Last week, Linkin Park's latest release, "Thousand Suns" debuted at number one in album sales in Canada and the United States. This was their second straight number 1, as their "Minutes to Midnight" album debuted at number 1 as well. This is also their second straight album produced by Rick Rubin, although Mike Shinoda received a co-production credit.
In 1996, high school friends Mike Shinoda (the guy who raps in the band) Brad Delson (Lead Guitarist) and Rob Bourdon (Drums, Percussion) got together and started recording demos in Shinoda's bedroom studio. After recruiting additional members and several unsuccessful attempts to gain a record deal over the next three years, Chester Bennington was referred to the band. With his unique vocal style complementing the rap/metal sound the band was aiming for, their first album Hybrid Theory was released in 2000. The album went on to sell nearly 5 million copies, won a Grammy for best hard rock performance, and it became the best selling album in 2001.
I remember seeing the video for One Step Closer (second single released from Hybrid Theory) and I was struck by the contrast between Shinoda's rapping and Bennington's gritty singing. The song also had a strong melody, a characteristic not very common among songs in this genre at the time.
The secret to most bands' early success is and generally will be, touring. Between 2000 and 2001 when their career was taking off, the band performed over 300 concerts in this year period. What a grind! Many "pop" stars who have a meteoric rise to fame followed by a tremendous fall either have not learned this lesson, or they are terrible live. Touring with a great live show is the key to longevity in the music business. Another secret to success, is a good producer.
I never purchased any of Linkin Park's music until they released "Minutes to Midnight," and this was solely based on the fact that I was a fan of producer Rick Rubin's work at the time.
Rubin, if you may recall, put mash-ups between rap and rock on the map when he produced "Walk this Way", the collaboration between Run DMC and Aerosmith. He was also the Beastie Boys first DJ. Rubin has a very unique process, much more psychological than musical. He has either cemented or revitalized so many successful careers for artists such as Johnny Cash for his work on American Recordings, The Dixie Chicks return after the "we're ashamed that George Bush is from Texas" phase, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers huge 15 million copies sold comeback, Californication.
Back to the album "Minutes to Midnight," Linkin Park members decided to have a democratic process where each and every song that made it onto the album had to be voted for by everyone in the band. Throughout therapy-like sessions with Rubin where the band would just get together and talk without a single note being played, the direction of the album was formulated and reinforced with the help of Rubin's collective wisdom. (One can see a great example of Rubin's process in the movie "Just Shut Up and Sing" featuring the Dixie Chicks.) This new way of creating music also included analysis of the lyrics to the songs. In the album's liner notes, Bennington and Shinoda indicated that it was incredibly challenging for themselves to have their lyrics critiqued by the other members for the first time. Over time these activities created more unity within the band.
My fellow classmate John Gaudes wrote a review of Linkin Park's "Thousand Suns" on his blog called Hypebusters, I suggest you check it out. In the meantime, I'm going to check out Linkin Park's new album, and also track down a copy of "The Sound of Music" so I can finally listen to "Dark Side of the Moon" while watching it to see what Nick Mason was talking about, its just really hard to find.
See ya later,
j
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
How is this band not mega famous?
On Tuesday night I was fortunate enough to see the Flaming Lips at the Walker, er, I mean Burton Cummings Theater. With hardly any knowledge of their music, I purchased a ticket simply because I have heard that their live show was simply amazing.
Of the 14 songs they played that night, I was familiar with about one and a half of them.
First of all, it was very interesting to see the band basically setting up their own gear and even do their own sound check. It's not that they didn't have the roadies to do it, they had about four of them from what I was able to count. These same roadies became very involved in the show, from moving the odd assortment of props on the stage, to providing front man Wayne Coyne with a large crash cymbal whenever needed, to swapping out instruments like congas, guitars, and keyboards for the various multi-instrumentalists in the band.
From the first song on, there was a barrage of confetti that filled the area in the venue, and Coyne had these small tubular like confetti cannons that he kept firing off, one after another. Dry ice fog permeated the air from the number of emulsion devices that the band possessed on stage. Beach ball type balloons were bouncing on top of the crowd. Coyne entered a giant bubble and walked on top of the sea of onlookers as well. At times I was unable to see the band, which was a tactic that they used to change instruments and mood between sections of songs to keep the surprise factor high.
Coyne's ability to communicate with the audience in slightly rambling, yet vivid and profound clarity was exceptional. As I looked around, I could see people hanging on to every word he said. He spoke of love lost and found with the softest of poetic touch.
