Artist: Linkin Park
Album: A Thousand Suns
Label: Warner Bros.
Release Date: Sept. 14
Grade: B
It has been 10 years since Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington brought the rock universe one step closer to the edge with their debut album, Hybrid Theory. Since then, Linkin Park has released three other albums: Meteora, Minutes To Midnight and, most recently, A Thousand Suns.
Minutes To Midnight was a big change from what fans had come to know and love from Hybrid Theory and Meteora. It was almost too drastic of a change to allow fans to crossover into Linkin Park's new mature sound, heard in A Thousand Suns.
With Mike Shinoda, the rapper of LP, almost completely absent from Minutes To Midnight, Linkin Park lost many fans' interest.
A Thousand Suns does what Minutes to Midnight couldn't. It brings all previous three albums and mixes them into one. With their rock, hip-hop and industrial-infused sound, LP has produced an album that is sure to have listeners rocking in their seat.
The album starts off with two tracks totaling about three minutes. These are basically nothing but various electronic tones that build the tension before moving on to a more traditional Linkin Park sound with the track "Burning In The Skies." In the next song, "When They Come For Me," Shinoda brings back the rock/hip-hop sound that Linkin Park fans were missing.
At its core, A Thousand Suns has a little bit of everything that is Linkin Park. There are a handful of intense raps and a couple of laid-back deep songs sung by Bennington. From beginning to end, the album continues to change up and keep listeners on their toes, until the last four numbers, when the album tapers off.
From track one, Linkin Park shows how much they have grown and how far they have come over the past decade. They have shown that they haven't lost touch with what they became famous for, but at the same time, are going to do what they please.
A Thousand Suns has enough to make every Linkin Park fan happy. The album boasts both nostalgia and maturity, which is a rare feat for a band. A Thousand Suns is the Linkin Park release fans have been waiting for.
