Joe Hahn Reveals The Drastic Way Linkin Park Changed How They Wrote Songs

Linkin Park's debut album Hybrid Theory is considered their best by many, but the way they went about writing it was something that the band quickly realized wasn't sustainable. During a conversation with Rocksound, the band's Joe Hahn revealed the drastic way in which they changed their songwriting approach throughout the years.

“We approach songs a lot differently today than we did back then," he said. "Back then, we would write the entire instrumental and then build upon that. The vocals would go on top of that, so the vocals were really riding the coattails of the groove. It’s like, Okay this is the setup of a crazy bridge or a big chorus, let’s make the song cater to that."

"That worked out really well until a few years later we realized we have hundreds of songs with no vocals on them because it’s very difficult to get that perfect every time," Hahn continued. "So I think during Minutes to Midnight we started to put vocals immediately in songs. Like, Okay here’s an idea Here’s just a few notes, some chords, a beat, whatever it might be. And if there’s something compelling about that, then let’s flesh it out as a song."

See Hahn's interview with Rocksound below.

Linkin Park reportedly started working on new music before the pandemic hit, and though we haven't heard any more updates since then Mike Shinoda recently made it clear that whenever the band goes back on tour, it will not involve a Chester Bennington hologram.