I am currently listening to the latest offering from my fave band of all time, Linkin Park. The album A Thousand Suns was released on September 14 of this year and debuted in the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart.
I did not get this album straighaway - mainly cos I forgot (I swear I am a big fan but life sometimes get in the way of full time dedication :D) but I did read up on the reviews.
And from what I can tell, just like their last album Minutes To Midnight, A Thousand Suns has also caused a divide between fans and critics alike. I see fans are dumbfounded by the direction of this album. Most critics seem to think this is great but with a few naysayers.
After going through 5 out of the 15 song on the album, I can see how some of the fans are scratching their heads in confusion. If people thought Minutes To Midnight was a departure from the Linkin Park sound, what the hell are they saying about A Thousand Suns? If this was the first time I was listening to Linkin Park, I would NEVER believe they came from a nu metal beginning, lol.
Don't get me wrong, I am liking the album, it is so different from anything I've heard from them before and I'm sure the more I listen to it, the more I'm gonna be loving this. But seriously, they take on a disco sound, techno beats, reggae (yes, you read that right, REGGAE) and soulful ballad-level singing among others. I can understand why the more hard fans of the band are thinking WTF.
Anyways, my faves so far are the first single, The Catalyst, Waiting For The End, a reggae inspired beat and I'm quite feeling Robot Boy as well. I'm going to relisten to Blackout and When They Come For Me again cos I felt that I didn't quite get the feel of the latter song and I want to give Blackout's middle part another chance to win me over cos I wanna like the whole song and not just the beginning and the end.
I will be honest, when The Catalyst was released in the beginning of September, I was iffy at first, then I saw the Linkin Park MTV VMA performance at the Gryffyth Observatory and I was blown away by the song. It's kinda like the first time I heard What I've Done and I felt neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed by it but by the fifth time, I was hooked.
I see this album growing on me with more listens. Which is the way one should approach listening to Linkin Park. Their music is like an onion, it's layered and with every listen, I always manage to peel back something new - discover a beat I didn't catch the first 39 times I listened or finally caught what that word that Chester was sing-screaming or fully comprehended the meaning of a song. This is how I've always went about listening to Linkin Park but I believe this approach is really important for this particular album in order for it to be fully appreciated. Yes it's different but it's Linkin Park genius all the same. Btw, album cover image is from Linkinpark.com
I did not get this album straighaway - mainly cos I forgot (I swear I am a big fan but life sometimes get in the way of full time dedication :D) but I did read up on the reviews.
And from what I can tell, just like their last album Minutes To Midnight, A Thousand Suns has also caused a divide between fans and critics alike. I see fans are dumbfounded by the direction of this album. Most critics seem to think this is great but with a few naysayers.
After going through 5 out of the 15 song on the album, I can see how some of the fans are scratching their heads in confusion. If people thought Minutes To Midnight was a departure from the Linkin Park sound, what the hell are they saying about A Thousand Suns? If this was the first time I was listening to Linkin Park, I would NEVER believe they came from a nu metal beginning, lol.
Don't get me wrong, I am liking the album, it is so different from anything I've heard from them before and I'm sure the more I listen to it, the more I'm gonna be loving this. But seriously, they take on a disco sound, techno beats, reggae (yes, you read that right, REGGAE) and soulful ballad-level singing among others. I can understand why the more hard fans of the band are thinking WTF.
Anyways, my faves so far are the first single, The Catalyst, Waiting For The End, a reggae inspired beat and I'm quite feeling Robot Boy as well. I'm going to relisten to Blackout and When They Come For Me again cos I felt that I didn't quite get the feel of the latter song and I want to give Blackout's middle part another chance to win me over cos I wanna like the whole song and not just the beginning and the end.
I will be honest, when The Catalyst was released in the beginning of September, I was iffy at first, then I saw the Linkin Park MTV VMA performance at the Gryffyth Observatory and I was blown away by the song. It's kinda like the first time I heard What I've Done and I felt neither overwhelmed or underwhelmed by it but by the fifth time, I was hooked.
I see this album growing on me with more listens. Which is the way one should approach listening to Linkin Park. Their music is like an onion, it's layered and with every listen, I always manage to peel back something new - discover a beat I didn't catch the first 39 times I listened or finally caught what that word that Chester was sing-screaming or fully comprehended the meaning of a song. This is how I've always went about listening to Linkin Park but I believe this approach is really important for this particular album in order for it to be fully appreciated. Yes it's different but it's Linkin Park genius all the same. Btw, album cover image is from Linkinpark.com
