Guitarist no longer tours with the band, but remains credited as an official member and appears on the album From Zero
It cannot be denied that the task of LinkinPark in From Zero it seemed difficult. The group’s new album marks the debuts of two new members: the vocalist Emily Armstrong and the drummer Colin Brittainrespectively in the vacancies of the deceased Chester Bennington and Rob Bourdon, who preferred not to get involved with this new stage.
With such impactful changes, what should the band sound like at its current stage? Rescue your roots? Looking for a new sound? According to Brad Delsonthe decision leaned more towards the first alternative — and this was one of the album’s biggest differences in his vision.
The guitarist — who no longer participates in tours, but remains an official member and recorded the work — shared reflections on From Zero in an interview with Guitar Player. For him, even though it represents a different version of Linkin Park, the album is stimulating because it goes back to the group’s early years.
During the occasion, he admitted that the band tried too hard on previous albums to innovate. No such obligation existed in the most recent record.
“We weren’t afraid to tap into our most unique toolbox on this record. I think on some previous records it was always like: ‘Innovate! Innovate! Innovate!’. We always wanted to challenge ourselves to go somewhere new. Now, I think that because we already have new elements [novos integrantes] as part of the palette, we didn’t hold back in terms of using things that maybe we used in the beginning, just ways of writing and playing.”
Delson also reinforced a connection that the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda had already done: the feeling that From Zero connects to the times when Linkin Park was called Xero. He commented:
“There was an aesthetic or vibe from some of our early demos when we were called Xero. There were some songs on these very early demos that had a very clear aesthetic. You hear some of this in Hybrid Theory [álbum de 2000].”
The review published in Rolling Stone Brazil highlights that From Zero it seems to cycle through sounds from all of Linkin Park’s albums. However, the guitarist guarantees that the idea was to go back more to the beginnings.
“I love how eclectic our discography is. This is a super salient part of our identity as musicians. But on this album, I think we felt more liberated to use any of the tools we had played with before, more like a lack of self-awareness than a conscious decision to go somewhere specific.”
Brad Delson and Linkin Park’s songwriting style
Still during the interview, Brad Delson commented on Linkin Park’s composition method. From Zero has its creations signed by all members as well as external collaborators, including Mike Elizondo, Teddy Swims, Nick Long and Bea Miller.
Even with so many involved, the guitarist points out that the original creative process was resumed based on some concepts: trial and error, frank discussion and openness to a variety of opinions. He says:
“When I’m in the studio with the guitar, I’m not attached to it. I always think as a composer first. If I feel like a song is better without guitar, I’m the first one to say ‘Can we mute it?’. And if someone else plays an amazing guitar part, I’m like, ‘Thanks, one less thing to worry about.'”
Then, he adds:
“Also, if someone’s tempted to do something and I feel like it’s not as interesting as it could be, I’m like, ‘I’d like to redo that’ or something. Some of these songs had guitars when I started messing around with them; a part of that guitar is still there and another part of that guitar was redone in the studio. Our process is to support what is working. If the guitar wasn’t super catchy, we’d just mute it and then create new guitar parts. We experiment a lot.”
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Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
