Two overarching themes of Linkin Park’s discography, especially their first two albums, is that of both complicated emotions as well as the interpersonal (and intrapersonal) relationships we all experience to some extent. Relatability sells, to be certain, and it’s the band’s interpolations of these themes that helped LP sell tens of millions of albums (as well as a sound that merged disparate genres into something often copied throughout rock music now). One thing I believe to be true, though, and something that’s also not mentioned all the time? Linkin Park was one of the first major bands to really address mental health. Of course, mental health is often tied to the emotions that the band (and music in general) tends to portray, and now it seems like almost every band, no matter the genre, is discussing it in their music.
That’s obviously a huge win, but someone had to do it first. Whether or not Linkin Park can lay claim to that status is up for debate, but they were definitely one of the pioneers in doing so. Given the background of all the members of the band, especially the tortured rage of Chester Bennington merely giving a voice to it all, this isn’t all that surprising. In fact, the band speaking out about mental health had a large hand in how many bands (in all genres of music) are doing it today. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
Even in interviews and conversations, Chester Bennington (and all the members of Linkin Park, really) constantly talked about the pressure that was heaped on them because of their success. Meteoric (hah!) success that seemed to happen overnight, yet the groundwork for it was laid out years in advance. Every album the band made, starting with Hybrid Theory, ended up increasing the pressure in certain ways. Whether it was record execs meddling in the initial branding and recording of Hybrid Theory or the “back to basics” approach of The Hunting Party, a defining part of the Linkin Park story (one that made them relatable to so many) was the ability to work under pressure and deliver huge results.
Even as the band pivoted to more socio-political concerns on Minutes To Midnight and subsequent albums, the heart of the band was still embedded in the relationships we have, both with ourselves and with others. Later material from the band touched on everything from the metaphorical “running into the wall” that artists often experience (“Keys To The Kingdom”), working hard and not seeing your loved ones as much as you’d like (“Sorry For Now”), and purging the frustrations and battles of everyday life (“Iridescent”). All of these are topics and issues that have something to do with mental health, yet often go unchecked or not talked about.
There’s also the internal and external battles on the band’s older material that undoubtedly resonated with so many. Whether it’s the negative headspace that others bring upon the individual (“A Place For My Head”), being emotionless and not being able to feel others around you (“Numb”), or simply finding a place to belong in the world (“Somewhere I Belong”), it all just happens to be very relatable. Sure, other bands of the time (especially in nu-metal and modern rock in general) talked about these subjects in their lyrics, but it wasn’t quite presented openly in the way that Linkin Park did.
At the end of the day, all the members of Linkin Park are also a microcosm of most musicians (and the average person) as a whole. Able to be related to because they all came from fairly average, typical backgrounds, and not necessarily the rich, privileged backgrounds some musicians do. Not that there’s anything wrong with the latter, of course. It certainly has advantages. However, Linkin Park tends to represent the “everyman” demographic – the kind of people that know what it’s like to go through a destructive breakup, behind on bills, struggling to get by every single day, yet doing it anyway. That’s probably why so many people bought their records (and still do).
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