With almost a decade’s retrospect, such comparisons feel unnecessary. Scaling back the rock instrumentation, ramping up the politics and allowing Mike to come to the fore, there were justified comparisons with Public Enemy’s 1990 masterpiece Fear Of A Black Planet on release. Hell, the fact the title is a reference to Hindu sacred text the Bhagavad-Gita (as quoted by nuclear innovator Robert Oppenheimer) signalled that before a note even dropped. A daring concept album grappling with the anxiety of a society piling into the unknown – technology, nuclear power, the tensions around political and sociological progress – this was a different band to the one who’d dropped the simple, crowd-pleasing Minutes To Midnight only three years previously. Still arguably the band’s most divisive record (albeit run close by One More Light), A Thousand Suns felt like an enormous departure back 2010. Although each LP rightfully holds its place in fans’ hearts, it’s a fascinating exercise in charting their place – and importance – in one of music’s most compelling tales… They missed not only the burning spirit within these songs, but the sheer brilliance of that machine-tooled consistency and accessibility, too.Īlthough the tragic passing of Chester Bennington has – perhaps permanently – stemmed their output, the years since have allowed us to revisit that existing legacy and (re)consider the deeper meaning and value of these songs with greater perspective. Many snobbishly high-minded critics dismissed them as a guitar-wielding ‘pop’ band manufacturing music for the masses. From their explosive entry into – and reinvention of – the nu-metal scene via mainstream-straddling crossover success, to their unabashed willingness to experiment and reinvent themselves, they were both the gateway act that brought so many bands and fans into the current scene and trailblazers in bulldozing the boundaries of what rock could be. Across seven albums, Linkin Park’s seismic impact on modern rock has been utterly undeniable.

Complete linkin park discography