In the Fine Bros’ latest Teens React video, youngsters were asked to sit down and check out some tunes from Linkin Park. And just like the rest of us, the new track “Heavy” sounded almost unrecognizable to America’s youth.
Linkin Park still hold the distinction of releasing the best selling debut album of the 21st century. Hybrid Theory was a game-changer for rap-rock, containing the megahits “In the End,” “One Step Closer,” “Crawling” and “Papercut.” Even though the album was released in 2000 (around the time these teens were born) pretty much every kid in the video knew Linkin Park from their Hybrid Theory material.
“I think that’s my favorite ‘90s hairstyle; the multiple unicorn horns,” one teen said about Chester Bennington’s spikes. “These lyrics are so dramatic, but you don’t really notice because it’s so loud,” another teen said.
When comparing “Heavy” to Linkin Park’s old material, it left the teens more confused than after a sex-ed class. “What the hell was that?!” one teen reacted to “Heavy.” “This is what I expect from Linkin Park,” a guy with impressive facial hair for a youngster said about “One Step Closer.” “Not that pop s—t that they were popping out.”
Some of the teens criticized Linkin Park’s new direction. “Their newest song is sort of like a sellout in a sense, because it’s like, ‘Let’s do what’s trendy now and let’s bring in a female pop singer and we’ll make everything more mellow now instead of ‘90s angst ‘cause that’s not what’s in anymore,’” one of the female teens said. Others were more open to the genre shift, with one youth saying, “I don’t think [fans] understand how music works, ‘cause you’re supposed to change it up.”