Linkin Park has proved itself impervious to critics, genres and the rest of the competition on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, as the juggernaut of its “Meteora” album (Warner Bros.) continues its momentum from last year.
Four songs from the band’s sophomore album charted on the year-end Modern Rock Tracks recap, with three finishing in the top 10. This earns the act the No. 1 spot on the year-end Hot Modern Rock Artists chart.
“Numb” was the year’s second-most-spun song in modern rock, while “Breaking the Habit” and “Lying From You” came in at Nos. 8 and 9, respectively. “Faint” also garnered airplay, while the band’s collaboration with Jay-Z, the just-released “Collision Course,” ensures that the group will have a presence on next year’s chart as well.
What’s more impressive is that the five singles released from the quadruple-platinum “Meteora” all have logged at least three weeks at No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart for a total of 30 weeks atop that list.
Despite Linkin Park’s strong showing, Epic, not Warner Bros., tops the Modern Rock Labels chart. Epic act Incubus takes the No. 1 spot on the year-end Modern Rock Tracks chart with “Megalomaniac.”
The song was on the chart for the first half of 2004, peaking at No. 1 for a total of six weeks. The band also had a solid follow-up with “Talk Shows on Mute,” which ranks at No. 19 on the year-end recap. The song charted for 26 weeks and peaked at No. 3 on Modern Rock Tracks.
RETRO SOUND
Two other Epic bands, while finishing outside the top 10 on the year-end Modern Rock Tracks chart, highlight the disparity of bands accepted at the format.
As modern rock acts, Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand would’ve been scoffed at five years ago. The former band’s “Float On” and the latter’s “Take Me Out” have a retro sound that the format would have deemed too quirky to be mainstream several years ago. Yet the songs are among the biggest modern rock hits of the year. “Float On” is No. 12 on the Modern Rock Tracks recap while “Take Me Out” comes in at No. 15.
The success of those two bands, combined with that of the Killers (No. 16 on the tracks recap with “Somebody Told Me”) gave legitimacy to “classic modern,” an extension of the modern rock format that was the talk of the industry as the year began.
Stations in Los Angeles (KDLD), San Diego (KBZT) and Seattle (KNDD) were among those that took a more retro approach to the music they played, finding music that set them apart from the mainstream and active rock stations in their markets.
These stations also dipped into their back catalogs, finding multiple tracks by acts like the Clash, Pearl Jam and the Pixies that went well with bands like Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand. While the classic modern subgenre hasn’t become a full-fledged format yet, the success of these bands seems to show that the entire format has opened its ears to music that sets it apart from the competition.
But there was still a fair amount of mass-appeal music in the format in 2004. Three Days Grace has the Nos. 3 and 4 songs on the Modern Rock Tracks recap with “(I Hate) Everything About You” and “Just Like You,” respectively, an impressive feat for a rookie band.
The success of those two songs, combined with third single “Home,” gives the band the No. 2 spot on the Modern Rock Artists chart.
Jet, meanwhile, ranks at No. 3 on the artists recap. While the band has more in common with AC/DC than the “garage rock” revival it was initially lumped with, it claims two of the top Modern Rock Tracks of the year, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” (No. 20) and “Cold Hard Bitch” (No. 7).
Bands like Nickelback and Velvet Revolver, more likely to be considered rock than modern rock, also were solid performers. Velvet Revolver scored the No. 10 song of the year on the Modern Rock Tracks recap with “Slither,” and Nickelback is at No. 18 with “Figured You Out.”