Linkin Park's Fans Won't Be Burned By "A Thousand Suns"

All right, rockers and rocker chicks!  Gather ‘round, it’s review time!! 

Today, I’m reviewing Linkin Park’s newest album “A Thousand-HEY!, wait a minute, who are all those people getting up and leaving?  Oh, they must be hard core Linkin Park fans…no matter; nothing I can say will make them stay anyway.

The rap/metal band Linkin Park has returned with a new album called “A Thousands Suns” and continue with adapting their sound.  LP first came on to the music scene with their smash hit debut “Hybrid Theory” and followed up that album with their equally excellent “Meteora”.  But beginning back in 2007 with the album “Minutes To Midnight”, LP strayed from their once familiar nu metal sound and began incorporating a more progressive rock sound to their music.

“A Thousand Suns” is a concept album, a first for LP, which sets the stage in a post apocalyptic world.  Surprisingly, given the rather dark setting, a lot of the songs are really optimistic!  And by songs I mean all 10 out of 15 of them.  Yes, you DID read that right. 

Not every track on this album is a song, some of them are speeches!  While some of these speeches work to set the mood (“The Requiem” & “The Radiance”), others are a complete waste of time and space on the album (“Empty Spaces”, “Wisdom, Justice, And Love”, & "Fallout”). 

Despite these flaws, “A Thousand Suns” is a pretty solid album.  While hard core LP fans will ignore it (and this post, too), more casual LP fans like myself will find something to love while listening to it.

My favorite songs off the album are “Wretches And Kings” (which almost evokes the ghost of LP’s nu metal past), “Blackout” (a dark moody industrial rock sounding track) “When They Come For Me” (An atmospheric rap/progressive rock fusion), “Burning In The Skies” (the most beautifully complex lyrics I’ve ever heard in a song!), “Robot Boy” (a nice catchy sci-fi track), “Jornada Del Muerto” (an eerie sounding filler track), “Waiting For The End” (the album’s true gem), “Iridescent” (the perfect closing credit soundtrack for a movie, TV show, or anime), and “The Catalyst” (a pulse-pumping epic 6 minute track).

Sadly, the album ends with a rather loud DUD!  “The Messenger” is an acoustic track which features LP’s metal front man Chester’s trademark angry-sounding vocals; in a word “TERRIBLE”!  It’s almost as tragic as the completely bland album cover.  I mean seriously, what is this thing?! What is it even suppose to be, an ink blot test?!  Does anyone really know what it is?!    I guess we never will…