previous band,
Grey Daze, shine throughout this release. His vocal style evokes more of a grunge aesthetic than the more-polished scream-singing perfected on Meteora, and the pure screams similar to songs like “By Myself” and “Figure.09” are buried deep in the mix, if present at all.
As this was Chester Bennington’s first release as a member of Linkin Park, the chemistry between Shinoda and Bennington feels clunky at times, especially on the opener Carousel, where the distinct rap and rock sections clash. However, by the time Part of Me rolls around, the duo sounds much more cohesive, layering rap on top of vocal harmonies in the bridge in a way that alludes to Papercut’s immaculate final chorus. While the band masters seamlessly transitioning between the rap and rock sections on their debut LP, the seeds of such chemistry are laid out here.
Linkin Park has never been known for incredible musicianship, tending to rely on simpler melodies enhanced by Chester Bennington’s one-of-a-kind voice. The distorted guitars rumble while the drums keep pace, but there are no complicated guitar licks in sight. Bass is significantly more present in the mix than on any later Linkin Park albums, likely a product of other nu metal bands’ (
Korn comes to mind) emphasis on bass-heavy sections, but even the bass melodies here are quite basic. Once again, Linkin Park’s production elevated them to their quintessential status atop the nu metal podium, and as much as the raw production on this EP harkens back to the days of grunge, it does not help hide just how basic the guitar riffage on display is.
This is not to say the songwriting suffers significantly, as simple melodies being Linkin Park’s bread and butter has never served to devalue their songwriting ability. Nevertheless, in comparison to their professional releases, Linkin Park was still finding its footing in terms of writing catchy hooks, but Chester Bennington’s voice puts an emotion into every word in a way that can’t help but be catchy. Carousel’s chorus exudes the grunge influence of
Alice in Chains, the pain in Chester’s voice palpable even at such a young age. However, while the hooks on display here are solid, they pale in comparison to anything off of their debut album. Additionally, Linkin Park’s mastery of brevity in songwriting does not exist on this EP; instead, songs like And One and Step Up have long outros that ultimately feel unnecessary and rob the EP of pacing cohesion.
The electronics on this EP create an almost-eerie atmosphere. For example, Carousel’s dark melodies combined with Chester’s haunting voice give off an ominous undertone. The raw production here also helps emphasize this overall dark ambiance looming over this entire record. More examples of such melodies exist in the distortion on Chester’s voice at the start of And One as well as the electronic break after that song’s first chorus, further enhancing the dark nature on display. While sections of their debut pull aspects of this somber tone, nothing from Linkin Park sounds quite as dirge-esque as on this EP.
In this nascent state, Linkin Park planted the seeds for their full-on takeover of the rock scene in the 21st century through their combination of electronics, hip hop, and grunge, even if a bit derivative to the rest of the nu metal scene. The production elements that normally led Linkin Park to rise far above the rest of the scene are not as polished, but hints of such iconic electronic melodies are sprinkled throughout this EP. And of course, Chester Bennington’s voice was already filled with the gritty emotion that made him such an iconic vocalist for an entire generation of Millenials. All it would take was a major label, more experienced producers, and some refinements to the already-established formula to elevate Linkin Park from irrelevance to musical immortality.
