Final Masquerade: 18 of Linkin Park’s most underrated songs

With 7 studio albums under their belt, a successful remix album (Reanimation), and an endless string of accolades, Linkin Park has a hold on popular culture like few other rock bands of this generation. While their evolution from Hybrid Theory & Meteora to their more modern electronic and alt-rock experiments haven’t always been the best received, overlooking their newer material would be a mistake.

No matter where the band goes in the wake of the late Chester Bennington’s passing, here’s 15 tracks (and a few honorable mentions) from the band that manage to be overlooked and underrated – but certainly shouldn’t be. This means that there’s plenty of songs from their entire discography here – even their newest record, One More Light. Also, our list mainly consists of non-singles, with a few exceptions. We’ve included all songs, including honorable mentions, in a handy Spotify playlist as well.

Honorable Mentions:

“Mark The Graves” (The Hunting Party, 2014)

“Forgotten” (Reanimation, 2002)

“Figure.09” (Meteora, 2003)

“Sorry For Now” (One More Light, 2017)

“Numb/Encore” (Collision Course w/Jay-Z, 2004)

“Points Of Authority / 99 Problems / One Step Closer” (Collision Course, 2004)

“The Catalyst” (A Thousand Suns, 2010)

“Don’t Stay” (Meteora, 2003)

“Papercut” (Hybrid Theory, 2000)

“QWERTY” (Songs From The Underground 6, 2008)

“New Divide” (Transformers: ROTF Soundtrack, 2009)

#18: “Pushing Me Away” (Reanimation, 2002)

“Pushing Me Away” is one of a few Linkin Park tracks that we feel are better on Reanimation, than in their previous incarnations. Perhaps it’s that record’s focus on electronics, or the fact that Stephen Richards from Taproot makes a brief appearance in the remixed song that makes this version one of the best LP tracks, period.

#17: “Blackout” (A Thousand Suns, 2010)

One of the best tracks off the underrated A Thousand Suns, “Blackout” features the late Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda switching roles this time. Chester’s glitched out vocals in the middle of the song really stand out, too.

#16: “Lost In The Echo” (Living Things, 2012)

In the proud tradition of great Linkin Park album openers, “Lost In The Echo” is one of the band’s best. Also one of the band’s most energetic and emotionally gratifying tracks, “Lost In The Echo” shows a newfound electronic rock edge to Linkin Park that would gain more mainstream acceptance in later years, especially in bands like Starset.

#15: “With You” (Hybrid Theory, 2000)

On an album as successful as Hybrid Theory, it’s hard to consider any track truly overlooked. “With You” qualifies, though. Sandwiched between “One Step Closer” and “Points Of Authority”, “With You” is a track that really has to do with attachment and the powerful emotions and feelings that surround it. The music’s memorable as well, as the vocal interplay between Chester and Mike is buoyed by memorable guitar riffs.

#14: “Carousel” (Hybrid Theory EP, 1999)

An important early highlight, “Carousel” helped put Linkin Park (then Hybrid Theory) on the map. This track, as well as “And One”, could probably fit on the debut full-length as well.

#13: “Somewhere I Belong” (Meteora, 2003)

“Somewhere I Belong” may have been a big single on Meteora, but compared to “Numb”, “Faint”, and “Breaking The Habit”, it sometimes gets overlooked as a great song on its own. This would be a mistake, because it has one of the most impactful Linkin Park choruses to date.

#12: “My December” (Reanimation, 2002)

Both the original version (found as a B-side on hybrid Theory) and remixed version of “My December” are great, but we like the almost electropop side of the band on the latter. In some ways, it foreshadowed One More Light a decade before its release.

#11: “Final Masquerade” (The Hunting Party, 2014)

Anyone who’s ever been in a relationship that seems to be slipping away – one where the other party reveals their true identity – can likely relate to “Final Masquerade”. 4 years after its release, Chester Bennington (who leads the track vocally) and his voice still give us the chills. It also segues nicely into The Hunting Party‘s finale…

#10: “Keys To The Kingdom” (The Hunting Party, 2014)

Linkin Park didn’t have to go as hard as they did on “Keys To The Kingdom”. But they did it for US. How about that guitar solo, though?

#9: “Good Goodbye” (One More Light, 2017)

You wouldn’t think a poppy single that features Pusha T and Stormzy would actually work, at least in terms of being a Linkin Park track. “Good Goodbye” does, though. Even those who dislike One More Light‘s indie/electropop direction will likely have this track grow on them. Who knew Chester Bennington could make this style work for him vocally?

#8: “High Voltage” (Reanimation, 2002)

Straight up, “High Voltage” is old-school hip-hop. Mike Shinoda’s got bars.

#7: “Wretches And Kings” (A Thousand Suns, 2010)

“Wretches And Kings” is probably the best song on A Thousand Suns. A dub-heavy electronic rock track that references Public Enemy and Biggie Smalls in the same breath, it’s Mike Shinoda at his hip-hop oriented best.

#6: “From The Inside” (Meteora, 2003)

“From The Inside” shouldn’t be as overlooked as it is. The song’s buildup to a powerful climax (please don’t laugh) really works in its favor, and the video is worth a watch, too.

#5: “In My Remains” (Living Things, 2012)

“In My Remains” probably has the biggest chorus on Living Things. The track simply explodes in the second half of the song.

#4: “A Place For My Head” (Hybrid Theory, 2000)

“A Place For My Head” is among the best Linkin Park songs of all time. Mike Shinoda’s rapping is instantly memorable, and the late Chester Bennington’s screams synchronize and mesh well with Shinoda, too. There’s even an actual breakdown near the end. Fantastic.

#3: “A Line In The Sand” (The Hunting Party, 2014)

“A Line In The Sand” encapsulates what Linkin Park has, and will always be, about. The Hunting Party is the sound of a band that was truly rejuvenated in 2014, and “A Line In The Sand” has everything you could want in an LP song – a Brad Delson guitar solo, Mike Shinoda’s memorable post-apocalyptic imagery and lyricism, Rob Bourdon’s underrated drumming, and of course a memorable performance from Chester Bennington. Oh, and it’s almost 7 minutes long.

#2: “Points Of Authority” (Hybrid Theory, 2000)

“Points Of Authority” might just be the definitive Linkin Park song. The remixed version on Reanimation is great as well, but there’s nothing quite like the rap-rock original. While it’s not a surprise the track gets overlooked in favor of “One Step Closer”, “Crawling”, and/or “In The End” (at least in the context of Hybrid Theory), it’s the best song on Hybrid Theory. That’s saying something, considering that’s a record that’s currently in 10 million (more, really) hands.

#1: “The Little Things Give You Away” (Minutes To Midnight, 2007)

To many, 2007’s Minutes To Midnight felt, well, lukewarm – at least in comparison to Hybrid Theory and Meteora. While it’s probably the band’s weakest album stylistically, there are a few big time highlights. Album finale “The Little Things Give You Away” is a stroke of brilliance, a real emotional behemoth of a song that really redeems the record overall. It also contains, to our knowledge, the first prominent Linkin Park guitar solo from Brad Delson – something the band previously eschewed. Haunting, really, considering the lyrics reference multiple times the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina – the 2005 storm that claimed many, many lives in Louisiana.