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tj_dragonbladeAck. I composed most of this a couple-few months back when the album came out and I had it on repeat, but never quite got around to finishing and posting it. It's ended up less a proper review and more a rambling of my impressions.
From the upward-looking U2-meets-The-Killers vibe of singalong lighter anthem 'Iridescent' to the slightly-influenced-by-Depeche-Mode sort of tone riding underneath 'When They Come For Me', Linkin Park's latest album A Thousand Suns may not necessarily be what the listener expects. It's definitely not what anyone looking for their debut sound would expect.
They've tried some different things stylistically this time around. There are a lot more electronics on this album, notably in lead single 'The Catalyst', where the bulk of the song sweeps the listener along with a bouncy stacatto sense of urgency that throws itself at last up and out into a soaring melodic bridge at the tail end. 'Blackout' and 'When They Come For Me' also follow this basic structure, as a side note, and it works to help unify the feel of the album without sounding repetitive, as all three songs are vastly different despite the shared structure. There's also 'The Messenger', where soft acoustic down-tempo melodies are paired with Chester's full-bore raw-throated vocals in a juxtaposition that works to impart a sense of world-weary-but-refusing-to-be-defeated sort of hope, and the big brawny muscle of 'Wretches and Kings', where the lyrics are rapped over a very organic old-school boom-n-bass bounce and delivered with arrogant, smirking menace.
These are elements that are not necessarily expected from LP but at the same time don't feel the least bit out of place.
I'm also curious about the Japanese lyrics in the 'Jornada del Muerto' interlude track--it's too bad the official lyrics on the LP website don't give a translation.
'Burning in the Skies' is probably the track that stylistically transitions best from the most recent thing they'd had on the radio ('New Divide'); it evokes that sort of familiarity at the same time that it preps the ear for new sounds. And 'Waiting for the End' reminds me all over again why I fell in love with Chester's voice in the first place.
Their genres and influences and elements are all over the place, and it makes for a very engaging mix. Their lyrical themes display a lot of social consciousness this time around, and the way the album is structured (there are several interlude tracks with thought-provoking historical soundbites) suits what they seem to be going for very well. The overall gist of the album seems to be 'Yeah, the world sucks, but that doesn't mean we have to'; it's dark and gritty without being depressing and it doesn't quite sound like anything else out there. Fans hoping for another Hybrid Theory or Meteora will probably be disappointed. But listeners looking to follow where LP's evolution takes them may just find this stage of the journey very much to their liking.
From the upward-looking U2-meets-The-Killers vibe of singalong lighter anthem 'Iridescent' to the slightly-influenced-by-Depeche-Mode sort of tone riding underneath 'When They Come For Me', Linkin Park's latest album A Thousand Suns may not necessarily be what the listener expects. It's definitely not what anyone looking for their debut sound would expect.
They've tried some different things stylistically this time around. There are a lot more electronics on this album, notably in lead single 'The Catalyst', where the bulk of the song sweeps the listener along with a bouncy stacatto sense of urgency that throws itself at last up and out into a soaring melodic bridge at the tail end. 'Blackout' and 'When They Come For Me' also follow this basic structure, as a side note, and it works to help unify the feel of the album without sounding repetitive, as all three songs are vastly different despite the shared structure. There's also 'The Messenger', where soft acoustic down-tempo melodies are paired with Chester's full-bore raw-throated vocals in a juxtaposition that works to impart a sense of world-weary-but-refusing-to-be-defeated sort of hope, and the big brawny muscle of 'Wretches and Kings', where the lyrics are rapped over a very organic old-school boom-n-bass bounce and delivered with arrogant, smirking menace.
These are elements that are not necessarily expected from LP but at the same time don't feel the least bit out of place.
I'm also curious about the Japanese lyrics in the 'Jornada del Muerto' interlude track--it's too bad the official lyrics on the LP website don't give a translation.
'Burning in the Skies' is probably the track that stylistically transitions best from the most recent thing they'd had on the radio ('New Divide'); it evokes that sort of familiarity at the same time that it preps the ear for new sounds. And 'Waiting for the End' reminds me all over again why I fell in love with Chester's voice in the first place.
Their genres and influences and elements are all over the place, and it makes for a very engaging mix. Their lyrical themes display a lot of social consciousness this time around, and the way the album is structured (there are several interlude tracks with thought-provoking historical soundbites) suits what they seem to be going for very well. The overall gist of the album seems to be 'Yeah, the world sucks, but that doesn't mean we have to'; it's dark and gritty without being depressing and it doesn't quite sound like anything else out there. Fans hoping for another Hybrid Theory or Meteora will probably be disappointed. But listeners looking to follow where LP's evolution takes them may just find this stage of the journey very much to their liking.
