My Amazon Reviews: Linkin Park "The Hunter"

The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game
3 Out of 5 Stars

Viewed as a comeback of sorts for Linkin Park, they return to basics after the highly experimental "Thousand Suns" and the OK but not great "Living Things." The guitars are suddenly heavier, Chester Bennington screams and rapper Mike Shinoda is more prominent on this album than on the previous two. And always a sign that a band wants to let you know they're still relevant, there are plenty of special guests. "The Hunter" also ditches producer Rick Rubin for a co-production between Brad Delson and Shinoda.

Does it all work? On a superficial level, yes. It grinds out the aggro-metal-rap that made the band's bones back with 2000's "Hybrid Theory." "The Hunter" opens with a very aggressive salvo, Chester screaming out his failures for "Keys To The Kingdom," but it ends with a little kid shouting. Yes, the guys in Linkin Park are now daddies. Rage now goes inward instead of outward. On "A Thousand Suns," that meant moody introspection, now it's marked by hollering "Rebellion." Rap legend Rakim drops by on the exhilarating "Guilty All The Same," but it's just so he can complain about how record companies treat their bands. I hate my job, too, but I'm not a rich rock band. Kind of kills the thrill. Another guest star wasted is Tom Morello. If I had him on my album, I'd be expecting some rip-roaring guitar solos, Instead, he's buried on a mellow instrumental called "Drawbar." WTF?

"The Hunter" has plenty going for it; it's not a total bow-wow. Delson's guitars are way more prominent than on the last two albums. He's given more room to blister chord his way through "The Hunter" (and aggravates me even more that Morello was not utilized for his real skills), a credit to the band trying to recapture it's old glories. Not a bad attempt, but you've heard them doing better.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Linkin Park "Living Things"

How the Breaking Point Sounds  
3 Out Of 5 Stars

After an album that all but screamed "experimenting with our new found maturity," Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington have taken Linkin Park back to the basics. Lots of rap-rock hybridization, short blasts of industrialized guitar fuzz, and co-producer Rick Rubin's less is more zen-philosophy of record making. I do mean less; "Living Things" clocks in under 40 minutes without an ounce of filler. But that makes me something of a dissenter here, as I really enjoyed "A Thousand Suns" and the wild experimentation that went on with the album's suites and social commentary.

That makes "Living Things" a good, if basic, Linkin Park album. There's not much you haven't heard them do before, with two exceptions. First is "Castle of Glass," an almost folkish number that lets Mike sing without screeching. He proves he can carry a melody for a whole song without going to cookie monster vocals, and does a good job on "Roads Untraveled." Then there's the slab of noise that is "Lies Greed Misery," which comes close to being a dance-rock track and plays with the vocal track a fair amount. If you're looking for what you've expected from LP, that's here too. "Burn It Down" could be from any point in LP's timeline, and showcases what the group has always been best at; fist pumping anthems that blend hard rocking with electronic muscle.

The remainder is a mixed bag. Nothing here wallows in the sewer, nor does it rise to the level of "Meteora." However, when they sing on "Burn It Down" 'we're building it all to break it back down,' then maybe "Living Things" is the transitional album I thought "A Thousand Suns" was meant to be. Either way, it's a middling album from a band that I count as one of my guilty pleasures.

     

My Amazon Reviews: Linkin Park "A Thousand Suns"

The Black Hole Comes On 
4 Out of 5 Stars

Linkin Park seem to be stuck in a hard spot. "A Thousand Suns" sounds wildly ambitious, but they also can't seem to escape their ways of old. For every stunning "Burning In The Skies," you get sledgehammered by the juvenile "When They Come For Me." You get arty segues with sampled speeches, which denotes the band's old angst without using slashing guitars. "A Thousand Suns" is an arty album from a band that hasn't quite let go of its youthful arrogance.

Granted, that arrogance is well deserved. Their debut sold over ten million copies and many of their rap-rock peers (think Korn or Limp Bizkit) are struggling to remain relevant. Pity Mike Shinoda; as an aging rap-rocker, he sounds stuck in a band that is outgrowing him (although he sounds fine on "Blackout"). Chester Bennington fills the void with brooding, screaming and actual singing, albeit often processed beyond recognition. He also has continued the "Minutes to Midnight" themes of Man V Society here, which may alienate some of their old audience. I happen to like it.

"A Thousand Suns" is LP's second Rick Rubin produced album, and I wondered just how much he shepherded the band into experimenting. He makes Linkin Park sound big but moody, with chilling synths and lots of processed effects. Between the group's willingness to push themselves and Rubin's mastery of the studio, "A Thousand Suns" could easily be Linkin Park's best yet and the album that once again saves them from rock and roll's trendy dustbin.