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5 Song Reviews by Rolling Stone & Loudwire


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There are two great new reviews about the album, with some information for us about 'Keys to the Kingdom', 'All for Nothing', 'Until It's Gone', 'Wastelands of Today', and 'Rebellion'. This is the first time that 'Wastelands' has been referred to as 'Wastelands of Today', so we are unsure of the exact song title until the band confirms the tracklisting. These are the five songs on the sampler that industry insiders and press heard recently. Both Loudwire and Rolling Stone reviewed the songs, with Rolling Stone including an interview with Mike as well.

 

LOUDWIRE'S FIVE SONG REVIEW:

 

‘Keys to the Kingdom’: Right off the bat this track has an old-school punk vibe with a new twist. The hasty drums and explosive riffs a hardcore element to it. Vocalist Chester Bennington unleashes melodies and the balance of Shinoda’s rap verses makes for a powerful combination. Although the band will be playing arenas on their forthcoming Carnivores tour, this song has an underground feel that would welcome them to a small, beat up venue in Brooklyn, N.Y.

 

‘Wastelands of Today’: This tune starts with a hip-hop verse and the song has a lot of groove with heavy drum and bass. The chorus is catchy yet sludgy and has some grit to it. Watch out for the heavy breakdown in the middle of the song. Linkin Park take you on a sonic roller-coaster ride as they play around with the tempo and ambiance of the song.

 

‘Until It’s Gone’: It’s a more mid-tempo track with softer lyrics provided by Chester Bennington, who really shows his vocal versatility. The dreamy and atmospheric sounds are enough to whisk you away but Bennington brings you back down to earth as he belts out their take on a familiar chorus: “’Cause you don’t know what you’ve got / No you don’t know what you’ve got / You don’t know what you’ve got / Until it’s gone.” This catchy song is one that’s bound to get stuck in your head for a long time.

 

‘All for Nothing’: This one, when performed live, will get the crowd moving for sure. With a hip-hop flow in the first verse this quickly turns into almost a punk anthem. The song is relentless and unapologetic, with a stellar guitar solo by Brad Delson. It’s no surprise that this heavy tune is hardcore especially since it features a guest spot Helmet vocalist and guitarist Paige Hamilton.

 

‘Rebellion’: With a name like ‘Rebellion,’ as a listener you would expect pure chaos and mayhem and that’s exactly what Linkin Park give you. The vibe is almost thrashy with its speedy riffs and galloping drums. While listening to it one might think that it could even fit on System of a Down’s first album — that’s probably because none other than Daron Malakian of System of a Down is featured on this song.

 

ROLLING STONE'S FIVE SONG REVIEW:

 

- "That mindset permeates the five songs off Linkin Park's sixth record, The Hunting Party, that Shinoda played Rolling Stone at a recent listening session in New York City. Tracks like avant-metal jigsaw riffs of "Keys to the Kingdom" and the punkish "All for Nothing" indeed sound like Linkin Park at their angriest and most adrenalized. It's undeniable Linkin Park at their most pure, since they produced the album, other than one track, themselves."

 

- ‘Keys to the Kingdom’: Right off the bat this track has an old-school punk vibe with a new twist. The hasty drums and explosive riffs a hardcore element to it. Vocalist Chester Bennington unleashes melodies and the balance of Shinoda’s rap verses makes for a powerful combination. Although the band will be playing arenas on their forthcoming Carnivores tour, this song has an underground feel that would welcome them to a small, beat up venue in Brooklyn, N.Y.

 

- "Keys to the Kingdom" opens with an affected, robotic-sounding voice yelling and then manages to make some disjointed-sounding riffs work. "I wanted you to listen to the song and be disrupted at regular intervals," Shinoda says. "I wanted that to be jarring or distracting, just kind of fuck you up."

 

-"Until It's Gone" kicks off with the sort of warbling synth effect that was the group's calling card on their 2000 breakthrough debut, Hybrid Theory, but builds into a brooding, textured gloom rocker that reminds listeners, via singer Chester Bennington, that "[you] don't know what you've got until it's gone."

 

- "Wastelands of Today," produced by Rob Cavallo, boasts a similar message – that there is "nothing left to lose" – over a herky-jerky big rock riff.

 

- And the final track he played, "Rebellion," uses a speedy riff and a jackhammer-fast drum line that splits the difference between hardcore and disco that, together, charges toward a chorus with the message "Rebellion – we lost before we start."

 

Rolling Stone adds, "The album, which will contain 12 tracks, isn't finished yet, but Shinoda is working on mixing it this week in advance of its June 17th release and the band's summer tour."

 

About Rob:

 

This approach was especially difficult for drummer Rob Bourdon who ran himself ragged trying to keep up with the music. "It's probably the hardest stuff he's ever played on one of our albums," Shinoda says. "He had to physically work his way up to it. He had to go running, lift weights, work with a trainer." Then with a laugh, Shinoda says, "He eventually went to a chiropractor because he threw his back out playing drums. I don't want to put the guy in the hospital, but it was fun for both of us to make something that was challenging to him. And he definitely feels that at the end of the day, he's a better drummer for it."

 

About the record:

 

"As a nod to their inspirations, Linkin Park invited some of these artists to play on The Hunting Party. Helmet vocalist-guitarist Page Hamilton sings on "All for Nothing," System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian appears on "Rebellion" and rap icon Rakim appears on "Guilty All the Same," a song that is available for streaming now."

 

And finally, about the sound:

 

What they came up with, Shinoda reports, is their heaviest record to date. And as he says that, he also realizes the implications of such a claim. "We didn't make the heaviest record of all time," he says. "I'm very aware that there are super, super heavy bands out there that make music that is really, really gnarly." He laughs. "We didn't make a Botch record. We didn't make a Meshuggah record. We made a really loud and aggressive Linkin Park record, maybe the loudest we've made."

