All Linkin Park Songs Are The Same?

[troutman]

http://www.hometracked.com/2007/05/2...look-the-same/

Linkin Park's singles often inspire the question "haven't they already written this song?" An mp3 that does the rounds from time to time mixes Numb (on the left) and Pushing Me Away (on the right) to illustrate this with almost comical effect: All Linken Park Songs Sound Exactly The Same.

As shown below, and forgive the hyperbole, much more than they sound the same all Linkin Park songs look the same. And while it's easy to criticize the band for their overuse of a formula that's by now cliche, the similarity between their tracks at least holds a lesson on the importance of song arrangement in pop music production.

The Linkin Park Formula

The standard Linkin Park structure looks like this:

1. Quiet intro: Each song has a relatively quiet two-measure intro.
2. The instrumental kicker: The full band come in together on the down-beat, and play two or four high energy measures, usually instrumental.
3. Quiet verse: The song eases off for a verse or two, heightening the dynamic contrast between the song's sections.
4. Heavy chorus: Usually the same chords established in the kicker, with Chester screaming over top for added emotion.

War there ever a worse rock and roll name than Chester?

There is an interesting discussion as to why this formula is so successful. It also puts me to mind of the book This Is Your Brain On Music.

http://www.amazon.ca/This-Brain-Musi...5356615&sr=1-1

[Cowboy89]

Incidently a lot like the Nickelback formula plus the yelling and youthful angst.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Incidently a lot like the Nickelback formula plus the yelling and youthful angst.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=4258547

[MolsonInBothHands]

I was going to say "In Before the Nickelback Slam"

Fail.

[Russic]

These are funny . . . while i do enjoy them, I can't help but think that the same effect could be duplicated with tons of other bands. The main difference is that people only seem to take the time to mash up the bands that get really popular (and thus overplayed and largely unliked).

[Azure]

They do sound the same....but I still like 'some' of their stuff.

Each to his own I guess.

[BlackArcher101]

Shocking... a band having a style that they stick with. I'm just floored.

[SarichFan]

Same goes for AC/DC then

[HotHotHeat]

I'm not one to defend the likes of Linkin Park and Nickleback, but let's be honest...Music on this level is all the same. Chorus, verse, chorus, verse, solo (sometimes), bridge, chorus.

Not that I'm complaining, it seems to work pretty well.

[rockstar]

Thanks to you troutman (and special thanks to chid as well), that book you've mentioned is on its way. I look forward to it.

Back on topic, yes, Linkin Park and Nickelback both suck. Think of going to a Nickelback or Linkin park. You'd save yourself so much time because you could basically leave after the first song and still get the whole musical experience that you would have had if you stayed.

Then you could go out with your friends and, all told, have two evenings in one evening!

[troutman]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I'm not one to defend the likes of Linkin Park and Nickleback, but let's be honest...Music on this level is all the same. Chorus, verse, chorus, verse, solo (sometimes), bridge, chorus.

Not that I'm complaining, it seems to work pretty well.

Right. I'm not interested in a thread about Linkin Park sucks : no they don't suck. I'm more interested in how familiar song structures work on our minds.

Most Western music is 4/4, verse, chorus, verse etc. drums, guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals.

[4X4]

I guess we can't criticize them too much, as they're the rich ones and we're the suckers that have to hear their "music" overplayed on stations like CJAY. But I personally can't stand these bands anymore. I used to like Creed and at least a few songs by Nickleback and all the clone bands. There was a song by Staind that I liked. Still do, I imagine.
But the way they've applied the Henry Ford mentality to music made me lose all respect for their "art" and boycott it. Give me a band like RHCP who actually comes up with a new sound for most of their songs. Not just a new beat, but an entirely original sound. Granted, some of their songs sound similar, but a great deal of them sound totally unique. I appreciate that.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by troutman

There is an interesting discussion as to why this formula is so successful. It also puts me mind of the book This Is Your Brain On Music.

http://www.amazon.ca/This-Brain-Musi...5356615&sr=1-1

I read this book last year and highly recommend it. The author really knows what he is talking about from both a musical and scientific standpoint. He even talks about how certain songs are enjoyed immediately but get boring after a few listens while other songs end up being "growers". Really neat book.

[Thunderball]

lots of good musicians have some similarity in their music... but the great ones find a way to progress and create truly unique music.

Take Led Zeppelin for instance...Immigrant Song sounds nothing like Kashmir or D'yer Maker or Black Dog or When the Levee Breaks or Battle of Evermore. In fact, some people might not know they're all from the same band. Same with Pink Floyd, April Wine, Aerosmith or the Rolling Stones, and even the Beatles have clear progress and difference in their music. Can you say that about Nickelback and its clones? Nope.

[Aeneas]

Originally Posted by Thunderball

lots of good musicians have some similarity in their music... but the great ones find a way to progress and create truly unique music.

Take Led Zeppelin for instance...Immigrant Song sounds nothing like Kashmir or D'yer Maker or Black Dog or When the Levee Breaks or Battle of Evermore. In fact, some people might not know they're all from the same band. Same with Pink Floyd, April Wine, Aerosmith or the Rolling Stones, and even the Beatles have clear progress and difference in their music. Can you say that about Nickelback and its clones? Nope.

Is that really a good example?

[Matata]

^^^^^ - only if you compare 'dream on' to the rest of their catalogue.

Don't forget the generic angst. I've never heard a Linkin Park song where they specifically talk about anything, its usually "i'm mad about stuff", but they never get around to what the stuff is.

To their credit, Chester does have a great voice and their Dj is pretty bomb-ass, but everyone in the band is just filler and could be replaced in a heartbeat.

[Temporary_User]

People constantly bring up AC/DC in these debates. I don't understand it...
I just opened up my Ipod and set it to to only AC/DC none of the songs sound similar to me.
I mean I understand that they use heavy bass and the singer has a very distict voice, but each song sounds different. Not only in beat, but pitch etc... (I don't know any technical terms for music, so my point is hard to get across)

Can someone show me an example of AC/DC sounding the same?

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by SarichFan

Same goes for AC/DC then

I think the difference in annoying repetition here comes from the lyrics. To me , the difference is a Nickelback song comes off as pretentious. With ACDC, what you see is what you get; an upbeat hard rock song for head-nodding fun. Nickelback seems to try so hard to sound important, and with every similar sounding song they release, I completely tune it out.

Not to mention there are 17 other pretentious bands whose singers sound like Kroeger.

[troutman]

Twelve Bar Blues is a formula used over and over:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_bar_blues

The 12-bar blues chord progression is the basis of thousands of songs, not only formally identified blues songs such as "St. Louis Blues", "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Hound Dog", but also gospel songs, such as "I'm So Glad (Jesus Lifted Me)", jazz classics like "Flying Home" and "Night Train", pop and rock songs, including Glenn Miller's "In the Mood", The Beatles' "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?", and The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go", Top 40 hits like Fabian's "Turn Me Loose", "At the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors, and the "Theme from Batman". The vast majority of boogie woogie compositions are 12-bar blues, as are many instrumentals, such as "Rumble" and "Honky Tonk".

[gottabekd]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

I think the difference in annoying repetition here comes from the lyrics. To me , the difference is a Nickelback song comes off as pretentious. With ACDC, what you see is what you get; an upbeat hard rock song for head-nodding fun. Nickelback seems to try so hard to sound important, and with every similar sounding song they release, I completely tune it out.

I think that is an excellent point about AC/DC.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any AC/DC 'hits' that are unbelievably similar. But, many of their album tracks, even on the same album, can be VERY similar. For example. from the album "High Voltage": "It's a Long Way To The Top...", "Rock 'n' Roll Singer" and "High Voltage" all have the same riff. If you broke down AC/DC songs into a structural comparison, I think they would be more similar than almost any other band out there.

However, I agree with burnin_verson that it seems to work for AC/DC. They play their song, over and over, and that's their thing. They aren't pretentious, so they can get away with it, because that's their thing.