" using the springboard of their single "The Catalyst."Right off the bat this album is drastically different than their previous work on "Hybrid Theory
", "Reanimation
", "Meteora
" and "Minutes To Midnight
," sadly some may not see this as a good thing. Even with "Minutes To Midnight", although it was very experimental and more eclectic in it's nature partly brought on by producer Rick Rubin who also produced this album as well, it still had the sound and vibe of Linkin Park if not on the whole album then on a select handful of tracks. With "A Thousand Suns" there are less examples of the old LP however in further exploration of the album it is really the next logical step.Like previous albums it starts out really strong. "The Requiem" slowly builds up to what sounds like singer Chester Bennington layered to simulate a small chorus and a digitized voice singing a lyric that is echoed toward the end of the album in the song "The Catalyst" ("God save us, everyone/Will we burn inside the fire of a thousand suns/For the sins of our hand, the sins of our tongue/For the sins of our father, the sins of our young?"). This leads into a transitional track called "The Radiance" which features a rather fast paced beat while playing a sample of J. Robert Oppenheimer talking about the atomic bomb giving a very eerie vibe. Listening to these two (technically one) tracks gives you the vibe you're in for an interesting ride. Then we hit the third track, "Burning In The Skies", propelled mostly by soft electronically programmed drums and Chester singing. Not a bad track however it's kinda like climbing a roller coaster and when you get to the top it's leveled off instead of the plummet.
Then it picks up speed with the fifth track (track four is simply a transitional piece that features the sounds of crickets) with "When They Come For Me", one of the few tracks where Mike Shinoda is heard rapping. Mike's role on the album is much different as there are many tracks where he is singing and vocalizing rather than serving as emcee. On an ironic side note, I have been listening to his Fort Minor album
which is solely rap and on there is a track called "Get Me Gone" about how when LP was signed they were trying to nix Mike's rapping from the record. I'm not coming down on this as he is a very talented singer, however continuing from my "Get Me Gone" bit, I think that with "When They Come For Me" is Mike/the band's declaration that this is where they're going and they're not going to stop moving forward in a sense being the bookend to "Get Me Gone" (albeit from a different musical act.) Similarly a line in the song's first verse could have been a slight prediction or fear that the album might not be so well received and saying how it isn't the old Linkin Park. ("Everybody wants the next thing to be just like the first.")After this it goes into "Robot Boy" which is a decent track however I think they should've spent an extra second on the track title as it sounds almost like a gag. However the track itself reminds me of an electronic version of "Kiss From A Rose" but about never giving up on the world instead of whatever Seal was singing about. (Would've looked it up but I didn't.) "Jornada Del Muerto" (which according to Dictionary.com's translator means "Day Of The Dead") features Shinoda singing "Lift me up, let me go" in Japanese as a transition into "Waiting For The End," one of the album's strongest tracks in my opinion. As if channeling the spirit of a dead reggae star Shinoda's and Chester's singing provides an awesome musical tango that should appease most of the older LP fans. If not all then at least ones who hopped on "Meteora."
The next track "Blackout" has one pro and one major con. PRO: it's the only real track where Chester delivers a blood curdling scream. CON: the rest of the song. I think the music and the vocals clash each other in styles, especially in the first verse which has Chester doing a part better served by Mike. Additionally the part just before the bridge features screaming and guitar being mixed and mashed up in a way where it would sound like your CD was dirty but really it's deliberate. Following that is a track definitely to be appreciated by old school fans, "Wretches And Kings." Heavy guitar, Chester belting out after Mike's lyrical cobweb is strung and heavy bass. A good but steady standing in your room, pissed off, wanting to break shit track. "Wisdom, Justice And Love" is another transition track that features a sample of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking, starting normal and gradually turning more ominous and robotic until the end which repeats in a creepy android fashion, "Cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love." (Full quote viewed here.)
"Iridescent" starts as a melodic track of Mike and piano until the second verse where Chester and drums come in. (I realize I've been saying electronic drums often but there are more of those rather than practical drums on the album.) Another solid track especially in the bridge-chorus which features the whole band singing together, something not been done previously. They've been credited on previous records of supplying back vocals however I think it was simply an arbitrary "They're in the band, give it to them so we don't have to say we sampled the singer's voice" rule. There is probably a shorter name for the rule but I'll just go with that one. The tone of this track lyrically is the dichotomy of "Robot Boy", in feeling a sense of hopelessness and desperation and letting go (or acknowledging all the negativity and letting that go as an effort to be more optimistic.) I view much of the album as a mirror as there are tracks that reflect each other by it's sound or it's message, if not to serve as the negative reference than a continuation or alternate look. Case in point with "Fallout" it serves as a mirror of "Wisdom" as that starts robotic and gradually changes until it's eventually Mike singing.
Our final transition track "Fallout" serves as a segue into the album's single "The Catalyst." Now at this time I'll also be commenting on the video as well simply cause the video helps define the concept. The song basically encapsulates the overall tone of the album in terms of message which centers around nuclear warfare. In the video it is plainly obvious (however obscure) as most of the picture is blanketed in green fog showing images of ash falling from the sky and a destroyed city crumbling to the ground. It eventually ends with a multicolored dust fest showing people, including the members of the band, being burned away. There is also an allusion to the Doomsday clock (an idea which prompted the title of "Minutes To Midnight") in the video as Mike sticks his hand out twice to show the numbers "5" and "1." Both instances of it being 11:51 (or 9 minutes to midnight, midnight being nuclear warfare) involved the country of India testing nuclear weapons, first in 1974 and then again in 1998. Presently the clock has been placed at 11:54. The album closes with it's last track "The Messenger", a track more preaching than commenting never giving up hope. Soft piano work against Chester's singing, not a shabby piece.
Now that we've dissected the album piece by piece it's time to sum it up as a whole and I will by first saying if you're looking for another "Hybrid Theory", move on because you're not gonna find it. Unlike that album where most people can throw it on as background music the first time and dig it, most fans I feel need to really sit down with it and give it a listen as this album really is an acquired taste. About a week ago Mike posted on his blog about some of the negative review that the album has been getting and there are a lot of reviewers who aren't really paying that close attention to the album itself. It's less of a "Wah, people don't like it" and more of a "It's mixed but we're moving forward regardless," while saying how a lot of critics and perhaps fans haven't really given it a chance. After reading that it made me rethink how I was going to write my review, not in the sense that I had to kiss ass and say it's great 'cause I'll be honest a few tracks lost me, but that I should really sit down and dissect it proper before chiming in which is probably more than some are doing from what I've been reading. One thing that people need to realize, the key to getting the album, is that this is a departure from what LP used to be as this is a concept album which is something they've never done before. Concept albums also have a knack for being hit or miss depending on the band, subject and execution; and as the band has quite the praise they also have a bit of a stigma by members of the metal and rock community (either as listeners or people in the industry) for being simply a product therefor don't really give it credit. The album is at least worth a download if only for a few tracks in my opinion however if you're gonna listen to it at least take some time out to give it your attention thinking of it not as a Linkin Park album but as an album by a band you like.
Additional Links
LPTV - Iridescent Gang Vocals
Meeting A Thousand Suns Trailer
Burning In The Skies Lyric Video
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