Picked up the copy of Revolver magazine today after their teaser gave me a feeling it’d dig a little more into the interviews we had leading up to The Hunting Party– and it did, specifically more from Brad. We’re given small notes on the songs featuring other artists, as well as a solid note from the editor:
In his Pigeons and Planes blog post that helped crystallize his desire to make the hardest-hitting Linkin Park album yet, Mike Shinoda talks about some of the many challenges that face rock bands today. One of them, he says, is “rock’s culture of segregation- not in the fans’ minds, but in the bands’.” Whereas pop, rap, EDM, and even country artists are always jumping on each others’ records, remixing each other’s music, or otherwise collaborating, he points out that rock musicians are less likely to reach out across band boundraries and bolster up each other, and the scene at large, in this way. “There’s animosity between rock bands, even if they don’t say it,” he explains.
It’s a fascinating point, and one that can be expanded on. Mike is very generous towards the fans in saying that they are not part of the “culture of segregation.” The reality is grimmer. Revolver reader Christina Cockrell lays it out succinctly in her letter printed on page 16: “We are a fan base that ranges from Deep Purple to Avenged Sevenfold, where no one can agree on anything past Black Sabbath and Dimebag.”
It’s something that has struck me a lot over my years working at Revolver– just how fractured we headbangers are as a fan-base. When I was a kid, albums by Nirvana, GN’R, Minitry, Megadeth and other “grunge,” “industrial,” “trash,” or whatever kind of hard-rocking band sat comfortably next to each other in my music collection. Now, it often seems like not only are there a million new micro subgenres of heavy music but also that the lines between each are more sharply drawn. Any band that doesn’t conform to one factions’ idea of authenticity, heaviness or general badassery becomes a target, particularly online where haters are empowered by anonymity-
The us vs. them mentality that should drive any rebellious rocker has shifted into us vs. us.
We’re supposed to be a tribe, but more often, we appear to be many different tribes, and warring ones at that, tearing each other down if we love the wrong bands. Is it any surprise that, with rockers thusly divided, pop, rap EDM and country have conquered? Hopefully, with a band like Linkin, who are masters at bridging worlds, defiantly back on Team Rock and helping lead the charge, we can pull together and make a comeback.
Brandon Geist, Editor in Chief.
Definitely an issue you want sitting on your desk. Pick your copy at your local newsstand or order online HERE.
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