NickDuffy

Ha, what is every song had rapping? That would be sick, but in a sense, boring. Your plot failed, thanks to my spoil Crumble you up / like tinfoil Let's hope that never ever, EVER happens.

We know "Burn It Down" has rapping in it already so that's a minimum of 1. "Lost In The Echo", "In My Remains", and "Until It Breaks" were said to having rapping in them so now that's a minimum of 4 tracks. I'm going to say 6-7 songs. Speaking of "Until It Breaks", we actually have some lyrics from this song now thanks to an interview with Mike Shinoda and Complex; “I’m a Banksy / You’re a Brainwash / Get the picture like that?” (highlight to read)

I think that they have greatly improved over the whole "shut up when i'm talking to you" and "don't turn your back on me, I won't be ignored!" era, but don't you think their doomsday-esque lyrics are starting to get old? I mean it worked well on the last album but I kind of notice the same trend in "BURN IT DOWN". I hope they get back to their Minutes To Midnight style of writing.

I honestly didn't like the Xero demo tape or Hybrid Theory EP (aside from And One). I think that "Slip" and "Blue" were pretty good tracks, but aside from that...eh not really.

I think it will have the energy of Hybrid Theory/Meteora, but in the style of Minutes To Midnight/A Thousand Suns. "BURN IT DOWN" is the perfect example of what I mean. With the vocals: I expect alot of singing, a little more rap than the past 2 albums but not by a whole lot, and a little bit more screaming but not in more than 3 songs. With the music: I expect alot of digital effects, synths, and lo-fi drum beats. I also think the guitars won't be as up front as they were in Minutes To Midnight, but used mainly as backing texture (like in BURN IT DOWN).

In no specific order: Hybrid Theory With You - In my opinion this track is everything Linkin Park is known for, except screaming, and that's why I like this one so much. It's the perfect blend of electronica, hip-hop, and rock. Great lyrics and digital effects. Pushing Me Away - My favorite song off of the album. Just the lyrics and overall emotion. I've been attached to this song since I was eight years old. That was in 2002. Minutes To Midnight What I've Done - I remember when this song first came out, I was blown away. There was very little Mike, and the style I was used to wasn't there, but I still thought it was one of the best Linkin Park tracks i've ever listened to. Incredible. Hands Held High - The minute I heard Mike start rapping, I was blown away by the level of emotion and thought put into this song. Beautiful ending as well. Instant favorite after the first listen. In Pieces - I wasn't a big fan of this song when I first heard it, but I really love it now. The guitar solo and energy at the end of the song is amazing. The lyrics helped me get through a break-up. A Thousand Suns Blackout - If anything made me go nuts on A Thousand Suns it was Blackout. The song was so good and kept switching up to even better parts which made me go crazy. The ending portion of this song is my person favorite. Mike's lyrics are just amazing. The Catalyst - When I first heard this song aside from the previews, I nearly had a heart attack. I was so into the whole vibe and overall transformation throughout the song. Beautiful. Instant classic. The Messenger - The lyrics remind me of my mother who passed away when I was six years old. She played guitar and sang to me, so finding out Chester wrote this song for his children, really touched me. LIVING THINGS Burn It Down - This song feels like the perfect blend of the last two albums. The lyrics are great, the chorus is nice and catchy, and Mike drops a heavy rap-piece. Reminded me of Blackbirds, but more electronic. (other) Blackbirds - When I heard the 18 second snippet of this song, I remember literally going crazy. No Linkin Park song up until that point (2010) made me react like that. Mike's verse was just deadly. The full song is beautiful. Quiet, yet loud. Energetic, yet calm. Hybrid Theory - 2 Minutes To Midnight - 3 A Thousand Suns - 3 LIVING THINGS - 1 (Other Songs; non-album) - 1

This is just a fun poll. Completely guessing this, there's a chance we won't get anything at all before the album drops. To make this less confusing for people, i'm basically asking which song do you think we will get a taste of next. With Minutes To Midnight we heard previews of "Given Up" and "Bleed It Out" and with A Thousand Suns we were given "Wretches And Kings" and a 30 second preview of "Waiting For The End". My selection: Skin To Bone

Tomorrow is going to be a good day. Besides Burn It Down being released, we're getting an album cover, track list, and a release date. Linkin Park is back ladies and gentlemen. Let me just make a few predictions for the hell of it. If i'm wrong, i'm wrong. If i'm right, i'm right! My predictions are: album cover will be in color but will not show any of the band members, the track list will have 13 tracks, and the release date will be June 5th.