 

The full article and interview by Rolling Stone is really good and is probably the best to come out so far about The Hunting Party. You can read the full thing here.

 

So what do you think? Has this changed any minds about people who were hesitant to get on board with the "heavy sound" claim?

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"Rebellion," uses a speedy riff and a jackhammer-fast drum line that splits the difference between hardcore and disco that, together, charges toward a chorus with the message

Definitely sounds like Daron had a significant hand in writing on that one.

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WOW. Awesome feature. I am really pumped up now... Keys To The Kingdom sounds just plain epic, even though that is a very strange description of the song. Rebellion with Daron sounds pretty awesome too, if he is doing guitar work on the song, that is going to be so dope.

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Wow all 5 of those songs sound really heavy. As a fan this helped ease my worries that not much rapping would be on this album. If Shinoda lays it down and jams with the verses, that'll be great. I love heavy music but a big thing I love about Linkin Park is the great rapping verses by Mike while Chester explodes (see: Hybrid Theory and Meteora, which we all love).

 

This might be exactly what we've wanted to hear for years. It sounds heeeeavy.

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I'm predicting That UIG will be single ;P

Mid tempo? Check!

Catchy chorus? Check!

LP should have waited until this month and put out the first single, ''Until It's Gone'', along with all this press and album promotion we got in the past few days. They could have saved GATS for the album and I bet we all would have blown up knowing a track with Rakim would be on the album. A mid tempo rocker with a catchy chorus would probably get a lot of people excited and that might help LP debut at #1.

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The point that Until It's Gone is mixed already maybe implies that they made two songs for the first single spot and chose GATS, or Until It's Gone is part of the TF4 and they were asked to finish it already for the movie. Or two hundred other options lol.

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I didn't see the word "screams" in any of those reviews. Hmmm...

There might not be any. LP would never go full out heavy with screaming AND heavy music, it has to be one or the other. Having both would definitely alienate a lot of fans because they would bitch that it's too heavy, etc.

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^It would be a little bit of a waste of potential if there isn't any screaming on the record. If you want to get as intense and visceral as it gets, Chester scream is a gift.

 

That said, I would totally get it if there isn't more screaming than usual, as it would be too obvious of a choice for a heavy record.

 

Anyway, HYPED. So far, I have loved every bits of information we have gotten on the album :D

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If you want to get as intense and visceral as it gets, Chester scream is a gift.

His screaming is different than any other vocalist I have ever heard, which is why I love it so much. They don't use it enough. I honestly don't think it will play any sort of role in this album at all, which seriously sucks.

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There might not be any. LP would never go full out heavy with screaming AND heavy music, it has to be one or the other. Having both would definitely alienate a lot of fans because they would bitch that it's too heavy, etc.

In 14 years i never see a single fan complaining about that. The only people who i see bitching about the band being "too heavy" it's probably the girls who goes to a show just to see New Divide and In The End and the casual radio listeners. And they seems to be trying to get off this people with this new record.

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His screaming is different than any other vocalist I have ever heard, which is why I love it so much. They don't use it enough. I honestly don't think it will play any sort of role in this album at all, which seriously sucks.

Remember in an interview with CheSTP he said that he was 'screaming his brain out'' during the recording of the LP album?

 

There's hope dude.

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I'm getting a little nervous and I don't know why. I'm worried they've gone too heavy and I've mellowed in my old age, I very rarely listen to the heavier stuff I liked when I was a teenager. :unsure:

 

I know I'm probably being stupid as it's LP, even when I don't like it much, I still really like it (LT).

 

I've got pre-album jitters!

 

At least these articles are backing up Mikes claims, I was beginning to get annoyed with his comments.

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I think Until It's Gone will be the second single which will be released. The songs seem to be nu metal/rap metal alike, but not quiet, the reviews say rapping verses, hardcore chorus and bridge. I think Rebellion was firstly made sounding like SOAD, and then they invited Daron the same way they invited Rakim. I'm quite disappointed that I know a bit what songs will sound like and that Daron will be on the album etc. Imagine how excited would we get without knowing those things while listening to the album, I would probably piss in my pants and then explode from the excitement. I can't wait for the album

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I'm getting a little nervous and I don't know why. I'm worried they've gone too heavy and I've mellowed in my old age, I very rarely listen to the heavier stuff I liked when I was a teenager. :unsure:

 

I know I'm probably being stupid as it's LP, even when I don't like it much, I still really like it (LT).

 

I've got pre-album jitters!

 

At least these articles are backing up Mikes claims, I was beginning to get annoyed with his comments.

You can bring back the old times ;)

 

or you can listen to those bands that write jingle music lol

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I think Until It's Gone will be released like Lies Greed Misery before the start of the tour and then the band play old songs with GATS and UIG as the only newer songs for every shows before the Carnivores tour

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This album sounds REALLY heavy. I really can't wait. Until It's Gone seems like the song they picked to be the next single, based on the description of it and the fact that the band's list of the songs that appear on the sampler, mentioned that only UIG and GATS were mixed.

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Bennington brings you back down to earth as he belts out their take on a familiar chorus: “’Cause you don’t know what you’ve got / No you don’t know what you’ve got / You don’t know what you’ve got / Until it’s gone.”

Wow. That's fucking embarrassing.

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The last two lines are good (meaning decent enough to work), but those first two could be so much fucking better. We know what Mike is capable of, there's no reason he couldn't have thought of something that isn't repeating the same line three times in a row.

Edited by CASTLE OF GLASS
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