Today we'll do a song analysis on "
In The End" by
Linkin Park, the fourth single from their
Hybrid Theory album of 2001. Like so many other hits, "In The End" is somewhat timeless when it comes to
iTunes, as it's still top ten on its
Alternative Chart some 10 years after release. Like all song analysis, we'll look at the song itself, the arrangement, the sound and the performance.
The Song
"In The End" uses a pretty straight-ahead form, with no fancy sections. It looks like this:
Intro, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Outro
The 3rd verse varies from the others in that it's a melody instead of a rap, so you could consider it a bridge, but the chord changes remain the same.
The Arrangement
The song is a great example of dynamics as it breathes volume-wise with every section. It goes from a quiet intro to a louder verse to a huge chorus, down in the verse, etc. It's very effective, and the only way a song with this kind of form can be successful. Here are the arrangement elements:
* The Foundation - This is mostly held down by the drums, since the kick buries the bass somewhat and it's not very easy to pick out the notes.
* The Pad - There's a high single-note synthesizer line that acts as the pad during the verse, but during the chorus it's huge doubled guitar power chords.
* The Rhythm - Unusually, it's the piano during the verse of the song.
* The Lead - The rap and melody vocal.
* The Fills - During the chorus, it's the single note synth line.
The Sound
The sound of the song is not exactly what you'd call pristine, but then again that's not what the genre calls for. The entire song is really crushed and as a result, exhibits a fair amount of distortion.
You can hear the compression on the melody vocal in places, but the sound works in context. It has a rather long reverb on it but it blends in with the track so you hardly ever hear it.
The bass is very much buried in the mix behind the drums. In fact, I didn't even think there was a bass on the recording until I heard a nice bass fill in the 3rd verse.
In the end, this is a very modern sounding track. It's not exactly my cup of tea sonically, but it's an example of the kind of sound many are going for in the 2000's.
The Performance
This is not a very complex song and neither are the parts. The drum part really stands out, as does the lead vocal, which are usually the most important parts in any hit song.
Send me your song analysis requests.
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