The Radiohead, Black Keys, and Skrillex comment was all sarcasm.

Damn. I forgot, I live in the generation where layered plug-ins is considered great music. Name five of the greatest albums of all time that were made strictly on a computer. For those who always defended Linkin Park claiming they aren't a "pro tools savvy band" they sure love the album that was made mainly with samplers and synthesizers. No wonder "The Catalyst" sounds awful live as opposed to "The Little Things Give You Away" or "Faint". "Shut up when i'm talking to you" is an absolute awful lyric, but when you release an album ten years later with the lyric "try to catch up mothafuckaaa!", it becomes a signature-worthy statement. That's the Linkin Park smart-fan logic right? Hey Bliss and I should be bashed forever since we enjoy Meteora and Minutes To Midnight. At least when I see songs from those albums played live, I don't see the whole band using samplers while the lead singer is dancing back and forth bashing on electronic drums screaming his heart out "fuck it are you listening!?". This is 2012. This is the generation where Radiohead is the legendary band of the past, The Black Keys are the future, and if a song has a radio-safe structure, it's considered bland and unintresting. Break out the mouses and keyboards, it's time to start a revolution! Who wants to go to a real concert? That's right we got Skrillex here for you!/sarcasm (oh yeah this post also makes me a troll because I have a different opinion than the majority even though I praise other albums that they make especially one that is far from nu-metal, in Minutes To Midnight).

Hey being an Innerpartysystem, Digitalism, and Muse fan it's safe to say I like electronics when it comes to music. The thing is this album is either instantly thought out to be as garbage from 20 year old people who think nothing of Linkin Park and their favorite band is most likely an unknown indie rock band, or people that are diehard fans like us. Just because we are diehards, we don't automatically give this album a 10 or a 5 that's true, but we also give this album alot more hype than it should have. I think when the 5th album drops, it will be their best. They stated that they don't mind when something sounds like something they did before, but at the same time are playing with new gadgets and doing new things. THAT is an example of a natural yet out-of-the-boundaries evolution. Not A Thousand Suns.

That's another thing. Weird song structures are considered revolutionary and challenging nowadays. Linkin Park didn't do a good job with it besides The Catalyst. Most songs are a normal structure with a little something latched on at the end. Examples: Burning In The Skies, When They Come For Me, Blackout, Wretches And Kings, Iridescent, and The Messenger. 6/9, 66 percent of their full length songs are in normal structure with a quick latch on at the end. Minutes To Midnight felt like a natural evolution because although it sounded lighter and warmer it still sounded Linkin Park. There were songs like In Pieces which sounded like Linkin Park, but at the same time fresh and exciting. Songs like Bleed It Out are just basic songs which hit heavy, not Pro Tools files containing 60 tracks and layers of medium nonsense.. These effects and gimmicks come off so cheesy sometimes. Wisdom Justice and Love was spooky and i'll never deny that, but tracks like Fallout? Lame. Filler.

