So here it is. The latest offering from US nu metal band Linkin Park.
Living Things is the bands’ fifth studio album, and I, like many other LP fans, was intrigued to see if the band had travelled back to their old heavy metal roots from the Hybrid Theory days, or whether they had evolved in yet another style of rap metal. It turns out, both are to be expected from what, I believe, is their slickest album to date.
The band have received many mixed reviews in the past about the change of path their unique sound took after their 2003 album Meteora, with many fans saying that the band had lost their way, and softened up. It’s true their third studio album, Minutes to Midnight, offered a very different sound from the Linkin Park people knew and loved, but does different necessarily mean bad? Hell, no! LP have grown as artists, and their music has matured with them. Of course we loved the good old days of moshing to a bit of One Step Closer (still, by far, my favourite tune of theirs), but it has to be said, if they had made songs like that for the last sixteen years, it would certainly grow tiresome.
When I heard the first play of Living Things, I was hooked. The first song of the album, Lost in the Echo, just blew me away. I was transported back to when I first ever heard Linkin Park, that feeling of when you hear an artist for the first time and think ‘Man, I’m gonna love this band!’. The bass, the beat, the rustiness of chesters’ vocals, this song is just LP perfection. In My Remains, and Lies Greed Misery follow suit, and the rest of the album certainly doesn’t disappoint.
The great thing about this album, is that it has just the right balance of hard-moshing madness and chilled out crispness. Powerless, which is featured on the soundtrack of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is the dark, meaningful ballad of the record. This song pulls a heart string when I listen to it, and is a song that I believe reflects just much the bands’ sound has matured over the years.
Castle of Glass is a guaranteed fan favourite, and one that will HAVE to be played on tour. This track almost has tones of Breaking the Habit, but still manages to sound fresh.
Until it Breaks really showcases Mike Shinoda’s rapping skills. With lyrics like ‘I’m just a banksy, you’re a brainwash’, it’s impossible not to love this track, and mark my words, you WILL find yourself attempting to rap along.
Burn it down, the first single released from Living Things, is certainly the most ‘commercial’ track of the album. If you like Burn it Down, then you will love this album with a passion. If you’re not keen, then please don’t let this put you off, you will be very pleasantly surprised.
This is my favourite album of the year so far, and I’m afraid to say that if you don’t treat your ears to this little piece of perfection, then they will never forgive you.
Track Listing
1. Lost In Ihe Echo
2. In My Remains
3. Burn It Down
4. Lies Greed Misery
5. I’ll Be Gone
6. Castle Of Glass
7. Victimized
8. Roads Untraveled
9. Skin To Bone
10. Until It Breaks
11. Tinfoil
12. Powerless