Rob Bourdon

B-SIDES: LINKIN PARK- NO ROADS LEFT


This might come as a shock to some of you but, over the past few years, I’ve taken a liking to Linkin Park. A lot has gone on over those years and for a myriads of reasons I got drawn into it. One day I’ll elaborate on that. The 20th anniversary of their album Meteora really put it in my head that, I was hating on them for no real good reason. As I dug through their catalog and found the songs and albums I enjoyed, I made a note to come back to a few songs and highlight them. This one song in particular was a b-side from their sessions recording their third album, Minutes To Midnight. The song is “No Roads Left” and was a composition that was written mainly by Mike Shinoda and features Mike on lead vocals. There was a version recorded with Chester singing the song but, the band especially Chester thought that Mike’s version was the best one and they went with it. Sadly though, this song didn’t make the album. Had it made the album, I’m more than sure this song would have made that album better than it is. That’s not to say it’s a bad album, the sequencing of the song order is a bit iffy (but that’s for a whole other topic another day). This song is another example of good songwriting and shows that Mike Shinoda really is the glue that makes Linkin Park what it is. I’d love for this song to get it’s full due from fans as well as being added to their set lists. It’s too good to just be a b-side!

Linkin Park- No Roads Left:

Great Music Videos: Linkin Park- Faint

I love when you see a video that really connects with the energy of the song. I still remember when this video came out and it was one of those “damn, that video is really really good and now I am quite enjoying the song.” I have something lined up in the next couple weeks to further delve into Linkin Park but, first I really want to highlight this gem of a video. Riding high off their debut album, Hybrid Theory and then their follow up Meteora, Linkin Park was the biggest band in the world. During the summer of 2003, Linkin Park released “Faint” as a single and the accompanying video was something else. Legendary director Mark Romanek (Nine Inch Nails, Fiona Apple, Jay-Z, etc) was behind the camera for this one and it definitely left a mark (no pun intended). The video has the band performing with an audience with giant floodlights. Almost the entire video is shot from behind the band, allowing the strong lighting to portray them in silhouettes. A fun thing about this video is that the faces of the band are not shown throughout most of the video, except at the final chorus where the band is then shown from the front. So instead of getting an “audience view” you get the perspective of what the band sees from the state. The way the video is shot and edited is so fun and interesting. Mark Romanek does a phenomenal job of capturing not just the performance aspect of the band but, the energy from the audience that roars back to the band “on stage.” This is video is one of those that I like to put in the category of “this video will get you into the song.” As of now too, the video for “Faint” has almost 400 million plays on YouTube.

Linkin Park- Faint: