Something Old, Something New 07.01.09: Linkin Park vs. Halestorm

Posted by Adam Battagello on 07.01.2009

The battle of hard rock as the established Linkin Park take on newcomers Halestorm

Greetings to all, its time for the second edition of the article that pits the ‘youngsters' against the ‘oldies' in the battle for generational dominance that dwarfs any war seen in Lord of the Rings. That's right, it's Something Old, Something New.

Before we get started, I would just like to comment on the obvious news from the past week, that being the passing of the great Michael Jackson. Not knowing the man personally, I would not feel right passing judgment on the controversy that surrounded his personal life for years before his death. Being a fan of his music however, I can say that the world has truly lost a master of the craft in this past week. His songs meant a lot of things to A LOT of people, and in the end that should be the legacy that survives him, and not the legal entanglement of his later life.

Now just watch as his back catalog outsells every other collective artist in the world for the rest of the year.




On a side note from last week's edition, if you don't already have Cage The Elephant's debut album, please do yourself a service and go get it. It is definitely worth a listen.

Now lets get to it,

This week:

Linkin Park- New Divide vs. Halestorm- I Get Off








Ahh Linkin Park, one of the few worthwhile things to survive the nu metal explosion of the late nineties and early 2000s. I've always been quite fond of the group's music, dating back to when I got my hands on their album Meteora as a younger lad, one of the first albums I can remember truly enjoying. While they have copped some criticism as of late for the direction they seem to be taking, I personally viewed their last album Minutes to Midnight as a step in the right direction, and as a natural progression for the band.

So how does their latest single size up?

There are three things I can remember from watching the first Transformers movie. The first being Megan Fox, the second is not being able to tell which damn robot was which for 90% of the film, and the third being how well the song ‘What I've Done' seemed to fit in with the general message at the conclusion of the movie. For years I've seen pop songs of the day slipped into movies where they didn't really belong- U2's Elevation and Tomb Raider?? Come on, to this day, watching that film clip still makes my insides hurt. But I've gotta say, in the first Transformers film, this song nailed it. So when I heard that the group were working on songs specifically for the Transformers sequel I was perfectly willing to give it a listen.

The first thing I really noticed about New Divide was the drum work. Not that the whole band isn't good in the song, but the drumming is seriously on another planet. Being a guitar player myself, the fact that the drumming was the thing that really caught my ear first surprised me.

Like I mentioned, while the drumming is great, the rest of Linkin Park are also at the top of their game for this one. Bennington is belting out lyrics with a ‘the world is about to end ' urgency that I think will really come together with the new Transformers film in a big way.

Simply put, Linkin Park is like a fine wine; they just keep getting better with age. I guess you could say it's a testament to Mike Shinoda's growing ability as a producer that as he continues to evolve, so does the band itself. In all honesty, these guys are one of the few bands still around in modern music that I am genuinely excited to see what they try next.

Kind words aside, after watching the song's clip repeatedly I realised a couple of things. Not only does the design of the clip itself make it hard to follow, but also I cannot take giant robots seriously. Under any conditions. At around the 40-second mark we see the ‘Bumblebee' robot looking on dramatically, something I still cannot watch without having a good laugh, which I guess kind of spoils the intended emotional message of the song itself.

Well that's enough from our established name, now we move onto the up and comers:



Curse you copyright, I demand access to a film clip


Despite technically being around for some time, I thought Halestorm fit more into the mold of an up and comer as they have only recently released their first album and lead single.

I Get Off isn't the kind of song I would normally listen to. This kind of hard rock hasn't really been in my repertoire for some years now, which theoretically put Halestorm at a disadvantage when it came to this review. Inexperience in the genre aside, the song itself is something I could see shoving into my ipod one day very soon. The subject matter itself is refreshingly disturbing; a story of a woman ‘getting off' on the fact that she knows another person is secretly ‘getting off' on her. Oh voyeurism, you never cease to make me feel uncomfortable.

The music itself is the typical kind of hard rock style guitar that initially soured me on the genre. I guess I had just been to far to many amateur band competitions where every other musician is trying to do a pathetic imitation of the genre. Whatever the cause, I just never really got into the music itself.

As for which of the singles is better. Once again both songs bring pros and cons to the table. I Get Off brings with it the kind of vigor and energy that young bands have to deliver on if they hope to get anywhere in the music business. Surprisingly though Linkin Park and their single New Divide shows this same kind of liveliness coupled with the musical experience that comes with age. This week, I'm going to have to side with the established name Linkin Park.


Congratulations boys, you've won the greatest prize of all. Having your music put together with giant robots acting dramatically…




Until next week, happy sailing.