Linkin Park might need been late to the nu metal get together, however with their debut album Hybrid Concept they shortly grew to become its largest breakout success, co-vocalists Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington making the band one of many largest metallic acts of the twenty first Century.
Although Linkin Park are at the moment inactive – for apparent causes – Shinoda has remained a artistic drive as a solo artist, most not too long ago releasing The Crimson Chapter in 2023. Hammer caught up with Mike to search out out what songs make him tick and whereas there’s the anticipated mixture of metallic and hip hop, we weren’t banking on his love of 80s new wave and 90s British electronica. These are the ten songs that modified his life…
1. Public Enemy – Insurgent With out A Pause (It Takes A Nation Of Hundreds of thousands To Maintain Us Again, 1988)
“All people is aware of that I like Public Enemy. The primary present I ever went to was Anthrax with Public Enemy, a rap-rock present, which is kinda humorous contemplating that rap-rock is what I ended up doing. A cool first present to go to, proper? Much less cool that I went with my dad as my chaperone! It Takes A Nation Of Hundreds of thousands To Maintain Us Again is an incredible album – so aggressive and abrasive and political, but additionally humorous, and Insurgent With out A Pause was an incredible intro level.
2. 9 Inch Nails – The Good Drug (Misplaced Freeway OST, 1997)
“I collected every little thing Nine Inch Nails put out – all of the CDs, all of the singles, all of the remixes, however The Good Drug from the Misplaced Freeway soundtrack felt like this wild leap ahead for Trent Reznor, or not less than it broke my expectations about what 9 Inch Nails have been doing. It has this drum’n’bass/ jungle type of beat, however then that hypnotic, nearly psychedelic outro, and it was actually influential in encouraging a few of the experimentation we tried in Linkin Park.”
3. Beastie Boys – So What’cha Need (Examine Your Head, 1992)
“Beastie Boys’ Examine Your Head was so surprising when it got here out, as a result of they introduced their punk rock roots into hip hop in a means that was so surprising and irreverent and thrilling. I’d cherished Licensed To Sick, however then kinda drifted away once they put out Paul’s Boutique as a result of there was a lot different cool stuff occurring in hip hop on the time, however So What’cha Need pulled me proper again in.”
4. Dr. Dre – Deep Cowl (Deep Cowl OST, 1992)
“Dr. Dre is one other artist the place I collected every little thing he was doing. Deep Cowl was the primary time I heard Snoop Dogg, this new famous person, and it felt like horror film music, so darkish and aggressive and harmful.”
5. Rage Towards The Machine – Killing In The Title (Rage Towards The Machine, 1992)
“Talking of aggressive, let’s have Killing In The Name, by Rage Towards The Machine. I didn’t like a lot rock on the time – grunge didn’t communicate to me like hip hop did – however Killing In The Title modified my thoughts. The issues Tom Morello was doing together with his guitar have been superb – taking influences from funk and hip hop and making them super-heavy – and Zack [de la Rocha] was a phenomenon. I couldn’t even course of what was occurring with that group, it was simply so good.”
6. Tears For Fears – All people Desires To Rule The World (Songs From The Large Chair, 1985)
“OK, let’s change it up: my favorite music from the 80s is Tears For Fears’ All people Desires To Rule The World. I like that music. Anytime somebody references it you’ll be able to inform immediately, as a result of it’s such a singular music that you would be able to’t get near it with out making a gift of that’s what you’re doing.”
7. Depeche Mode – Get pleasure from The Silence (Violator, 1990)
“I additionally love Get pleasure from The Silence by Depeche Mode. I used to drive my brother and our neighbour to high school, they usually each cherished Depeche Mode – they’d all the time attempt to play it in my automotive, and I’d be saying, ‘Flip that shit off, placed on A Tribe Known as Quest!’
Then later I acquired an opportunity to remix Depeche Mode, and my brother was like, ‘How dare you? That was my favorite band, and now you’re a giant fan? You’re an asshole!’ However Depeche Mode are nice, and the way in which they organized this music was very distinctive. Quite a lot of their songs unfold in a means that’s unconventional and surprising.”
8. Aphex Twin – Come To Daddy (Come To Daddy, 1997)
“Additionally, if we’re speaking surprising… Come To Daddy by Aphex Twin. Such a superb music, it’s loopy. The concept of utilizing a pc to tear aside sounds and make a music? Wow. It utterly revolutionised the way in which that I approached making music, and you’ll hear my Apex Twin homages – all of the glitchy, stuttering audio – throughout Hybrid Theory.”
9. Portishead – Biscuit (Dummy, 1994)
“Staying in England, Biscuit by Portishead. It’s one of many coolest tracks I’ve ever heard, like how do you even make a observe that appears like this? Once I hear this music I simply go, ‘Yeah, it’s simply magic.’ I fucking love that beat, and the vocals… wow, simply so nice.”
10. Unkle – Weapons Blazing (Drums Of Demise Half 1) (Psyence Fiction, 1998)
“Let’s finish with a very bizarre one: Weapons Blazing (Drums Of Demise Half 1) by UNKLE. That is the opening observe on Psyence Fiction, and it’s DJ Shadow and James Lavelle, with Kool G Rap, a rapper who’s been round because the 80s. This observe is superior, it’s successfully like a rap music, however actually darkish, and there’s one thing very different about how they approached it.”
Mike Shinoda’s The Crimson Chapter is out now through Fort Minor