Meteora is the album that solidifies the name LINKIN PARK. Numb, Faint, Somewhere I Belong, you name it. It's the album that put LINKIN PARK to mainstream audience. Okay, let's say, what if the band released a different Meteora back in the day? Like in line to all the 2002 demos we've got like Unfortunate, Halo? Do you think LP will wind out as one-hit wonder act of 2000s?
Majority from the fanbase, Meteora was like a gift and a curse for the band. A gift since it staples their legacy to be the biggest rock band of the world. A curse because everything after that album people are still wanting the band to return to that sound. The stigma that post-Meteora materials are perceived underappreciated, inferior products to both HT and Meteora.
This is where A Thousand Suns fits in, They want to de-linkin park-ify the LP sound (the derivative sound). MTM was like the testing ground, a first step for them to shift their sound from the traditional HT & M sound. ATS was a full force that shook the world when it came out, all the HT & M purists were gone mad because it's not HYBRID THEORY. I admit it took months for me to absorb ATS because I always compare it to New Divide because of my expectation that ATS could be New Divide sonically. ATS ended up to be my favourite LP record. It's still my top 1 record from the band. I am truly grateful that the band was able to produce a complex record that defy all our expectations. It's not Hybrid Theory, not Meteora. It's LINKIN PARK.
I know that the band still have the creative, innovative energy to make a record that was challenging as ATS. It took 10 years for them to surpassed Hybrid Theory and now ATS is turning 10, is this a sign for a new groundbreaking record after 10 years? We'll see.
#LP2020