The fact that they had a video screen that must have been three stories high in a room as small as the Walker (there I go again)is quite astounding. The images they displayed were mesmerizing, pure psychedelia.
I realize that bands need to sell millions of records to become household names, and the Flaming Lips haven't. However, we are now in an age of music where a band's live show is becoming more and more important, and the Flaming Lips' live show certainly topped the charts for me. I recommend that you go see this band! You will not be disappointed.
My Tuesday night Flaming Lips experience was truly legendary. Check out a shot of them performing Do you realize at Berkfest.
j
Of the 14 songs they played that night, I was familiar with about one and a half of them.
First of all, it was very interesting to see the band basically setting up their own gear and even do their own sound check. It's not that they didn't have the roadies to do it, they had about four of them from what I was able to count. These same roadies became very involved in the show, from moving the odd assortment of props on the stage, to providing front man Wayne Coyne with a large crash cymbal whenever needed, to swapping out instruments like congas, guitars, and keyboards for the various multi-instrumentalists in the band.
From the first song on, there was a barrage of confetti that filled the area in the venue, and Coyne had these small tubular like confetti cannons that he kept firing off, one after another. Dry ice fog permeated the air from the number of emulsion devices that the band possessed on stage. Beach ball type balloons were bouncing on top of the crowd. Coyne entered a giant bubble and walked on top of the sea of onlookers as well. At times I was unable to see the band, which was a tactic that they used to change instruments and mood between sections of songs to keep the surprise factor high.
Coyne's ability to communicate with the audience in slightly rambling, yet vivid and profound clarity was exceptional. As I looked around, I could see people hanging on to every word he said. He spoke of love lost and found with the softest of poetic touch.
The fact that they had a video screen that must have been three stories high in a room as small as the Walker (there I go again)is quite astounding. The images they displayed were mesmerizing, pure psychedelia.
I realize that bands need to sell millions of records to become household names, and the Flaming Lips haven't. However, we are now in an age of music where a band's live show is becoming more and more important, and the Flaming Lips' live show certainly topped the charts for me. I recommend that you go see this band! You will not be disappointed.
My Tuesday night Flaming Lips experience was truly legendary. Check out a shot of them performing Do you realize at Berkfest.
j
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Deep thoughts about Creative Writing 1 on a Friday night.
So after I got home from a toga party tonight I read a few chapters of the book "the Year of Living Generously."
It's pretty cool to hear about all those heroes out there. Men and women who give their time and effort to help others who are down on their luck. It's great when their stories are told.
Heroes always need a good theme song. The Crash Test Dummies Superman was just that song. For a short period in 1991, this song was saving the world.
j
It's pretty cool to hear about all those heroes out there. Men and women who give their time and effort to help others who are down on their luck. It's great when their stories are told.
Heroes always need a good theme song. The Crash Test Dummies Superman was just that song. For a short period in 1991, this song was saving the world.
j
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
For a class assignment, I was required to sign up on Twitter. If anyone is interested my Twitter page is under my full name jamesbhiebert. Because this is something I have completely avoided ever since I heard about it, I'm not sure I know what I'm doing but so far so good.
Last night I had a great night. I spent my time NOT doing homework (b/c I didn't have any, woohoo!) and playing music! One of the band's I play in is an 80's cover band, and we rehearsed the songs Rosanna by Toto, Tom Sawyer by Rush, and Rock You like a Hurricane by the Scorpions. These are super fun songs to play and sing, and it's going to be so awesome performing them. Our next show is Oct the 2nd at the Academy in Winnipeg. Can't wait!
Last night I had a great night. I spent my time NOT doing homework (b/c I didn't have any, woohoo!) and playing music! One of the band's I play in is an 80's cover band, and we rehearsed the songs Rosanna by Toto, Tom Sawyer by Rush, and Rock You like a Hurricane by the Scorpions. These are super fun songs to play and sing, and it's going to be so awesome performing them. Our next show is Oct the 2nd at the Academy in Winnipeg. Can't wait!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Is it a Cosmic Coincidence? Or just universally nonsense?
The Wizard of Oz + Dark Side of the Moon = Making something big out of a very little weeeee tiny bit.
For those of you just joining me, my goal for the week was to listen to Pink Floyd's masterpiece "the Dark Side of the Moon" as I watched MGM's classic "the Wizard of Oz."
