Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

[Poe]

The new album is coming out in a few days. From the songs I've heard, it looks like it has the potential to be a huge hit. The songs are ahead of the curve. Take a listen:

 

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bftTUAIVMUQ&hd=1

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js_LUk0TGCA&hd=1

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3TmRZFA6p8&hd=1

[BasX]

If this album is above average I'll be amazed.

[YugoRocketsFan]

Mediocre album, Linkin Park just keeps getting worse after every album.

[Poe]

If this album is above average I'll be amazed.

 

That's an odd thing to say considering how there is almost as much variety in styles as there was in Hybrid Theory. LP is easily one of the most diverse bands of our time. Hardly what I'd call "average".

[BasX]

That's an odd thing to say considering how there is almost as much variety in styles as there was in Hybrid Theory. LP is easily one of the most diverse bands of our time. Hardly what I'd call "average".

Hybrid Theory was also 10 years ago. Diverse and variety in styles does not automatically equal good music. They have gone way downhill since HT.

Edited September 11, 2010 by BasX

[Cobb]

I hear "The Catalyst" almost everyday on the radio and I'm not a huge fan of it.

[YugoRocketsFan]

Hybrid Theory was also 10 years ago. Diverse and variety in styles does not automatically equal good music. They have gone way downhill since HT.

 

Actually Meteora was pretty good too, they sucked after Meteora.

[ChosenOne]

I just downloaded the whole album from limewire, really have not got a chance to hear it yet but will do so when i get the chance.

[BasX]

Actually Meteora was pretty good too, they sucked after Meteora.

Some songs were hit on it, some were miss. But overall I'll agree.

[YugoRocketsFan]

Some songs were hit on it, some were miss. But overall I'll agree.

 

True, but there were still about 5-6 GOOD songs on it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuV2KyGT_D8

 

This song in my opinion is better than any song on Hybrid Theory.

[Poe]

Actually Meteora was pretty good too, they sucked after Meteora.

 

They only had one album after Meteora. One bad album isn't enough to say they sucked since then. They've only released 3 official albums, ATS will be their fourth.

[Poe]

This song in my opinion is better than any song on Hybrid Theory.

 

That song was actually supposed to be on Hybrid Theory. I'm not sure why they waited an album later to finally release it.

[fish7718]

True, but there were still about 5-6 GOOD songs on it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuV2KyGT_D8

 

This song in my opinion is better than any song on Hybrid Theory.

I felt that was one of their worst 'hits' ever.

 

 

I used to think it was numb but I think this is the best song off meteora

[YugoRocketsFan]

That song was actually supposed to be on Hybrid Theory. I'm not sure why they waited an album later to finally release it.

 

Hybrid Theory had plenty of good songs, why not save 1 for the next album ^.^

[fish7718]

The difference between HT and Meteroa is on HT every single song was pretty good, as opoosed to Meteroa there are like 6 good songs then everything else is bleh.

[Poe]

For my full opinion, I think Hybrid Theory is the best album made by LP, and one of my favorite albums from any band. Every song was much different from the one before it, and every song is not only worth listening to, but hasn't gotten old for me 10 years later. The only song I didn't like on the album was Runaway, even though that is actually a pretty decent song, it doesn't quite reach the quality of the rest of the songs IMO.

 

Overall, that album is filled with originality. You can even call it a style of it's own. In music in general, there are many genre's obviously. Rap, Rock, Country, World music... Hybrid Theory could have it's own category.

 

 

Meteora was a good follow up. Like BasX said, some songs were hit and some were miss. My personal favorites were Somewhere I Belong, Breaking the Habit, and From the Inside. A positive about it that we didn't find out until later to even BE a positive in the first place, is that at least it built from their original style in HT.

 

 

I think they should have done a third album with this style. They really had a good thing going, and nothing else was like it at the time.. or even now. Instead they decided to go in a completely different direction, claiming to do "the music that inspired them". The result, Minutes to Midnight was truly average, at least comparing to other average rock music. Comparing to HT though, it was crap. No memorable standouts, no variety, they never had good lyrics to begin with, and it's not even an album that you can listen to throughout since the album completely lacks any sort of flow to it.

 

The biggest problem of the album not only went away from their Metalish/Rapish/Electronicish style that made them so popular to begin with, but it moved the rapper Shinoda and the turntable-guy Hahn to the background. In the past, Shinoda and the singer Chester Bennington flowed so well together, just listen to In The End or Lying From You. MTM just makes me wonder "what were they thinking?".

