6 January 2005
Chester Bennington’s sad demise takes the edge off my feelings on Linkin Park. It will suffice for me to say that I wasn’t a fan of any ’00s US nu-metal bands, or ’00s US nu-metal as a genre. Out of fairness, I’ll point out that our upcoming 2005 number ones hold far, far worse in store than this New Year outcrop of nu-metal.
While this collaboration with Jay-Z, the ’00s guest artist other ’00s guest artists call the guv’nor, may seem like corporate stunt casting, apparently there were early links between him and Linkin Park founder member Mike Shinoda. Also, Linkin Park’s brand of nu-metal had rap and hip hop running through it anyway. This may explain why ‘Numb/Encore’ sounds far less clunky than you’d expect from such an unlikely pairing, though that still leaves us with the clunky two-part title. Those dramatic synth shots are certainly distinctive and effective. Jay-Z is at the top of his game, so even his third-gear spin through this is engaging. That only leaves me with the Linkin Park bits, and nothing on ‘Numb/Encore’ changes my mind about ’00s US nu-metal. Still, sooner this rap-diluted nu-metal than the concentrated stuff.
