I loved the album. The only song that I didn't absolutely love was The Messenger. The album definitely isn't as genre-busting as Mike claimed, but it is all over the place. The sounds range from atmospheric, to rock, to rap, to electronica, to pop.
I love that the poppy sounds on this album are more reminiscent of The Beatles than Justin Bieber. That is the type of pop music that I like. The hip-hop moments are rapped in a more traditional hip-hop style instead of Mike's nu-metal style. This change was already evident on Minutes to Midnight and it was nice to see it continued on this album. I also loved the emphasis of electronics and synthesizes since that's currently what I'm experimenting with musically.
My favorite tracks were Jornada Del Muerto, When They Come For Me, Blackout, Wretches and Kings, and Waiting for the End. They all get a 10/10 for me.
I loved the synth line that came in during JDM. That was my favorite part of it.
When They Come For Me just has this really nice hip-hop feel to it that I'm really digging. Plus I love the references to other rappers (including some of my favorites like Chuck D from Public Enemy and Jay-Z).
Blackout reminds me of Nine Inch Nails without sounding like a NIN rip-off. I love when Mike's singing comes in at the end. I was a little disappointed that Chester's lyrics had changed from the LPTV episode, but that's all good.
Wretches and Kings was like an evolution of the Hybrid Theory/Meteora sound that was taken in a whole new direction (kind of like Bleed it Out was on Minutes to Midnight). I also liked Mike's delivery on the track and the lyrics reminded me of Public Enemy.
And, my favorite, Waiting for the End. This song was really cool. I loved the Beatles-esque Chester parts and once again, Mike's delivery on his rap was amazing. This is one of my favorite Linkin Park tracks right now.
Some other random thoughts that I had while listening to the album:
- Iridescent sounds like the kind of music you hear in a church that has a "rock" band. It has a very epic feel to it.
- Wisdom, Justice, and Love is really, really cool.
- Robot Boy sounds nothing like I expected. It sounded a lot better.
- Those 30-second samples ain't got nothin' on this album!