♪ (punk rock music) ♪
- (laughs)
- (FBE) So we're gonna be showing you a handful of music videos
by a band that's been around for a long time,
starting with their newest video.
- (Eric) Okay. I'm intrigued. Let's do it.
- They're so suspicious.
- (Tori) I don't know who this is.
- (Brooklin) I have no idea what this is.
- (Elle) I can tell you, I already don't know this band.
- (Ethan) Is this Linkin Park?
- I love that the first three people
are convinced they don't know who it is.
- (Seth) I like this.
- (Kaelyn) This doesn't sound bad.
- The guy in a striped shirt is so nice. He's my favorite.
- (Eric) ...music video work well together.
- The guy in the button-up shirt is so nice.
He's my other favorite.
- (Daniel) ...really simple drumbeat in the background.
And I'm like...
- The guy in the Punisher hat is being really rude.
I have a love-hate relationship with him,
because he simultaneously really, like,
seems like he listens to music passionately
and he's very invested in music.
But also, he's so opinionated.
- (Kaelyn) Very depressing music video, I can tell.
- It's not depressing. It's uplifting.
- ♪ Why is everything so heavy? ♪
♪ (song ends) ♪
- (Tori) I have no idea who this is.
- (Ethan) This is Linkin Park!
What the hell was that?!
- (chuckling)
Funny thing about this song is, when we play it live,
all of the live stuff comes out a lot more than in the mix.
So when you hear it this way, it's like, "Yeah,
it sounds very electronic or pop."
And then when you come-- when you hear it any other way,
it's like a lot more rock, which I feel like,
if they heard that version, they would recognize it.
♪ (lax metal intro) ♪ (chuckling)
Okay, seriously.
This first video, I have kids.
And I won't show them this first video.
Like, it's just so bad.
Bye the way, it was directed by a guy who did porn.
He was a porn director.
- ♪ ...take this anymore ♪ - (Elle) Is that the same guy?
- (Brooklin) He looks completely different.
- Chester's hair in this video is so insane.
My hair in this video is way worse.
- ♪ ...room to breathe ♪
- (chuckles)
- ♪ I'm about to break ♪
- (Daniel) This is what I expect from Linkin Park,
not that pop shit that they were popping out.
- ♪ It starts with ♪
♪ One thing ♪ - You-- you go immediately for him,
and like, "Not that pop shit."
And then the very next thing is like our poppiest song.
- (Daniel) I imagine this is where everybody was like,
"Oh, this is Linkin Park."
- (Seth) Wait. This is Linkin Park.
- (Tori) Is this Linkin Park? - Nice.
- (Tori) This is very 2000s,
with the cheap graphics that wouldn't pass now.
- Oh, don't worry. Those cheap graphics didn't pass
when we put the video out either.
- ♪ ...the end ♪
- (Brooklin, singing along) ♪ It doesn't even matter ♪
- (Kaelyn) This is honestly a really good song.
- Thank you.
The funny thing is, I am positive
that if we put out a song today that sounds like this,
people would just be like, "Oh, yuck. What is that?"
This in 2000 is great.
This in 2017 is embarrassing.
- ♪ ...confidence ♪
♪ And I'm convinced that there's just too much... ♪
- I feel like Chester's hair has become a caricature of itself.
(laughs)
- (Ethan, singing along) ♪ So insecure! ♪
- Why were we all so angry in this video?
- (Nora) These lyrics are so dramatic,
but you don't really notice, because it's so loud.
- "Because it's so loud."
- (Eric) I think that's my favorite '90s hairstyle,
is just like the multiple unicorn horns.
- (laughs)
The girl's comment about because it's so loud
is one of my favorite things.
- ♪ ...for or why I have to scream ♪
- (Daniel) I like this animation that they're doing.
- (Tori) Whoa. I actually really like this music video.
This is really cool.
- Maybe we need to do another animated video.
This is getting good reviews right now.
- (Brooklin) You can tell, as the music videos go on,
you could hear the difference in the change in their style.
- I like that she's picking up on that. That's cool.
She appreciated the evolution.
'Cause I mean, you put these videos in the row
next to each other, and it's like--
Like, this video or the song for "Breaking the Habit"
at this point doesn't have any heavy guitars in it.
Like, it doesn't sound like an alternative rock song.
The evolution feels really smooth and fast when that happens.
But in reality, it was like over years.