My opinion changes a lot on Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns but as of lately I feel like i've been praising this album and giving it the recognition that it doesn't even deserve. In 2010 when I heard "Linkin Park new single" and "puzzles" I was going bananas. I was so excited for new Linkin Park and after an amazing record in Minutes To Midnight I had nothing but high hopes for the record. When it was released I was all over it saying it was a 10/10 masterpiece, beautiful, and amazing. Now i'm struggling to give it a 3/10. The record is considered ground-breaking in terms of Linkin Park. Why? Because most of the songs all connect via basic synth lines (Radiance into Burning, Jornada into Waiting, Waiting into Blackout, Fallout into Catalyst)? Why, because Mike is singing on more songs? This album is a cacophonic catostrophe in my book. It looks like an attempt for attention, as they admitted, a deliberate curveball. The whole album was the band trying to be different. Not evolving, but forcing themselves to create something out of the box. This creates an unnatural atmosphere and feels very odd. I can just picture Mike going "whoa whoa whoa, we used a synth like that on Reanimation, let's not use that, let me add a reverb to this patch and make an original sound!". It's defeating the purpose of evolving. Speaking of evolving, where is the evolution? Blackout sounds like a song that was sent to Marilyn Manson and remixed and sent back to the band. And new sounds? Where? That bridge sounds like they pulled out their Reanimation bag of tricks with the glitched vocals going off rapidly. Also, their live show? Their almost making a mockery of Mario Savio and J. Oppenheimer's speeches by glitching them up and decreasing and increasing the pitch to make them sound like a broken record going apeshit. This album sounds like a playlist I made with random songs on my iPod. The synths of The Catalyst don't compliment the acoustic guitar in The Messenger. The crickets and guns don't feel right after listening to the mellow Burning In The Skies. But wait everybody! This is original and beautiful because they're doing this right? Suprise suprise after beautiful lyrics from Burning In The Skies we can listen to Mike Shinoda spit his worst raps to date as he goes off telling people to catch up and even throws out shout-outs to 1980-1990's rappers he grew up listening to. Yeah we're burning bridges and losing what we shouldn't have and now we're pumping fists to a Fort Minor like track. In fact, the rapping on this album feels very Fort Minor and doesn't blend in with the record, or in fact the band itself. Linkin Park shouldn't be recycling Public Enemy lyrics. This album sounds like a compliation cover album, drawing in everyone elses influences and ideas but their own. Coldplay, U2, Nine Inch Nails, hell i'm being generous this sounds like a cross between Fort Minor and The Cardigans. Linkin Park is a great band, and have so much potential. This album tricked me into believing everything they said though. This band wanted attention so badly. So badly that Mike had to make a blog post trying to debunk a few people's thoughts of the album! You can't blame them for that, but why seek attention for making an odd record when you can just do a great album naturally? I'm sorry, I don't want to sound like a troll but this album went from a 10/10 for me, to a 2.75. I don't get it.

Pretty much just ended that discussion! Damn haha.

I honestly doubt we will get a live collection from the ATS Tour. They've released so much stuff from the ATS tour. And if they do studio versions of covers i'll be disappointed.

Once again since I was completely ignored (haha), weren't the majority of Linkin Park fans defending them and saying that they weren't nu metal? Why is it that all of a sudden it's cool to say that the old Linkin Park sucks and nu metal is dead? Isn't that contradictory?

Are they going to have a new LPU this year? Usually we'll have information on the new LPU a month or two ahead of it's release.

What's going on with LPU11?

Speaking of contradictions......did you ever notice how Linkin Park fans have brutally battled with people saying that Hybrid Theory and Meteora WASN'T nu metal and how it was just a unique blend of different genres? Now everytime there is a discussion about what's better in terms of old and current, all of the fans who say current would also add that "nu metal is dead". Figure that out. And A Thousand Suns doesn't have the most mature lyrics on earth. "Try to catch up motherfuckaaaa", "talk alot of shit but yet you don't know", "i'm losing what I don't deserve", it's just the same old lyrics. Linkin Park showed themselves on a dictionary/thesaurus website in one of their LPTV videos looking for better words then they already had written down for The Catalyst which slightly proves my point.

I used to like these lyrics first, but then the actual lyrics that made the final cut grew on me more and are more appropriate. Blackout's lyrics remind me of a relationship, Chester taking the angry and upset approach, while Mike takes the more positive, moving on to better things approach. But then again this song could be about pizza, we'll never know.

Sorry guys for the late response. Alot of these arguments are the same from person to person, so i'll just respond to whatever caught my interest. I never heard anything that sounded like In The End before no matter how basic the piano chords, guitar chords, and samples are. It all sounds beautiful and haunting, which is odd for a radio song. Somewhere I Belong is a bit similar, but that feels lighter and more energetic as opposed to dark and gloomy. I also didn't know song has to be progressive to be considered artistic and original. That is just stupid. Songs with radio structures/basic structures on ATS: Burning In The Skies, Wretches And Kings, Iridescent, The Messenger. That's 4/9 songs, nearly half of the full length tracks on this album have a radio, OR A SIMPLE STRUCTURE. Easier To Run has a bridge. Automatic loss there. Secondly, you have no proof or evidence that the transition between Empty Spaces and When They Come For Me is meant to be abrupt. I'm not a fool, i'm honest.

I'm on the opposite end of this argument. I don't see anything fresh about this at all. Your post has not convinced me otherwise.

