Linkin Park - 'The Catalyst'
See? It's not just terrifying dinosaurs who evolve into pretty birds, scowling rock bands can do it too!
Although, to be honest, we're not quite at the full peacock phase yet. This is more of a triceratops with feathers. It still carries a lot of recogniseable features which make its family history easy to identify, but they're buried under an unsettlingly new coat, all the better to re-appreciate their singular charms and strange angles.
For example, Chester Bennington is still a very ferocious presence on his songs, isn't he? I mean, Mike Shinoda can huff with the best of them, but Chester is something else. Even when the band are reaching out for a new sound to wrap themselves around, he's still there with that paper-shredding voice of his, huffing up a storm and generally acting like a very stressed man who has lost his last fiver and found a dog poo in his slippers.
(. It's smoky.)
They are trying though. In a rock era when Guns 'n' Roses are back playing the same kind of songs in the same kind of way they always did (and singing them in a voice like squeaky bicycle brakes), and Limp Bizkit are heading out onto whatever equivalent to the oldies circuit there is for nu-metallers, you've got to give the Linkins credit for stretching the envelope a bit, even if they're not quite at breaking point.
Speaking to Zane Lowe a week or so ago, Chester described how much fun it was to record this song, saying that they took great care to emphasise the rhythm, to let the guitars build their way in, rather than smashing your in the face from the start, and working in a harder, synthier, more uptempo direction than they had done previously.
For the first two thirds of the song, this is all true...ish. The band are working to a skippy, light rhythm, adorned with a very strange keyboard motif which sounds like Gogol Bordello playing with steel drums. Oh sure, they bury it with scratching and guitars and whatnot, but it's there, like the biggest and purplest feather on the triceratops's brow.
But the more they add to the thing, the more it drags. But the time we get to the piano breakdown, it's kind of a relief to stop pretending that we're dealing with a fun, jaunty sort of thing, and resume massive ranty rock ballad duties.
After the drop, we say adios to les rhythmes skippy and bunker down for The Great Slow Pounding Drums of DOOOM. Most of the other elements remain, all the new feathers sparkle and fluff with the breeze, but underneath it all is a great big scary old monster jumping up and down as hard as he can, trying to reach the sky.
Four or five more albums from now, who knows, he may finally leave the ground for good. Or for bad, depending on how much you like dinosaurs.
OH! By the way, if you want to hear the full story of Linkin Park, with input from Mike Shinoda, Chester Bennington, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell and Rob Bourdon, in conversation with Radio 1's Daniel P Carter, you'll need to listen to Radio 1 at 9pm on Monday 13th of September. Or go to bbc.co.uk/radio1/stories for more information.
Download: Out now
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(Fraser McAlpine)
"It gave me goosebumps all over my body, and it actually brought me to tears."
"The beats are far more exciting than their copycat counterparts, such as Pendulum."
Comment number 1.
At 12th Sep 2010, OddOne wrote:I'd say four stars. It's an anthem of pure agression and it's a brave new sound they've got, but it's really working.
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Comment number 2.
At 12th Sep 2010, MrazAttack10 wrote:Three stars?!
I may be biased, but this is a 5 star song.
I'll admit, it takes a few plays to grow on you, but it is a masterpiece.
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Comment number 3.
At 15th Sep 2010, flatknees wrote:yea its menacing and seems like a new step... 4 stars.. but i bet the rest of the album is just like the old stuff
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