- ♪ I'm breaking the habit ♪
♪ Tonight ♪
- (Seth) Linkin Park made good music.
- Thanks, dude.
I appreciate that he's enjoying it. This is great.
- ♪ Every step that I take is another... ♪
- (Kaelyn) I like this song.
- ♪ ...to you ♪
- (Elle) It's so funny watching the lead singer's evolution.
- ♪ I've become so numb ♪ - (chuckles)
I want to send them all shirts.
Can we do that? - (FBE) Totally.
- I totally want to do that.
♪ (harrowing music) ♪
- (Ethan) I know this song too. Every single one.
♪ (rock instrumental begins) ♪
- (Brooklin) This song was on Transformers.
- (Daniel) This is the Transformers theme song.
This is the one that I just heard a thousand times as a kid.
- (chuckles)
Half the band, when we first got asked
if we wanted to put a song in the first Transformers movie,
three of the six guys were on the fence about it.
The main reason why we did it
is because we loved the toys growing up, you know?
Like, I had every Transformer.
- (Tori) A lot of their music is sort of the same.
And there's just something just kind of cringy about it,
but I think it's just because everyone else hates on them.
So I feel like I need to. - Okay, hold on.
I want to know who this girl's friends are
that are such intense haters
that she cares so much about what they think about our band.
Even though she doesn't really know our band,
she does know that her friends hate our band.
♪ (punk rock music) ♪
- (FBE) So that was the band Linkin Park. - (Brooklin) No way!
- She never figured it out.
That's great.
- (Tori) Good for them for still making music.
They stuck around, even with all the hate that they get.
- (FBE) The first song we played you is their latest single,
and there's been a decent amount of backlash from their fans,
some saying that the song sounds too poppy
that they don't even really scream singing the song
like they used to. - (Ethan) Yeah.
I agree.
- (Tori) Their newest song is sort of like a sellout in a sense,
just 'cause it's like, "Oh, let's do what's trendy now
and let's bring in a female pop singer.
And then we'll make everything more mellow now
instead of '90s angst, 'cause that's not in anymore."
- The "do what's trendy" line is so funny,
because our albums take 12 to 18 months to make.
Either we've come up before the trend, like we've anticipated it,
or we make something that was cool 18 months ago.
- (Elle) Bands evolve, so fans kind of have to, like, suck it up.
- (Eric) There's so many fans of musicians where it's,
if they don't do the one thing they're known for
in the one category in the one genre in the one sub-genre,
then they HATE it.
And I don't think they understand how music works,
'cause you're supposed to change it up.
- Preach.
If we do a bunch of songs that are too similar,
it does us crazy.
That's why we make songs that don't sound the same.
And then we do the different, and what happens?
It's part of the core of why the evolution
and why the experimentation is a thing for the band.
- (FBE) So what did you think about how the teens reacted to you?
- I feel like the reactions were kind of what--
they're kind of what we expect.
Like, we've been getting reactions across the board
for seven studio albums now. And so even when--
Our most popular album was Hybrid Theory.
Even when that album came out,
from the beginning to the end of that album was like,
"Oh, the band is this thing. It's 'One Step Closer,' 'Heavy,'
blah-blah-blah." And then we got to "In the End,"
which was a pop song. And it got on pop radio.
And the "One Step Closer" kids were like,
(gruffly) "What the hell just happened? They sold out!"
For 15 years, it's been that thing back and forth
of people defending the band,
some people understanding certain parts about the band,
and other people not really liking it.
It's one of the things that makes doing this a lot of fun,
because it's really vibrant, and it's really multidimensional.
Doing what you want to do
and not just doing it for the sake of doing it
but doing it 'cause you feel really compelled--
like, it's rewarding.
As long as I walk in to the situation in the studio or onstage
and I know that I love what we did,
I have to be really conscious of that, first and foremost,
because if I don't love it, people will still love and hate it.
And if I don't love it, then I will be really sad.
Like, I'll be really disappointed in myself.
- (FBE) And finally, what do you want to say
to the teens who reacted to you?
- I really enjoyed watching the video
of everybody listening to music.
I mean, I don't even get a chance to see people
reacting to our music that way.
It was really fun and special for me to watch people
listen to it. And there were so many nice--
I mean, I feel like just them rocking out to the songs...
That on its own was just amazing.
Thanks, FBE, for making this and for having me.
And thanks to everybody who reacted to our music.
I hope you do give our new album, One More Light, a fair shot.
It's coming out on May 19.