As the length of the album really only lasts up to the time Dorothy meets the Tin Man, I found that I did wish that it did run the length of the film. Some moments where the music hit upon a certain lyrical theme or crescendo, there were equally dynamic moments on screen.
When Dorothy's house gets sucked up into the tornado, the song Great Gig in the Sky starts playing. When Dorothy lands in Oz and the film switches to colour, this happens as the song Money starts. When the wicked witch shows up and hurts a few munchkins, the song Us and Them is playing and Roger Waters is singing the words, "black and blue". As Dorothy starts on her trip down the yellow brick road, the beautiful music of any color you like starts playing which gives one the feeling that a new journey is about to be embarked upon. And so on and so forth.
Does it sound like I'm starting to conjure things up here? Well maybe I am, maybe I'm not. These things did happen, but sometimes when someone is searching so hard for the meaning behind something, it's easy to make a big deal about it. Having said that, I can see why some people get so excited about this, but then I can also see why people think this kind of stuff is just ludicrous. I guess at the end of the day it's just coincidence, but I don't know if I'd go as far as calling it cosmic.
What is not a coincidence here is the fact that these are two pieces of wonderful art and that is because they were made by some of the finest artisans of their time. The fact that they are able to coexist as a visual and aural experience is quite unique. You don't have to believe in cosmic this or that to enjoy the experience, and so I would recommend it to anyone.
On a side note, having recently attended a class in Media Production where we learned a bit about composition in film, I actually found myself paying more and more attention to this. Pretty cool stuff.
As far as Pink Floyd was concerned, they wrote it to "The Sound of Music." Maybe I should watch that next week...
For those of you just joining me, my goal for the week was to listen to Pink Floyd's masterpiece "the Dark Side of the Moon" as I watched MGM's classic "the Wizard of Oz."
As the length of the album really only lasts up to the time Dorothy meets the Tin Man, I found that I did wish that it did run the length of the film. Some moments where the music hit upon a certain lyrical theme or crescendo, there were equally dynamic moments on screen.
When Dorothy's house gets sucked up into the tornado, the song Great Gig in the Sky starts playing. When Dorothy lands in Oz and the film switches to colour, this happens as the song Money starts. When the wicked witch shows up and hurts a few munchkins, the song Us and Them is playing and Roger Waters is singing the words, "black and blue". As Dorothy starts on her trip down the yellow brick road, the beautiful music of any color you like starts playing which gives one the feeling that a new journey is about to be embarked upon. And so on and so forth.
Does it sound like I'm starting to conjure things up here? Well maybe I am, maybe I'm not. These things did happen, but sometimes when someone is searching so hard for the meaning behind something, it's easy to make a big deal about it. Having said that, I can see why some people get so excited about this, but then I can also see why people think this kind of stuff is just ludicrous. I guess at the end of the day it's just coincidence, but I don't know if I'd go as far as calling it cosmic.
What is not a coincidence here is the fact that these are two pieces of wonderful art and that is because they were made by some of the finest artisans of their time. The fact that they are able to coexist as a visual and aural experience is quite unique. You don't have to believe in cosmic this or that to enjoy the experience, and so I would recommend it to anyone.
On a side note, having recently attended a class in Media Production where we learned a bit about composition in film, I actually found myself paying more and more attention to this. Pretty cool stuff.
As far as Pink Floyd was concerned, they wrote it to "The Sound of Music." Maybe I should watch that next week...
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon"
I have always been fascinated with the realm of music. I love the mysticism behind legendary bands. What's their story? Why are they so popular, and is this simply because of the music, or is there more to it than that?
Take Pink Floyd for instance, for a band that started out in the 60's, just a regular group of guys with extraordinary vision, one is hard pressed not to recognize their iconic image of the album's cover for Dark Side of the Moon. This image alone has nearly imposed itself as the band's logo. And it's everywhere. But what about the music? And what's with the deal about listening to it while watching the Wizard of Oz? Well over the next week I plan to find out. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, feel free to be entertained by a video for their song, "Money."
Take Pink Floyd for instance, for a band that started out in the 60's, just a regular group of guys with extraordinary vision, one is hard pressed not to recognize their iconic image of the album's cover for Dark Side of the Moon. This image alone has nearly imposed itself as the band's logo. And it's everywhere. But what about the music? And what's with the deal about listening to it while watching the Wizard of Oz? Well over the next week I plan to find out. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, feel free to be entertained by a video for their song, "Money."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)