Linkin Park is a band that likes to keep things fresh and interesting. Recently, they released A Thousand Suns. I have slight problem with alot of the people who've been defending this album. I am a fan of this album, so don't take this the wrong way, but most people who defend this album are the biggest idiots i've ever met. Many people think that since this album is progressive, or "breaking the boundaries" of Linkin Park, that it's automatically the best piece of work from the band. That is hilarious. Linkin Park makes this so called "concept album" and everyone bows down to it kissing it's feet, and Linkin Park's asses. Sure songs like "Waiting For The End" and "The Catalyst" are fresh, fun, and exciting, but just because their older music format was primarily v/c/v/c/b/c/c, that doesn't make those tracks less artistic or boring. Songs like "In The End" are very creative instrumentally, and songs like "Easier To Run" are creative structurally. This isn't new guys. Remember how Linkin Park said that they brought out more electronica in Meteora than Hybrid Theory? This is the same thing, except the main element of this album is electronica. Nothing about this album is groundbreaking, original, or even weird. Songs like "Burning In The Skies" and "Iridescent" feel like Minutes To Midnight b-sides, "Wretches and Kings" sounds like a Meteora or Fort Minor b-side, "Blackout" sounds like a possible Reanimation 2.0 track, and the list goes on. I am a fan of all types of music, so this album to me feels like a compilation album, or having my iPod on shuffle. You have some random interlude tracks thrown in there, and some rap songs, slow songs, you get the idea. Meteora had songs that varied styles, and some people forget that. Listen to "Somewhere I Belong", "Easier To Run", "Breaking The Habit", and "Nobody's Listening". There's your variety. Since when is robotic singing, political speeches, and four minute songs so damn original? Am I missing something here? How could I forget this argument; "this is an album man, not just a collection of songs.. see this whole album flows smoothly and that's hard to pull off, you see you're a metalhead and this a concept record man, try to catch up motherfucker!". Yeah, this album flows a smoothly as my skateboard riding over a pothole. "Empty Spaces" -> "When They Come For Me" has the worst transition i've ever heard in the 100s of albums i've listened to. "Blackout" fades out and "Wretches And Kings" comes in. "Wisdom, Justice, and Love" comes in right after Wretches fades out. It's not all one song flowing together, it fades in and out. There are quiet portions where the next track can start. Just like Meteora, some tracks flowed right into the next, others didn't. If this album doesn't have a story, then how the hell is it so creative? Because all of the songs tie into a similar theme? Meteora does the same thing! All songs from Meteora have a theme about alienation, pain, misery, heartbreak, common problems faced by a young individual. If Meteora has songs that flow in and out with hardly any breaks, has songs that tie in a similar theme or concept, and has songs that have different influences and styles, then how is A Thousand Suns so fresh and different? Linkin Park has done this in 2003, hell they did it in 1999 with Hybrid Theory EP. "High Voltage" sounds nothing like "And One". Oh wait, I didn't realize something, Mike didn't give himself a high-pitched voice in those records, he didn't create a song filled with crickets and sound effect loops, Brad didn't speak in Spanish, and they didn't use lyrics from songs that were used in others. Looks like you guys got me.... *facepalm* Please note: Meteora is my least favorite Linkin Park record. My favorite is Minutes To Midnight.

I'm going with Robot Boy. It's loud and at the same time beautiful. The synthesizer at the end is without a doubt the most epic and beautiful moment in Linkin Park's music history.

A year later I like this album way less than ever before. People look at this album as gold, just because it's a concept album. Those who do not like this are instantly labeled as metalheads who can't appreciate good music and an album, not just a collection of songs. First of all the 'Empty Spaces' to 'When They Come For Me' transition is the most awful transition i've ever heard in music history. It's too sudden and abrupt, and ruins the flow of the album. 'Blackout' and 'Wretches And Kings' do not flow in and out of each other, meaning you can switch the tracks up and play the album that way, and it would still flow at the same pace. This album doesn't flow as smoothly as people would like to believe it does. Some songs on this album feel as if they lack certain members of the band. 'Wretches' feels like it's missing Rob, 'Robot Boy' feels like it's missing Joe, and all 6 interludes are missing Chester. This album was a nice change of pace for Linkin Park and a breath of fresh air. The song structures became odd, the sounds in this album became more electronic, but new isn't always better. Minutes To Midnight was a great step into better things. The rapping was there when it needed to be, the vocals were a bit more realistic and not drowned in effects, and the music itself felt more melodic and stripped down. This album is cacophonic chaos, and tries too hard to be different. 7/10 Recommendations: Robot Boy, Blackout, The Catalyst, The Messenger