7. A Thousand Suns -2010



Its official: LP has officially killed off most of their fanbase. With Minutes to Midnight, they created a semi-concept album revolving somewhat around the Doomsday Clock. Here, its a full on concept album about nuclear war and the end of days. This isn't a collection of songs you can play at random. It has a full thread of consistency, and every song is connected. Playing just one song wont have the same effect as listening to the whole album.

This album is Lp's Year Zero. Not only in concept, but in sound. Linkin Park has almost ditched rock all together and moved on to industrial, although there are influences in reggae, eastern, tribal, and trance. This is a 100% departure. Guitars are used sparingly, and turntables are used again. The tempo is slower than usual, and it works. That's what I love about this album. It literally has the world against it, yet it still delivers in every way imaginable.

When MtM came out, some people complained about the lack of Mike on the record. They fix that with this album. Even though he raps on 2 songs, he is the primary singer. That's not to say Chester isn't a presence on the album. He gets to do a scream rap hybrid that is really fun to listen to.

Out of the 15 tracks, there are 6 seques. Some are instrumentals, others are speech samples from Oppenheimer, Martin Luther King Jr, and Mario Savio, with industrial noise behind it. At first I thought it was a bad idea, but it really works in connecting the songs together. Also, the album closer, The Messenger; is one of the best album closers in a long time. Chester singing "when life leaves us blind, love keeps us kind" accompanied only by an acoustic guitar and piano. Its optimism at its finest.

I have listened to this 5 times already, and I can hardly find fault with it. They created something very unique, and not something you would hear on the radio. Is it as good as MtM? I'm not sure yet. Only time will tell. But I can tell you that its a worthy follow up, and a great ride.
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NOTE: (09/06/2011)
I have listened to this album more times than I care to admit at this point. I absolutely love this album. I got some of my friends to listen to it, and while they initially hated it because it didn't sound like Hybrid Theory (which in my mind, is one of the worst criticisms ever), they really warmed up to it the more they listened to it. So if you listen to it, and don't like it so much, listen to it again. Listen to it with a good pair of headphones or a decent sound system. Listen to it with an open mind. Please?