Linkin Park are probably one of the 10 biggest rock acts on the planet.
I mention this mostly because: A) It's true, and B) It makes everything
they've done post-Hybrid Theory (their big breakout album) all the more
admirable.
They have never been afraid to push the envelope and try new things.
This is easy to do if you are a band that has nothing to lose, but in
LP's case, it borders on insanity. Their albums are the kinds of things
labels schedule their financial quarters around. They're tent poles (or
life preservers) meant to keep things from sagging too low or sinking
too deep. The danger of alienating their fanbase is very real, and the
results could be catastrophic.
Still, with each successive album, Linkin Park push even further into
the void, and, in the process, they leave their nĂ¼-metal roots in the
dust. At this point, they're barely the same band they were back in
2000, and any similarities they still share with their Hybrid past will
almost certainly be erased with their upcoming A Thousand Suns, an album
they've gone to great lengths to christen as a bold new direction for
the group, public opinion be damned.
We finally got to see the first fruits of that reinvention with the
murky, mercurial video for "The Catalyst." Directed once again by band
DJ Joseph Hahn, it's an ominous, elemental thing, full of smoke and
unseen flames, charred earth and rising tides. It may very well be a
chilling, post-apocalyptic preview of mankind's future, or it might just
be a really cool, really art-y video, the kind that big, important rock
bands tend to make (and at this point, LP are most certainly both of
those things). It's really up to you to decide. Though, really, it works
either way.
But mostly, "The Catalyst" serves as a preview of what fans can expect
on A Thousand Suns, which is basically what bassist Dave "Phoenix"
Farrell told MTV News earlier this month. "There are certainly dark,
trying times ahead," the band seems to be saying. "Get ready."
And to that point, it's telling that Linkin Park are barely even in the
video — or, more specifically, when they are, they're shrouded in smoke
or submerged in water. You can infer from that what you'd like, but I
see it as the band letting fans know that they practically died to make
this album, that they went through hell and high water to bring it to
fruition. It may be subliminal, but it's definitely there. And it's why I
admire Linkin Park as much as I do.
So if you loved Linkin Park for their rapping or their angry outbursts
or even their Gundam obsession, you're probably going to be a bit
disappointed with "The Catalyst," not to mention A Thousand Suns. But
that's really the point, isn't it? Great bands push themselves, great
bands are unafraid to fail. And, dare I say it, with both their new
video and their new album, Linkin Park may very well have become a great
band.
What did you think of "The Catalyst" video? Share your reviews in the comments!