"One Step Closer" is the debut single by the American rock bandLinkin Park. It was released as the first single and second track of their debut album, Hybrid Theory. The song was featured in the 2008 music video gamesRock Band 2 and , and the soundtrack to the 2000 film Dracula 2000 in the end credits. A remixed version of the song entitled "1Stp Klosr" was featured on Linkin Park's remix album, Reanimation. The remix features Jonathan Davis, the lead singer of nu metal band Korn. This song was merged with another song off Hybrid Theory, "Points of Authority" and "99 Problems" by Jay-Z on the EPCollision Course.
Live performances
Until 2007, Linkin Park closed every concert 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 C#. 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 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 2006, performances of the song include a verse originally sung by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis in the Reanimation remix of the song before the "Shut up when I'm talking to you!" bridge, which can be heard on LP Underground 4.0. At the end of the verse, Davis repeats the line "Blood is pouring" while the song builds up to the bridge. During their Projekt Revolution tour in 2004, the band actually got Jonathan Davis himself to sing his part on the song before Chester Bennington starts screaming his part. On occasion, Mike 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 and fully done during a performance during 2003's Projekt Revolution tour, which was completely recorded and included as a B-side 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" ". 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. 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 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 Shinoda while Brad Delson played an extended rhythm section during the solo. In the main Australia set list, as well as many random sets, the song was the final song of the concerts. in 2017 they added new intro that was very similar to the one in 2007. On October 30, 2017, Jonathan Davis performed the song again with the remaining Linkin Park members alongside former members Dead By Sunrise during the Chester Bennington Tribute Concert.
Music video
of Linkin Park and director Gregory Dark 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. The video was directed by Dark and shot in Los Angeles, sixty-three 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 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. Monk-like men are performing martial arts moves throughout the video. Midway through the song, they knock over a crate, drawing the attention of the monk-like men, causing them to flee the tunnel. Eventually, the strange man appears at the end of the video. While Bennington screams the song's bridge, he is also upside-down as if gravity is inverted for him. Stand-in bassist Scott Koziol can be seen in several shots in the video. "One Step Closer" is the only Linkin Park music video to be filmed with SD cameras, which can be seen in 480p and is available in the US exclusively on the Warner Bros. Records YouTube channel. As of April 2020, the song has over 100 million views on YouTube.
