Rob Bourden

TRACK ONE: LINKIN PARK- PAPERCUT

More often than not, track one’s set the tone for the album and give a pretty interesting insight into what is to come. When you go back to Linkin Park’s debut album, Hybrid Theory, “Papercut” really does set the stage for the rest of the record. To this day, “Papercut” is still a live staple in Linkin Park set lists for a reason. The song itself combines elements hip-hop, metal, and drum and bass and melodic vocals. Both Mike Shinoda and the late Chester Bennington have said this song is one of their favorites in the bands catalog. The video for the song is a bit fun and a bit “huh.” Just remember that it was made in the early 2000’s and yeah hahaha. I personally to this day have always had a soft spot for this track. And now with Emily Armstrong on vocals, the song has a whole new life and sounds like a brand new song. Seriously, you can’t go wrong with “Papercut.”

Linkin Park- Papercut:

Linkin Park- Papercut (with Emily Armstrong):

Collaborations:Linkin Park & Page Hamilton- All For Nothing

Back in 2015, Linkin Park released their album, The Hunting Party. This album saw the band return to more of their “rock roots” after time spent experimenting and expanding upon their sound. The Hunting Party was met with a bit of a mixed reaction but, over time has actually grown into quite a pretty stand out album in their catalog. One song on this album in particular has always had my attention and it’s one hell of a banger too. The song is track 2 on the album and it’s called “All For Nothing” and features the one and only Page Hamilton of Helmet on guest vocals as well as guitar. This song fits naturally into the signature sound of Linkin Park and it has a bit of an old school vibe with the hip-hop verses into the soaring melodic chorus. The combination of LP and Page Hamilton works out quite well. When you listen to early LP albums (Hybrid Theory/Meteora) there is a bit of a Helmet influence to the guitars so it’s only appropriate that this collaboration were to happen and work so well. I’m just going to put this out in the universe cause it would be awesome if it were to happen but, how about on Helmet’s upcoming tour, they add this song to the set for their Los Angeles date and Mike Shinoda comes out and performs it with Helmet?! Now that would be something! This song really deserves to be given the proper live debut!

Linkin Park with Page Hamilton- All For Nothing:

Making of “All For Nothing”