Linkin Park- A Thousand Suns (Album Review)

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Linkin Park- A Thousand Suns (Album Review)

    It's been a while, but Linkin Park, arguably the most popular rock/rap crossover group is back with a new record. It's just been released today and I've got quite a bit to say about this one so let's get into it.
    It seems almost necessary to address the whole "Minutes To Midnight" issue. Linkin Park's last record was an alt. rock affair, very little of the hip hop influence that built them up. It created, almost immediately, a vast divide between fans. There were those who liked it and those who just gave up on the band. I'll be honest, on my first listen of that record it didn't quite hold me, but after several successive listens it grew on me. It never captivated me as much as the previous albums, but it was an interesting experiment for a band trying to grow.
      A few years later and here we are at their newest effort, "A Thousand Suns". What does it sound like though? Well, shortly after the release of Minutes To Midnight, the band confessed via interview that their next effort would probably be a concept record. For the fans that still gave a crap it conjured up all kinds of awesome. Does "A Thousand Suns" hold true to that? Yes, indeed. It's a concept album, spanning topics of loss and war, the powerful over the weak and the dangers of living under a machine-like system.
      The more important question though is, obviously, what does it sound like? Ready for it? It sounds like old LP. Hurray! That's not quite right though; it sounds MORE like old Linkin Park is probably more accurate. Hip Hop is present once again, and there's greater use of electronica and beats on this album than the last. The best I can come to describing the overall vibe of the album is old Linkin Park and U2 had an awesome stadium rock, rapping baby.
     This record spans a total of fifteen tracks with a playtime of nearly fifty minutes. That sounds like a lot until you take into account the fact that of the fifteen "songs" a few of them are actually lead-ins to the actual songs, comprised of atmospheric pieces of music or bits of recorded speeches and what-not. All in all, there are an around eleven real songs. I think that's fine though, because to put it simply, the songs are awesome. It's important to remember that this is a concept album, really meant to be listened from start to finish as a cohesive whole. As such, the songs themselves have some pretty extensive introductions that might not work on a conventional album, but in light of a concept it works.
    Lyrically, this one gets it right. Chester's back into this comfort zone, speaking about loss and being broken down, just on a bigger scale this time around. Mike pens some clever rhymes here, you'd think the real LP hadn't ever been away. Also, the fact that Chester's made strides as a vocalist shows, it serves and helps to make the tracks much more anthemic.
    There's a lot of standout tracks here, one for instance being the first single released that hinted at the scope of the record, "The Catalyst". With a common lyrical theme repeated throughout this song (and elsewhere in the album) it's a hypnotic, tightly-scripted electro-based number. It works. Hit up the link at the end of this review for the music video, it'll give you an idea of what to expect. Other standout songs on the record include "Wretches And Kings", "Waiting For The End", "When They Come For Me" and "Burning In The Skies". All of those mentioned, save the last, feature Mike laying down some rhymes and they are a great return to form. "Waiting For The End" is especially awesome because they break new ground for the band there, with him doing a funky, sing-song style of rapping that seems almost reggae-influenced. That's hard to explain but once you hear it it'll make sense. The album closer, "The Messenger" was probably the biggest surprise on the album. It's an all acoustic song, and one would expect that Chester pulls back his vocals down to a more intimate feel. He doesn't. His voice sounds more raw and flawed without the backing of a billion synths and guitars but it's also arguably the most direct song of the record. It also fits into the whole theme and concept of overcoming the system, overcoming the control by machines and going back to basics.

Bottom Line: There wasn't a bad song on this record I think. For a band like Linkin Park to come from the near-complete misfire that was "Minutes To Midnight" and pull of a record as complete as "A Thousand Suns" is astonishing. There's one thing I have to get clear though, this isn't "Hybrid Theory 2.0". That's not coming, it's never going to happen. The band has just moved on and grown up. They're not going to keep singing about having broken hearts for the next ten years. However, if this album is any indication of what they're about and what they can do, then I hope they'll be around for another decade. For anybody who likes Linkin Park, and even those who don't but like stadium rock, hip hop or electronica, this one is a definite purchase.

Album Review: 5/5

*As promised, here's the link to the first single, "The Catalyst". Enjoy, then go get the album and enjoy some more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAPXbypyaq0