10 Band Members That Are Way More Important Than You Think

Not every rock band is a democracy. Even though they might present themselves as a unit whenever they play on stage, you can usually tell the one person who’s carrying most of the band onstage and in the studio. When you peel back the layers of these tunes though, there are some people in the background that you tend to take for granted.

As much as these artists might present themselves a certain way, these artists are instrumental in the band’s sound whether you know it or not. While they may be pushed to the side in interviews or stand off to the side of the stage, every one of them is key to making sure the entire band is firing on all cylinders, whether that means adding new textures into the mix or providing the sonic glue that holds the rest of the band together.

Sometimes even the band tends to take these guys for granted, and their albums suffer for it whenever they put them on the backburner. There might be rock musicians and rock stars in different categories, but this is a good lesson in band dynamics. The spotlight might love you, but the other guy is more important than you think he is.

For a metal band, Linkin Park aren’t really known for their massive guitar chops. If you listen to songs like Numb or What I’ve Done, the guitar has a much more muted role and often takes a back seat to either the keyboards or the vocals. Just because Brad Delson doesn’t play a lot doesn’t mean he’s a mediocre player by any stretch.

As much as Delson might like to play around with different long chords, his parts create a bed for the rest of the band to spread out. If he were to have played a chunky riff in the middle of a song like In the End, it wouldn’t have worked, instead choosing to drone on chords to give the melody a secure leg to stand on. Where Delson really shines is in his harmonic work, sounding like high tech bells on songs like One Step Closer and going from a muted sound to absolutely exploding on A Place For My Head.

In the back half of Linkin Park’s career, Delson even played a big role in bringing the guitar back into the mix, from the pseudo shredding solo that he does on In Pieces off of Minutes to Midnight to flying off the handle all over The Hunting Party, where he manages to outshine Tom Morello on the same album. Whereas Linkin Park might be the pop version of nu metal, Delson never forgot the key aspect of good rock and roll: SERVE THE SONG.