I Prevail’s Brian Burkheiser picks his 10 favourite Linkin Park songs

Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park perform at MAPFRE Stadium on May 17, 2015 in Columbus, Ohio
Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington (Image credit: Jason Squires\/WireImage)

Like most rock bands of the past 15 years or so, post-hardcore newcomers I Prevail have been immeasurably influenced by Linkin Park. As the Michigan band release their debut LP, Lifelines, we catch up with vocalist Brian Burkheiser for his essential picks from the Californian six-piece that changed everything.

Crawling (2000)

“There’s a lotta different influences I take when writing for our music and whatnot, but if I had to choose one of my favourite bands, it’d probably be Linkin Park. They really influenced my writing style and the band’s writing style, and they’re a band most of us are fans of. Chester Bennington’s voice on Crawling is just phenomenal.”

In the End (2000)

In the End is one that’s really special for me, because it was probably the first Linkin Park song I ever heard. I’m actually 23, so I got into Linkin Park a little later than everyone else. But In the End was one that definitely hit me pretty hard.”

One Step Closer (2000)

“This is a huge one from Hybrid Theory, too. I think I just heard it on the radio one day, by chance; that song, for me, is a real hard hitter and has some really cool dynamics.”

Papercut (2000)

“The intro to this song is actually one of my favourite parts of any Linkin Park track.”

Faint (2003)

“If we’re taking it away from Hybrid Theory, we’ll probably go to Meteora with Faint. I’m a big fan of the synth elements in this song, and that’s something that I Prevail use in our music. We were definitely influenced by Faint and music from that realm.”

I Prevail (Brian Burkheiser, second right)

I Prevail (Brian Burkheiser, second right) (Image credit: Lindsey Byrnes)

Numb (2003)

“Obviously it’s one of the bigger hits from Meteora, so I have to put that on the list! A great song.”

Breaking the Habit (2003)

“Again, I just love Chester’s voice here. I think that tone and grit he’s got is something I really enjoy, and having him singing against Mike Shinoda on the rapping end of it just brings this really cool element to the song; it just makes it really vocally dynamic.”

Somewhere I Belong (2003)

“I think I’ll have Somewhere I Belong… that was on Meteora, right? I haven’t gone through my Linkin Park discography lately so I’m just trying to brush up here, but I’ll throw that onto the list!”

Bleed it Out (2007)

Bleed It Out just sums up that Linkin Park sound and I think it’s one of the songs that really resonated with me when I was younger.”

Shadow of the Day (2007)

Minutes to Midnight is probably my second-favourite Linkin Park album. This has got so many great songs on it: Given Up, Bleed it Out, What I’ve Done… but I think I’ll pick Shadow of the Day. This is just such a different Linkin Park song. It has such a different vibe, but something I enjoy about my favourite bands – especially Linkin Park – is that they can go from playing these really heavy, aggressive songs to bringing it down and pulling in different elements and dynamics from the band, and Shadow of the Day is a song that does this and really lets Chester’s voice shine.”

I Prevail’s new album Lifelines is out now.

The 25 best Linkin Park songs

Alec Chillingworth
Writer

Alec is a longtime contributor with first-class BA Honours in English with Creative Writing, and has worked for Metal Hammer since 2014. Over the years, he's written for Noisey, Stereoboard, uDiscoverMusic, and the good ship Hammer, interviewing major bands like Slipknot, Rammstein, and Tenacious D (plus some black metal bands your cool uncle might know). He's read Ulysses thrice, and it got worse each time.