If you heard Linkin Park’s “Heavy” and wondered how they veered off from being essentially one of the most commercial nu-metal bands to be a pop band, you weren’t alone. Today, they released another track from One More Light via a lyric video for the song “Battle Symphony.” If you were expecting it to be heavier than “Heavy,” well, you’re in for a disappointment. It’s another poppy song, starting off glitchy, then leading into a drum machine beat.
Are Linkin Park a pure pop band now? Many would argue that they’ve been since Hybrid Theory, but “Heavy” is a blatant grab at pop. How’s it doing at top 40? Not bad, but not all that amazing either. In it’s most recent week, the song is #20, which isn’t bad, but it’s at the same position it was last week. A top 20 hit isn’t terrible, but Top 40 is an entirely new audience. There are probably plenty of casual Linkin Park fans that don’t even know the band have a new album coming, since neither “Heavy” nor “Battle Symphony” are going to be getting played on rock radio (although “Heavy” is sitting just outside the top 20 at alternative radio. At any rate, here you go:
