One Step Closer (Linkin Park song)
Encyclopedia
"One Step Closer" is a song by the American rock
band Linkin Park
. It was released as the first single and second track of their debut album, Hybrid Theory
. This song is also featured in the game Rock Band 2
.
The track was firstly known as "Plaster", a supposed demo version of "One Step Closer". This early version featured Bennington screaming "shut up" in the beginning of the song, as well as during the bridge.
The song was successful on the mainstream rock track chart, where it was named the 43rd best performing song of the decade.
a half-step down. In 2008 they ended some of their shows with either "One Step Closer" or "Bleed It Out
". In 2009, every show they played was ended with "One Step Closer", excluding the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Premiere.
During the 2001 MTV VMA performance of the song, the band had The X-Ecutioners
do an extended break before the bridge. This part was somewhat similar to the atmosphere on the remix, with synth parts and faint vocal parts being scratched.
From 2003 to 2007, performances of the song include a verse originally sung by Jonathan Davis in the Reanimation
remix of the song before the "Shut up when I'm talking to you!" bridge. At the end of the verse, Bennington then repeats the line "Blood is pouring" while the song builds up to the bridge.
On occasion, Shinoda sings "Blood is pouring" under Bennington's screaming during this part, as is done by Jonathan Davis
on the remix. This is half-done on the performance at 2004's Rock am Ring
(in that Shinoda only sings the part during the second half of the bridge) and fully done during a performance during 2003's Projekt Revolution
tour, which was recorded and included on the "Faint
" single and is available as a bonus track for Reanimation when purchased on iTunes
. On the single cover, it is called '"One Step Closer" (Reanimated Live)'. It can also be heard on the Live from Nottingham Rock City 2003 Live from Nottingham record. During the 2006 live performances in Japan, the Reanimation bridge was played with the main riff of the song.
A live version of the song was included as a b-side to "Faint
".
During the band's 2007 tour, "One Step Closer" became the opening song of Linkin Park's performances, and the Reanimation verse was removed. It also featured a new, extended intro featuring Mike Shinoda on rhythm guitar. In 2008, it had a new extended outro, and sometimes it was performed as the last song.
For the 2010 A Thousand Suns World Tour
, the song was used as the final song of the main Europe/North America set, with an extended outro featuring a guitar solo by Mike Shinoda while Brad Delson plays an extended rhythm section during the solo. In the main Australia setlist, as well as many random sets, the song was the final song of the concerts.
of Linkin Park came up with the concept for the video. The original version of the video was supposedly meant to be live footage of the band with fans (similar to their music video for "Faint
").
The actual video was directed by Gregory Dark
and shot in Los Angeles
63 feet underground in an abandoned LA subway tunnel, that is adjacent to an abandoned V.A. hospital. The video starts out with a group of teenage friends hanging out around a dark alley. Two of them (male played by local LA artist Tony Acosta who goes by the moniker "TonyMech") follow a strange man wearing a black hooded robe into a door which leads them to a dark misty room where the band is playing. The two go into the tunnel and the bands Guitarist Brad Delson
is playing his guitar alone and then the song goes on. Strange figures are around doing martial-arts moves. Midway through the song, they knock over a box, drawing the attention of the monk-like martial arts guys, causing them to flee the tunnel. Eventually the strange man appears at the end of the video. While Bennington screams the "Shut up when I'm talking to you!" bridge, he is also upside-down as if gravity is inverted for him.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
. It was released as the first single and second track of their debut album, Hybrid Theory
Hybrid Theory
Hybrid Theory is the debut album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on October 24, 2000 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was a huge commercial success, having sold over 10 million units in the United States alone as of 2010 and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 while also...
. This song is also featured in the game Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2
Rock Band 2 is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems. It is the sequel to Rock Band and is the second title in the series. The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments...
.
The track was firstly known as "Plaster", a supposed demo version of "One Step Closer". This early version featured Bennington screaming "shut up" in the beginning of the song, as well as during the bridge.
The song was successful on the mainstream rock track chart, where it was named the 43rd best performing song of the decade.
Live performances
Until 2007, Linkin Park has closed every concert to date with "One Step Closer", excluding Live 8, and their live performances at Summer Sonic. In 2007, Linkin Park played "One Step Closer" toward the beginning of their live performances and sometimes at the end. The song is always played in Drop DDrop D tuning
Drop D tuning, also known as DADGBE, is an alternate, or scordatura, form of guitar tuning — specifically, a dropped tuning — in which the lowest string is tuned down from the usual E of standard tuning by one whole step to D.- Uses of drop D tuning :In drop D the three bass strings...
a half-step down. In 2008 they ended some of their shows with either "One Step Closer" or "Bleed It Out
Bleed It Out
"Bleed It Out" is a song by American rock band Linkin Park. The song is released as the second single from their third studio album, Minutes to Midnight, the single was released on August 14, 2007....
". In 2009, every show they played was ended with "One Step Closer", excluding the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Premiere.
During the 2001 MTV VMA performance of the song, the band had The X-Ecutioners
The X-Ecutioners
The X-Ecutioners is a group of hip hop DJs / turntablists from New York.-History:Formed as a DJ crew in the early nineties and originally including 11 members, under the name X-Men, which was chosen partly because of their rivalry between Super DJ Clark Kent's crew of DJs, known as the Supermen,...
do an extended break before the bridge. This part was somewhat similar to the atmosphere on the remix, with synth parts and faint vocal parts being scratched.
From 2003 to 2007, performances of the song include a verse originally sung by Jonathan Davis in the Reanimation
Reanimation
Reanimation helped the many underground hip-hop artists that it featured reach a larger audience, as well as changing the nature of the work so significantly that it could be considered an entirely new album...
remix of the song before the "Shut up when I'm talking to you!" bridge. At the end of the verse, Bennington then repeats the line "Blood is pouring" while the song builds up to the bridge.
On occasion, Shinoda sings "Blood is pouring" under Bennington's screaming during this part, as is done by Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Houseman Davis is the lead vocalist and frontman for the nu metal band Korn. Davis was ranked 16th on Hit Parader 's list of "Heavy Metal's All-Time Top 100 Vocalists".-Early life:...
on the remix. This is half-done on the performance at 2004's Rock am Ring
Rock am Ring
The Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually in Germany....
(in that Shinoda only sings the part during the second half of the bridge) and fully done during a performance during 2003's Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution
Projekt Revolution is a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage...
tour, which was recorded and included on the "Faint
Faint (song)
"Faint" is a song by Linkin Park from their second studio album Meteora. The song was released as the album's second single in mid-2003 and entered the top thirty on the majority of the charts it appeared on, including the Hot 100, in which it peaked at #48. The song reached #1 on the U.S. Modern...
" single and is available as a bonus track for Reanimation when purchased on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
. On the single cover, it is called '"One Step Closer" (Reanimated Live)'. It can also be heard on the Live from Nottingham Rock City 2003 Live from Nottingham record. During the 2006 live performances in Japan, the Reanimation bridge was played with the main riff of the song.
A live version of the song was included as a b-side to "Faint
Faint (song)
"Faint" is a song by Linkin Park from their second studio album Meteora. The song was released as the album's second single in mid-2003 and entered the top thirty on the majority of the charts it appeared on, including the Hot 100, in which it peaked at #48. The song reached #1 on the U.S. Modern...
".
During the band's 2007 tour, "One Step Closer" became the opening song of Linkin Park's performances, and the Reanimation verse was removed. It also featured a new, extended intro featuring Mike Shinoda on rhythm guitar. In 2008, it had a new extended outro, and sometimes it was performed as the last song.
For the 2010 A Thousand Suns World Tour
A Thousand Suns World Tour
A Thousand Suns World Tour was a worldwide concert tour by American rock band Linkin Park. The tour supported the band's fourth studio album A Thousand Suns. The tour ranked 35th in Pollstar's "Top 50 Worldwide Tour ", earning over 20 million dollars.-Background:Linkin Park announced their upcoming...
, the song was used as the final song of the main Europe/North America set, with an extended outro featuring a guitar solo by Mike Shinoda while Brad Delson plays an extended rhythm section during the solo. In the main Australia setlist, as well as many random sets, the song was the final song of the concerts.
Music video
Joe HahnJoe Hahn
Joseph "Joe" Hahn , better known by his stage name, Mr. Hahn, is an American turntablist and director best known as the DJ and sampler for the band Linkin Park.-Personal Biography:...
of Linkin Park came up with the concept for the video. The original version of the video was supposedly meant to be live footage of the band with fans (similar to their music video for "Faint
Faint (song)
"Faint" is a song by Linkin Park from their second studio album Meteora. The song was released as the album's second single in mid-2003 and entered the top thirty on the majority of the charts it appeared on, including the Hot 100, in which it peaked at #48. The song reached #1 on the U.S. Modern...
").
The actual video was directed by Gregory Dark
Gregory Dark
Gregory Dark is an American film director, film producer, music video director, and screenwriter. Dark is one of the few adult film-makers to successfully transition into mainstream Hollywood film-making...
and shot in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
63 feet underground in an abandoned LA subway tunnel, that is adjacent to an abandoned V.A. hospital. The video starts out with a group of teenage friends hanging out around a dark alley. Two of them (male played by local LA artist Tony Acosta who goes by the moniker "TonyMech") follow a strange man wearing a black hooded robe into a door which leads them to a dark misty room where the band is playing. The two go into the tunnel and the bands Guitarist Brad Delson
Brad Delson
Bradford Phillip "Brad" Delson is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the Grammy Award winning rock band Linkin Park. He is also the A&R Representative for Machine Shop Recordings....
is playing his guitar alone and then the song goes on. Strange figures are around doing martial-arts moves. Midway through the song, they knock over a box, drawing the attention of the monk-like martial arts guys, causing them to flee the tunnel. Eventually the strange man appears at the end of the video. While Bennington screams the "Shut up when I'm talking to you!" bridge, he is also upside-down as if gravity is inverted for him.
Track listing
Charts
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 75 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay Hot 100 Airplay The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard... |
68 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
4 |
| US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs... |
5 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 38 |
| Germany Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
32 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 46 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 57 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 46 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 42 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
24 |