What is wrong with Linkin Park?

Image via Wikipedia

Remember those tracks which made you headbang even if you werent in the mood? Remember the rise of nu-metal? Remember those days when In the End was a top hit? Remember Papercut? Remember Numb?

Oh those were the days! A bunch of boys who experimented with rap and hip hop and metal and came up with an absolutely breathtaking combination of the three, which was unlike anything we had ever heard! It was clear to us all that we were going through something new. An uncharted territory where no one else had previously ventured. The realm of Nu Metal. A new genre in its own right.

Although one might argue about its origins, there absolutely no doubt that it was Linkin Park (and Limp Bizkit) who made the genre popular and acceptable. The lyrics were potent, the music strong and the effect was a heady dose of rap and metal.

In its formative years leading to release of their first album, Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park could be classified as a bunch of superb musicians who knew exactly what people wanted to listen to. When Hybrid Theory was released, it became an instant hit. It was certified platinum in 2003, quite an achievement conidering that it was the debut album. Their next album, Metero, took them to astronomical heights of popularity. MTV named Linkin Park as one of the greatest bands of the music video era. Things only got better for them. Tours were a success, concerts sold out and popularity rivalling any of the then popular acts.

What happened a few years later, 2006 onwards, is quite a mystery. Their sound changed, the lyrics stripped down, mellowed, the rapping reduced, overall it was clear that Linkin Park was no longer the same. Many say this led to their music becoming more mainstream. But frankly, thats a lame argument. Mainstream doesnt necessarily denote good music. Infact it does denote quite the opposite. Hardly anyone would call Justin Bieber or Kesha's music revolutionary.

The death knell, in my opinion, came after the release of their song Catalyst on yotube. It sounded so horribly wrong, so un-Linkin Park, so like every other album out there. The comments on the page reflected my concern perfectly well. Many (if not most) felt that Linkin Park was no longer THE group, THE band, THE musicians. Perhaps its not their fault at all. We all know about record companies and their business attitudes. Its no secret that all they care about is maximum number of hits (read mainstream success). Athough I will still remain a fan of the band, I will perhaps cherish what Linkin Park was rather than what it is.

The Idiocy of Indian Television Programmes

Image by parul2999 via Flickr

Indian Television. Not really a global phenomenon is it? After all in India, prime time programmes are primarily meant for aunties and grannies. The youth of this country has almost forever been starved of good, quality youth oriented programmes. Unless of course you consider 'programmes' like Roadies (MTV) to be proper programmes for the youth. As the clock strikes 7 (pm of course) thousands of women (my mum included) dedicate all their attention to the television sets, for 'saas-bahu' (mother-in-law vs wife) rivalry, family dramas (epitomised family dramas with joint families the size of elephant packs), evil aunties and well, more evil aunties. And what do we guys watch? Well, there's always THE NEWS, although listening to the same crap being repeated 24x7 does not really make for a pleasant experience. Then there's always the talent hunt shows where every female singer, prodded by her over zealous parents, wants to become a Lata Mangeshkar and where every male singer prodded again by over zealous parents and dreamy eyed girlfriend(s?) to become the next Mohammad Rafi. And then there are the business news channels, but from what I gather and from my personal experience as well, this is not everyone's cup of tea. So what else can we watch? Oh yeah, the 'tech' shows which is about as techy as a supermodel showing off her iPhone, where real techy things like open source, source code, etc. are forbidden words, and where the review of the latest mobile phone depends largely on how good its looks are compared to the other device they 'reviewed' the other day. Thats tech for you on tele. Okay so what the hell do we watch or can we watch? Nothing to be honest. No Indianised versions of western tv series (just copy a few shows if you cant come up with original ideas! Please!), no true Indian world class programmes, not even a proper comedy show!

Of course you might think that expecting a Top Gear or a Lost here in India would be a tall order but frankly, considering the amount of money spent on those zoom-in zoom-out types all 365 days, I think its very much possible. Why cant we have a Lost here? Why not a House? Why not? Honestly why not? Why does the youth of this country have to turn to the US/UK series to satisfy their hunger for top class watchable programmes? Like a lot of things I dont understand (fail to fathom), the reason of this lack of proper good, quality stuff on Indian stuff is beyond my comprehension.

Anime vs Cartoon

Image via WikipediaI am being forced to write about this, coz recently I have been stunned by some really really awesome anime stuff.

I had a certain prejudice about anime. I always thought they were really crappy animation thingies brought to light thanks to their publicity and Japanese background, US bashing, Japanese superiority etc etc. But the thing is, anime is really really cool! Infact I think to some extent it could even rival a standard cartoon!

The artwork and detail in most (if not all) anime series are simply superb, soundtracks (title tracks etc.) are awesome to say the least (and original as well!) and the plots are stunning, and the action sequences...well do I need to elaborate? I dont think I have ever come across an anime series (on tele) which turned out to be boring. As far as cartoon is concerned, I guess they have become monotonous or maybe have grown out of it.

And year after year anime is creating waves across the world, be it Naruto or Avatar; anime is here to stay and win accolades around the world for a long long time to come.