 

They lost their originality with this album, and everything that made them a great band other than the fact that Chester is such a damn good vocalist. They went from a band with their own style to a band that sounded like the rest. Again... what were they thinking?

 

 

With this new album, A Thousand Suns, they are going in a different direction once again. From the first three songs I've heard, it really looks like they are bringing back that variety that makes them such a great band. It's not going to be as good as HT, and there is no reason for me to expect them to or even compare to those days again - the fans have to face it, they aren't going back. But I expect this album to be very solid to say the least.

 

As far as it's popularity goes, like I said in the thread opener, it has a chance to be absolutely huge. It's a step ahead of what's popular, but not so advanced and ahead of it's time that it will lose interest from simple-minded audiences like Muse does with their complex music style and lyrics.

 

Overall, ATS has variety, the lyrics at least have purpose, the sounds are fairly original, and they are using their strengths as a band that separates themselves from the rest.

Edited September 11, 2010 by Poe

[BasX]

Overall, that album is filled with originality. You can even call it a style of it's own. In music in general, there are many genre's obviously. Rap, Rock, Country, World music... Hybrid Theory could have it's own category.

 

It's typically called nu-metal a genre that can include Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit and Ill Nino among others. Of course Deftones jumped far ahead of that group and have consistently put out top notch albums including Diamond Eyes also released this year.

Edited September 11, 2010 by BasX

[Poe]

It's typically called nu-metal a genre that can include Korn, Deftones, Limp Bizkit and Ill Nino among others. Of course Deftones jumped far ahead of that group and have consistently put out top notch albums including Diamond Eyes also released this year.

 

I've heard of the style and Deftones seems like a decent band. I don't like Korn's style, Limp Bizkit is absolutely dreadful, and I never heard of Ill Nino.

 

Anyway, even though LP may use some Nu Metal elements, I don't see enough similarities to completely classify them as a part of that style at any point in their career, at least compared to the bands you mentioned. The only real similarity I see is that Nu Metal is a heavy style of music, and some of LP's older music was heavy like One Step Closer.

Edited September 11, 2010 by Poe

[BasX]

Metal with Rap elements is nu metal and the primary basis of it.

[Poe]

Yea, and that was only a portion of their style as a whole. Not all of their songs had both rap and metal elements even in their HT days. Many songs included electronic and techno, and many different levels of rock. Even some of their newer songs are including some world music type elements to it.

 

It's why they called it Hybrid Theory. It was supposed to be their band's actual name, but they couldn't get the rights to it for whatever reason that I don't remember. The main idea to their music is to combine different styles of music and fit it together as it's own style.

[BasX]

They couldn't get the name because another band already took it. Through this I am wondering what other music you like.

[Lkr]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/89/245063794_5ab866053b.jpg

[Poe]

Through this I am wondering what other music you like.

 

Marilyn Manson, Coldplay, Muse, Rise Against, and I sort of like the Dropkick Murphys. I like Good Charlotte's "The Young and the Hopeless" and the entirety of that album, though I don't like a single other song that they made. I also like Green Day's "Dookie" and "American Idiot", but not many other of their songs either. I also like some songs by The Killers, Seether, Gorillaz, Dido, Breaking Benjamin, Evanescence, Blue October, and some other bands I can't think of at the moment.

 

 

Other than that, most bands I get tired of very quickly. I'm not into most older music beyond around the year 2000. Good voices are usually important to me as well, yet somehow I get into Manson, who both started in the 90s and doesn't exactly have a very good singing voice.

 

I know that there is probably a ton of good music that's "out there", popular or not, that I haven't really taken the time to search for.

[Poe]

I listened to the whole album, and my initial impression is that it's probably their best album since Hybrid Theory. ATS is not as diverse as I thought it would be, and HT is still my favorite style of music, but the album flows extremely well from song to song.

 

Also, it seems as though the album either tells a story or has all the songs tied together to fit into a single meaning, rather than just having a collection of songs put together on an album like they did in the past. The way the album comes together at the end in the Catalyst makes that song seem 10x better.

 

 

And lastly, the Messenger is probably the best song LP has ever made.

[Lone Wolf]

I really do not like 'The Catalyst'. They should have not made it into a trance type song.