The album came out at the beginning of June - I again failed to write a timely review, and now I can't be bothered with anything thorough, so this is a rather compact little opinion.
Linkin Park was my first favourite band. When I was little, my mother used to listen to all these 80s-90s pop, now the music of my nightmares. I had a three-line monochrome display mobile phone, and I didn't even have a CD player, let alone a portable mp3 player. When I finally got one, it was around the time I started to get into anime, so I had lot of anime openings/endings and a few Japanese bands to put into it.
And the first western band I really got into was Linkin Park, especially their first two albums (at this time Minutes to Midnight was already out, but I never cared too much for it, except for What I've Done and its video.) I listen to it quite obsessively, but this was obviously just the beginning. Then my childhood friend introduced me to Nightwish, and at that point there was already no escape from which later came to be a quite profound music addiction (if there's such a thing).
As a serious Hybrid Theory fan, you could imagine my utter disappointment with A Thousand Suns. Since then, I've come to appreciate a few songs on it, but at that time I thought I was never going to love a new Linkin Park song (or I was just an angsty unimpressionable teenager). Imagine my surprise when Living Things came out and I actually liked it! It was so far from their first album as one could be - it sounds nothing like old LP. I like to think I matured in my taste of music - I listen to more metal than anytime before (if melodic death counts, and I think it does), but on the other hand, I'm more appreciative of other genres than back when I was a teenager. I'm no longer above admitting I like a Belgian synthpop song or the new electronic music of Linkin Park. (I listened to Lost In the Echo, In My Remains and Burn It Down endlessly.)
This album, however, is even more likable from my point of view. It's not a perfect album, because there are a number of songs I find utterly forgettable; on the other hand, it is more 'rock' (lots of guitars, basically) while retaining that new sound the band found for themselves.
I'm not impressed by the first few songs - the first one which caught my ear was Wastelands. A little aggressive rapping from Mike Shinoda for old time's sake, a little shouting from Chester - it's a little generic, but I liked it. I think Until It's Gone was one of the first songs to be released, so I listened to it more than the others. It's a lot more mainstream-ish than the other single, Guilty All the Same, but I like it better. I just wish radio-friendly meant that they were actually going to play it on radio here. (Fat chance.)
Rebellion is by far my favourite song on the album - the music, the lyrics, the composition, everything. Obsessed with this song. I'm not that much of a System of a Down fan, but Daron Malakian's style of guitar is still seriously addictive. I don't know if musical collaborations are the thing right now, but with results like this (and the stuff back on WT's Hydra) - I'm all for it.
The album's end is quite lyrical, compared to the rest of the album, with two beautiful songs. Final Masquerade is a little formulaic, but very likable, and it ties in nicely with Drawback, having the same melodical base. A Line In the Sand is more special, a perfect way to finish an album - it picks up the pace a bit after the previous song, and then ends on a really delicate half minutes.
My top 3 picks: Until It's Gone, Rebellion, Final Masquerade
And the first western band I really got into was Linkin Park, especially their first two albums (at this time Minutes to Midnight was already out, but I never cared too much for it, except for What I've Done and its video.) I listen to it quite obsessively, but this was obviously just the beginning. Then my childhood friend introduced me to Nightwish, and at that point there was already no escape from which later came to be a quite profound music addiction (if there's such a thing).
As a serious Hybrid Theory fan, you could imagine my utter disappointment with A Thousand Suns. Since then, I've come to appreciate a few songs on it, but at that time I thought I was never going to love a new Linkin Park song (or I was just an angsty unimpressionable teenager). Imagine my surprise when Living Things came out and I actually liked it! It was so far from their first album as one could be - it sounds nothing like old LP. I like to think I matured in my taste of music - I listen to more metal than anytime before (if melodic death counts, and I think it does), but on the other hand, I'm more appreciative of other genres than back when I was a teenager. I'm no longer above admitting I like a Belgian synthpop song or the new electronic music of Linkin Park. (I listened to Lost In the Echo, In My Remains and Burn It Down endlessly.)
This album, however, is even more likable from my point of view. It's not a perfect album, because there are a number of songs I find utterly forgettable; on the other hand, it is more 'rock' (lots of guitars, basically) while retaining that new sound the band found for themselves.
I'm not impressed by the first few songs - the first one which caught my ear was Wastelands. A little aggressive rapping from Mike Shinoda for old time's sake, a little shouting from Chester - it's a little generic, but I liked it. I think Until It's Gone was one of the first songs to be released, so I listened to it more than the others. It's a lot more mainstream-ish than the other single, Guilty All the Same, but I like it better. I just wish radio-friendly meant that they were actually going to play it on radio here. (Fat chance.)
Rebellion is by far my favourite song on the album - the music, the lyrics, the composition, everything. Obsessed with this song. I'm not that much of a System of a Down fan, but Daron Malakian's style of guitar is still seriously addictive. I don't know if musical collaborations are the thing right now, but with results like this (and the stuff back on WT's Hydra) - I'm all for it.
The album's end is quite lyrical, compared to the rest of the album, with two beautiful songs. Final Masquerade is a little formulaic, but very likable, and it ties in nicely with Drawback, having the same melodical base. A Line In the Sand is more special, a perfect way to finish an album - it picks up the pace a bit after the previous song, and then ends on a really delicate half minutes.
My top 3 picks: Until It's Gone, Rebellion, Final Masquerade
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