Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns [2010] (***best major label rock record of the year, no lie***)

get yr 'îron game up, ilx

Get familiar. Goon-rock classick in the making.

Not even fucking around here. This isn't yr little brother's Linkin Park album.

Dudes seemed to have gone into some metal-savvy version of Achtung Baby, Kid A and The Fragile-era NIN with a little bit of 00's club-pop and Definitive Jux noise-hop thrown in for good measure. The hooks come and come and come. The rap songs sound like actual rap songs instead of Crazy Town 2.0.

I've been playing the living shit out of this.

just listening to 'the catalyst', it is not actually terrible! well done linkin park.

Did I miss a general beatdown on these guys? I thought the whole idea was that they were boyband nu-metal to start with and therefore better than the real thing.

so this is gonna be a nu-metal record that it's cool for "serious" music fans to like?

well, they done grown up

xpost: I thought that was the Deftones catalog?

ha!

Yeah! I read a grudgingly enthusiastic i/view with them which got me right up for this. Glad to hear it gets hipster approval.

as much of a corporate rock whore as i am and as much as i love a few Linkin Park singles, i dunno if i will ever listen to any of their full-lengths (willingly, so not counting one bad college roadtrip soundtracked by Hybrid Theory). and i'm right now pretty hyped that the new My Chemical Romance will be my big major label rock record this year. but the 2nd LP single "Waiting For The End" is really really good.

Glad to hear it gets hipster approval.

you turn the knife so subtly

some dude, this is a total left turn from the LP of the past. Give it a try.

lol Deftones were just the nu-metal band it was okay to like; calling them "boy-band" makes no sense in any way

seriously have you seen those guys?

♫ I pulled off your wings, then I waaaaaantttttt ittttt thaaaaat waaayyy ♫

tempted to check this out - although I'm not sure I need more Deftones music

some dude, this is a total left turn from the LP of the past. Give it a try.

― Gaspar NoAgé (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, September 27, 2010 11:28 AM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that's where my trepidation comes from, really -- I want more "Faint" and "Bleed It Out" fist-pumping jock jams, not Def Jux anime soundtrack epics.

they've been playing a shitload of this on espn highlight stuff, sounds like linkin park

Def Jux anime soundtrack epics

Linkin Park vs. the World

Yeah, do they still have big mechs in all their videos? I always thought that was the distinguishing feature of Linkin Park. That and the "no cusses" rule!

If someone tells me there's a cuss on this new album, my heart will break.

I actually liked "The Catalyst"!:

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=2678

Couldn't get through the rest of the album when I tried, though. Too hazy and amorphous or something. But I respect what they seem to be trying here.

still shite

^^

i knew whiney would do a thread about it though

OK, I checked out "The Catalyst," and it just kinda sounds like they decided to release the remix album before the regular album.

Yeah, to me it just sounds as if they're trying too hard. The Catalyst isn't horrible or anything, but more fun can be had with their meatheaded early stuff.

If someone tells me there's a cuss on this new album, my heart will break.

― Mormons come out of the sky and they stand there (Abbbottt)

skip track 5

That and the "no cusses" rule!

wait, this is a thing?

Hey Whiney, fuck Linkin Park... how was experimental music week (Fennesz, Merzbow, Oliveros et al.)?

apparently not as good as Linkin Park

What about Linkin Park 800% slower?

Is there still synth lines and breakdowns in this new era of Linkin Park? Cause thats the only thing that made them vaguely interesting to me.

Whiney, can you please also give me (us?) 1-2 songs off this album to check out? I didn't much care for "The Catalyst" and I'll be damned if I'm gonna slog through an entire Linkin Park album to find something worth hearing.

I like "Robot Boy" which is like a better, bolder "What You Know" ripoff than any witchhouse/chillwave band can muster.

And "Waiting For The End" which is basically Achtung Baby meets Rick Rubin, with a gorgeous Three 6 Mafia stutter solo at the end

how was experimental music week (Fennesz, Merzbow, Oliveros et al.)?

^^

I may go check out Fennesz in Austin this week, was he any good?

(Can we please derail this into a Fennesz thread?)

Hey Whiney, fuck Linkin Park... how was experimental music week (Fennesz, Merzbow, Oliveros et al.)?

Fennesz//Wednesday - Very short set, but certainly enveloping. He is essentially a guitarist instead of a sound artist, which certainly made him a lil more interesting to watch. Everyone sat on the floor which was major chill

Merzbow//Thursday - This was huge and deafening. Pretty standard as Merz sets go, but the intimacy of the small space def was a plus

Pauline Oliveros//Saturday - It was too crowded and like 90 degrees in there as her and 4 musicians improvised to an oscillator. Def some unique textures, but the heat and mellowness got to me and I literally fell asleep about 60 minutes in

Eliane Radigue//Sunday - This is one of the most intense shows I've ever seen. Appx. 45 minutes of cello drone, 45 minutes of two basset horns phasing, and solid hour of all three. It was so quiet and tense in the new IPR marble cube. All analog, no amplifiers and the tones just bouncing all over the marble walls. Serious business. By the end i felt like i had just avoided being beaten up.

Burning in the Sky and Robot Boy seem to be interesting tracks.

I'm still not convinced this isn't an elaborate prank on Whineys part though.

Everyone sat on the floor which was major chill

Would love this, but somehow doubt it'll happen at Emo's indoor room...

The one time I saw Merzbow (at Tonic, w/Borbetomagus opening) he spent what seemed like forever getting set up except all he had was a laptop. Then he pressed the space bar and it sounded like someone had turned on a 747 engine in the room. That one second between quiet conversation and WORLDENVELOPINGROAR was pretty awesome, but there was really no need to stick around after that. I don't think I stayed more than 15 more minutes.

I listened to those two songs Whiney rec'd and they were pretty good! Not my thing really but definitely much better than their earliest hits.

"Burning in the Sky" was a snoozefest, I liked "Robot Boy" alright while it played but I wouldn't seek it out again.

everyone is very sorry

The one time I saw Merzbow (at Tonic, w/Borbetomagus opening) he spent what seemed like forever getting set up except all he had was a laptop. Then he pressed the space bar and it sounded like someone had turned on a 747 engine in the room. That one second between quiet conversation and WORLDENVELOPINGROAR was pretty awesome, but there was really no need to stick around after that. I don't think I stayed more than 15 more minutes.

― Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Monday, September 27, 2010 1:25 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I was at this show! My first Merz show. Seen him three times since.

Jealous!

Merz + Texas needs to happen...

sharleen spiteri fed thru a bank of fx = musical nirvana

everything you say 2 me

You're crazy, Whiney.

ha

With that said, I even kind of like "The Catalyst":

There’s a decent track buried somewhere here, beneath all the clichéd gang vocals and talk of salvation and sin and blah blah blah. If they dug out the Knife-y synths, all hollow and iridescent and shape-shifting, and weren’t scared to actually go full-out dubstep instead of just half-assing it, they might be on to something. There are moments where it threatens to break out and bloom into something actually kind of epic, but Linkin Park either won’t — or most likely, can’t — execute the kind of track I’d like to hear built out of the rubble here. I even sort of like the breakdown that veers close to Musedonia, but without the eye-rolling, world-is-ending overkill. This one could be a grower.
[5]

yeah "The Catalyst" has kinda grown on me, although it feels like the good part at the end takes way too long to get to

"Waiting for the End" got Prince's "7" stuck in my head.

Prince's 7" stuck in your head

(***best major label rock record of the year, no lie***)

FUCK this is such a high standard, y'know?

Can't imagine what the other contenders must look like.

Against Me! is second place imo

Godsmack - The Oracle
Disturbed - Asylum

What are the other contenders?? Any worth mentioning?

http://i51.tinypic.com/23uuf4z.jpg

are you trolling me, ilxor?

On second thought we'd better not name these albums, we're gonna make markers go broke when he goes to Best Buy this weekend.

No, I'm honestly wondering if there are any major-label rock albums worth a shit in 2010.

*puts down pen* *quickly hides shopping list*

are you trolling me, ilxor?

New board descrip ^^

there's been like hundreds of major label rock records, its just that Hipster Runoff doesn't cover them so we don't talk about them here

I'm going to start a Rolling Major Label Rock Record thread right now

Rolling Major Label Rock 2010

I LOVE THIS ALBUM SO MUCH THAT I PLACED MY PENIS THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE CD

congrats man!

Whiney I suggest u let us know how these albums are, if u like Lincoln Park u may also enjoy:

Taproot - Plead the Fifth
Nonpoint - Miracle
Flyleaf - Memento Mori
30 Seconds to Mars - This Is War
Breaking Benjamin - Dear Agony
Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise
Three Days Grace - Life Starts Now
Soulfly - Omen
36 Crazyfists - Collisions and Castaways
Bullet for My Valentine - Fever
Lostprophets - The Betrayed
Drowning Pool - s/t

single is definitely an "admirable left-field" thing but I can't say I actually wanna hear it again

Esp. interested if u can hear any "organic growth" from these bands' "Crazy Town days," lots of "hooks that make u come and come and come," or any influence from "trip-hop," "Def Jux/El Pee" or "Faith No More" (ur fav!!!!!!!).

wtf is wrong with you

Wow, seriously can you guys go on one of the 7,000 other hilarious threads that are like "OMG NU-METAL WALLET CHAINZZZ LMFAOafiak" since i'm trying to earnestly post about an album that transcends all that.

xp: I know everyone's got a massive boner to be crowned the new Ethan these days but this is just pathetic

he's been reading a lot of PRR iirc

Okay maybe I just need to hear the full Linkin Park album, then?

i took whiney's word for it and think this is great, but i also think i prefer listening to this all the way through instead of as a singles/individual tracks thing. it all hangs together pretty well

listening to the myspace tracks, "Waiting For The End To Come" sounds like 311 remixed by Angels & Airwaves.

sounds like 311 remixed by Angels & Airwaves.

O_O

Okay in all seriousness, though, the 3-4 tracks I've now heard from Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns are a fuckton better than hearing John Legend and the Roots cover Arcade Fire live.

you can't be the new Dave Q, either

i can't believe there was ever a time when me and moderator Dan P3rry didn't get along

"Wretches And Kings" also has a 311 Reanimation vibe, did these guys ever put on the patois before this album? I'm all for them moving away from the excessive balladry of the last album, but I dunno if I can deal with this new lilt.

this thread has successfully made me want to give linkin park's new album a non trolly shot.

http://www.metacritic.com/music/a-thousand-suns/critic-reviews

Can't wait for the 2025 co-curated ATP New York where Whiney and P3rry book "Linkin Park reunite to play A Thousand Suns" as Sunday headliner.

'the catalyst' sounds great in the context of the album i think - as a second-to-last track i love the upward build and release

(Actually, seriously, I would buy tix to a Whiney-curated ATP without seeing the lineup announcement first. So I guess the joke's on me!)

kinda hoped they'd do like Depeche Mode and gradually aim for sexy mystery after venting their demons, so didn't see them going reggae-metal

lol @ Absolute Punk not digging a Linkin Park album

like, who could have seen that one coming?

seriously considering emailing scottpl with an earnest review pitch

do it!

Please yes do it.

No chance in hell would Pfork ever run a positive Linkin Park review, tho, let's be serious guys.

I have a copy of the Linkin Park CD here in my apartment and may yet listen to it. In the meantime, I'm gonna speak up for the Disturbed album, which is good. As are all their other albums.

OOOOOOOOOOHHHH-WAAAHH-AAAHHH-AAAHH-AHH

Against Me! is second place imo

― Gaspar NoAgé (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, September 27, 2010 3:14 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark

this is some real shit to me

Disturbed had some great singles in, like, 2002(?)

"Prayer" "Remember"

i would literally applaud pitchfork if they ever ran an earnestly good review of a major label alt rock band

Linkin Park also had fantastic singles back then

btw my first concert ever was linkin park/P.O.D./hoobastank

"catalyst" bangs out too

Disturbed had some great singles in, like, 2002(?)

"Prayer"

Okay I'll bite, I liked this one.

booyah

btw, Linkin Park played Summer Sanitarium 2003, which I went to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnykIpoPrrA

Do the review, Whiney - they (Linkin) deserve it. Haven't been through it all yet, but what I've heard is nailing it so far.

if u like Lincoln Park u may also enjoy...Flyleaf - Memento Mori

I liked this more than the parts of the new LP I made it through, fwiw. (But it's '09, not '10.) Reviewed it:

http://www.rhapsody.com/flyleaf/memento-mori#albumreview

"Burning In The Skies" - starts like a Robyn cover only to build to more of an Arcade Fire "Neighborhood" climax, but more tepid than that description would imply.

"Robot Boy" - another techno-ballad, but with stacked harmonies

"Blackout" - the screamo-disco jam Attack! Attack!'s label wishes they'd bust out. I'd love it if the breakdown didn't totally obliterate the beat.

I saw Flyleaf live back in 2004 about 2-3 times, back when they were called Passerby, with a girl I wanted to/tried to date (and failed). Obviously going to proto-Flyleaf concerts was not sufficient.

This was waaaaay before they went platinum, they were just a little Texas band playing a couple shows a week to maybe 20-30 people.

There's another 9 tracks that Myspace doesn't have up, but only 4 of them break 2 minutes. Whiney, this is interesting, but does it really move you or something? Seems kinda ballady for you.

actually wait 21st Century Breakdown + prog-metal = NEVER MIND I GET IT

^that's whats up

ha

everything's so blurry, and everyone's so fake

I love the way you look at me

loooooool

she tore my feelings like I had none

u've woken up the demon in meeee

get up come on get down w/ the sickness

ilxor & markers together are like the annoying 5 year old cousins who get to meet up at family functions

GO TO THE KIDS TABLE, YOU TWO

GO TO THE KIDS TABLE, YOU TWO

― shartopus

^^ tell me that isn't a kid's username.

it totally is

Sarge sure gets irritated pretty easily

ilxor's the one that's gotta show out in front of the cool 11 year old cousins tho

ilxor's the one that's gotta show out in front of the cool 11 year old cousins tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZyDiuzpHCg

MIKE SHINODA'S JUST DANCING ON HIS OWWWWWN

Obviously I haven't gained yr approval, then? ;_;

xp

easily my fave of all the songs I've heard xpost

i was actually able to restrain from comparing you & ilxor to 5 year olds for like two or three weeks, but my levee broke just now

No chance in hell would Pfork ever run a positive Linkin Park review, tho, let's be serious guys.

They might in order to fashionably subvert expectations of taste-- the calling card of the hipster

Heh, I talk seriously about music in plenty of threads, they're just not the ones that you're visiting, J0rdan... if you've come to the Linkin Park thread expecting deep ilxor insights, well, sorry... this is my 5-year-old moment.

then i feel okay calling you a 5 year old

i tried so hard and posted so much but in the end it doesn't even matter ;_;

and everything is so messed up
and I am lost without you
I cannot live at all

imma call you guy the brothers gibb because YOU SHOULD BE DANCING to that linkin clubbanger I just dropped

*presses play*

glad the melody quotes from "When The Saint Goes Marching In"

Gotta be a Jay-Z remix of this.

song's pretty good!

plinky piano sounds! yaaay
shinoda screamy stuff, noooo

half-time breakdown, double noooo

why do bands do that? always garbage

does Shinoda straight up rap on this album at all? i heard one song a couple weeks ago with him using a weird goofy rasta accent but not quite rapping

yeah the half-time breakdown...

i guess that can be blamed on thrash bands stealing it from hardcore bands?

(maybe?)

i decided to check this out since it was on eMusic, and the version i downloaded off there has the 15-track album, and then a 16th track, "A Thousand Suns: The Full Experience," which is the whole album again on one 47-minute track. so incredibly corny and unnecessary.

vocals = high pitched screaming & whiney. this band still sounds awful.

what do you think of it al

on first listen, it's aight.

just listened to blackout a couple times. i do not deny the existence of people to whom this appeals.

but hell if i'm gonna count myself in that number

i bought this last night, and im listening to it for the first time right now and its just so good

clearly, the love is spreading :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/nov/09/linkin-park-review#start-of-comments

really? it's linkin park. come on...

Nice blind dismissal. I heard about half of this in a store the other day and, I'm sorry, I just don't hear what is so great about this. Maybe I heard the wrong half?

This was an ahead-of-its-time masterpiece wasn't it

Tired: all Hey Joe needs is some synths
Wired: all What You Know needs is multitracked vocoder harmonies