September 14, 2010 saw the release of the fourth studio album of Linkin Park entitled A Thousand Suns. The band over the course of the last decade have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide despite the ever changing struggles of the music industry. And while the first half of the decade saw a distinct and singular definition of the “Linkin Park sound,” the last two albums including Suns see a departure from that causing a divide between critics and fans alike.
Linkin Park album covers from first to latest
Next month will mark 10 years since the band Linkin Park took the rock world by storm. With the rap-rock scene of the late 1990s dying down, Linkin Park took its brand of that genre, mixed it up with more electronic and pop elements, and came out with the widely successful Hybrid Theory. Since then they have taken slow evolutionary steps to try and create a new sound for themselves. The 2007 release of Minutes to Midnight gave way to a more stripped down sound, less Korn and Nine Inch Nails and more U2.
A Thousand Suns sees the band take a step even further away from their signature sound of the early part of the last decade. Lead singer Chester Bennington billed it as a “concept album,” and that is definitely the case. The album explores the danger and paranoia of modern technology, war, and apocalyptic themes. Although there are dark themes, the album overall has a positive outlook on society’s future. The band samples several political figures’ speeches from the 1950s and 1960s, including a speech about the Vietnam War by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that give the album a very ominous feel.
As I have said probably a number of times already, this isn’t the same Linkin Park I grew with as a high school senior or a college kid. A Thousand Suns will not be for everyone. Some people may actually hate it…a lot. Critics from MTV and Artistdirect.com have actually likened it to Radiohead’s Kid A in 2000, an album I actually don’t really like. But they have a point because this album is a turning point for the band much like Kid A was a turning point for Radiohead.
For the music on the album, there is actually less actual songs on there than I would have expected. But that basically makes it more of a complete piece of work as a whole. At first listen I only looked at it in terms of individual songs (nine in total), but after listening to it once all the way through from beginning to end it makes a lot more sense as one piece of work rather than 15 individual tracks it is split up to be. There is definitely a buildup, a climax, and a conclusion. One noticeable thing will be the guitars…or lack thereof. Although the album at times still feels heavy, the band explores other sounds and instruments to get that heavy feel. There are still guitars on the album, but not in the overpowering sense of say Hybrid Theory or Meteora.
The first couple tracks start with ambient noise and a quote from physicist Robert Oppenheimer in an interview he did after his work on the atomic bomb as he quotes the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture. The line quoted includes where the album name is from. The first actual song on the album, “Burning In The Skies,” gives kind of a dance-pop feel.
There is another track of ambience and then leads into “When They Come For Me,” a hip-hop track mainly featuring second vocalist Mike Shinoda that has a heavy Middle Eastern feel with heavy drums and hums from Bennington in the background. Next comes “Robot Boy,” which sounds like something reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Another interlude buffers that song and “Waiting For The End.” That track has a real reggae-style hook from Shinoda between the sentimental verses from Bennington. “Waiting” is said to be the second single to be released.
“Blackout,” the next track, is vocally a throwback to Bennington’s old scream from LP’s past as well as the old pace of the band’s previous work. “Wretches and Kings” is another hip-hop track and probably bumps the hardest of the songs on the album. It takes a sample of a rage-against-the-machine speech from Mario Savio. That leads straight into an electronically modified and ominous quote from Martin Luther King that I referred to earlier.
“Iridescent” feels a bit like a holdover from Minutes to Midnight. Another interlude and then the lead single from the album “The Catalyst” comes on. I can understand why they picked this as the first single, a kind of transitional song to introduce the public to the new sound. “Catalyst” feels a bit like the soundtrack to a revolt and is definitely the climax of the album. The album closes with the acoustic driven “The Messenger,” probably the biggest surprise on the album.
All in all, the album is worth a couple of listens in the very least. If you were an LP fan that only liked their Hybrid days, you will be disappointed in the album. If you are looking for something different to listen to, this may be a good album for you. I would have to say that after a couple listens all the way through, I’ve grown to like the album. Not a classic, but definitely worth multiple listens. It certainly is very different from anything else coming out from popular artists right now. And I definitely recommend if you listen to it for the first time, to listen from beginning to end as one piece. It seems to work better that way, and I’m sure you can find 47 minutes out of your day to do so. One complaint I have is that it feels rather short, but so are the other LP albums, so nothing new there.
One thing that is still the same with Linkin Park is that all the songs sound very cinematic, something I've always liked about the band. Their songs all have an epic sound and feel like they would fit in well in a movie scene or two. And although it may feel like Linkin Park is still experimenting and finding that new LP sound, it’s an entertaining journey.
the Meat Life gives A Thousand Suns 7.5 out of 10.
Download these tracks from A Thousand Suns now!
“Wretches and Kings”
“Blackout”
“Iridescent”
“The Messenger”
(I’ve already told you to download “The Catalyst,” so you should already have that, haha)
“Wretches and Kings”
“Blackout”
“Iridescent”
“The Messenger”
(I’ve already told you to download “The Catalyst,” so you should already have that, haha)
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