A Thousand Suns - One Year Later

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by Dusty, Sep 7, 2011.

  1. #1
    Dusty

    Dusty LPA Super VIP LPA Super VIP

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    [​IMG][​IMG]

    This time last year, we received Linkin Park's 4th studio album "A Thousand Suns". Many of us would download the album via the leak, while others did the best they could to wait for the official release date. Regardless of how or when you heard it, a lot of us would look at Linkin Park in a different way.

    What did you think of "A Thousand Suns" when you first heard it? Did you download the leak or did you wait for the release date? What version or versions of the album did you purchase? What tracks caught you off guard? What are your favorite tracks then and now? Do you have a special memory that took place this time last year regarding the album release?

    And finally, what did you think of the album one year ago and how do you feel about the album one year later?
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2011
  2. #2
    Derek

    Derek LPAssociation.com Administrator LPA Administrator

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    I'm going to be honest and say that as much as I praise the album now (and listen to the songs on a frequent basis), on my first listen I was a little taken aback. I wouldn't say that I didn't like the album, but I was definitely confused as to what I was hearing, as I expected an album that was admittedly...a lot closer to Minutes To Midnight. I didn't expect such a huge change, but it really increased my respect for the band because it showed they're willing to challenge themselves as musicians and step outside of their comfort zone. I went from being a big fan, who liked MTM but felt it was too safe, to having my perceptions of the band completely shattered with ATS and learning just how serious this band is about expressing themselves musically. While I can't predict what ATS will be regarded as 10-20 years from now, it will always be the album that proved to me why Linkin Park have staying power. The band hasn't begun to run out of gas yet...not even close.
     
  3. #3
    Anne

    Anne married to the ocean LPA VIP

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    I listened to the record one week before now last year, at the prelistening in Cologne. It was incredible to be there with other Linkin Park Fans, everyone having headphones on with closed eyes and concentrating on nothing but the music. When opening the eyes you could see shock and confusion in the faces of the people, some were smiling, others obviously had no idea what to think of the record. Afterwards we were asked by a staff member what we think, and absolutely no one could answer, just looking at each other. That pretty much sums up my own emotions towards the record as well. I remember that I instantly loved Burning in the Skies, and couldn't get When they come for me out of my head. I also remember that I described Robot Boy with "Blarg Song" and Iridescent with "Just another Shadow of the Day Song". By now I still love BITS, WTCFM, but also Robot Boy very, very much. Some days later, when listening to the record again in Hamburg, it already felt different, and when I finally got the record a week later myself, I've been able to quite appreciate the music without feeling like "OMG SHIT WHAT IS THAT". I still love it to death and it's pretty much the only record I listen to front to the back each time.
     
  4. #4
    TheZlajaZlo

    TheZlajaZlo Closing LPA Super Member

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    Unlike Meteora and MTM I was open minded about the whole thing regarding ATS. I kinda knew what to expect from band members said it's gonna sound like (electronica, crazy tribal drums, a lot of noises, distorted sounds...) . Also when I was younger I only listened rock but now I listen to all kinds of weird stuff.
    I downloaded it the second it leaked. So there I was, lying on my bed in my room with lights out, experiencing ATS for the first time. And it was AMAZING! A tear appeared in my eye at the end of BITS. it was so emotional...WTCFM blew my mind. I was so proud that my favorite band made so incredible album.
    The only thing I thought was missing was heavy guitar. There's just something about the sound of distorted guitar that made their past albums so good.
    I've listened to it like 5 more time that day, each time discovering something new. But I have to admit that my love for it have reduced. I still thing it's a great album but there aren't too many song that are on the same level as Papercut, Crawling or In Pieces. Also, there aren't many memorable lyrics here.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2011
  5. #5
    Derek

    Derek LPAssociation.com Administrator LPA Administrator

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    To best sum up my reactions...

    At first I was like:
    [​IMG]

    But then I was like:
    [​IMG]
     
  6. #6
    Super Sonic

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    OMG i cant belive that its been a year already.

    Anyway, I fell in love straight away. I dont know why i wasn't taken back by it because it was such a massive change of direction.
    I think that ATS is what MTM should have been even though i love MTM.
     
  7. #7
    Hybrid

    Hybrid Has gone Rogue. LPA Team

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    I waited to download the album as soon as I could through LinkinPark.com. I also bought the Deluxe Edition as soon as I could get over to Best Buy while on my lunch break.

    I'll break it down song by song on my first listen of the album:

    I will admit that listening to this album the first time in my car, I wasn't sure if I should blast it. I did so for 'The Requiem,' which gave me chills with borrowing lines from 'The Catalyst,' and 'The Radience,' which further gave me chills from the instantly identifiable JR Oppenheimer speech. When 'Burning In The Skies' came on, however, I felt almost embarassed to listen to the song blaring from my car. I remember thinking "What the hell am I listening to?" and "Linkin Park hasn't let me down yet, but what is this?" Still, with an open mind, however, I decided to push on through listening. As 'Empty Spaces' came and went, 'When They Come For Me' came on and brought a pretty big smile to my face. As soon as the last "Motherfucker" was spoken and the last "Ahhh!" was sung and the overall busy-ness had dwindled down, a piano key was hit. I Immediately thought "Is this a cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing!?" Then, the rest of 'Robot Boy' played through. I was thinking to myself "Was this a joke?" "Is Linkin Park trying to be the next Backstreet Boys!? "Where is MY Linkin Park?" Once the shock that was 'Robot Boy' was over, 'Jornada Del Muerto' played. I remember thinking "Eh, it's alright..." Then, 'Waiting For The End.' From the first time I heard this song on the Internet, I felt it to be a little weird but tolerable, and I was glad to hear it in the album. Now 'Blackout' was on. I remember comparing the song to bubblegum pop with some pretty good screaming. I was on the fence with it, but thought it wasn't bad. Now onto 'Wretches.' I heard the song early because I pre-ordered through LinkinPark.com and still thought it was awesome. When 'Wisdom Justice and Love' came on, I thought wow that was kind of neat, using a MLK speech. It kind of softened me up for what emotions 'Iridescent' would provoke. The first time I heard 'Iridescent,' I will admit, I cried. The song had such a great message and it seemed like it spoke directly to me. That was the first and only song that made me cry. Now that I've admitted that, The album moved onto 'Fallout.' I thought it was a cool throw back to 'Burning In The Skies' which made me appreciate it more and listen to it again. I thought 'The Catalyst' was a good song when I heard it debut and was excited to hear it on the album. My emotions when hearing that can be found on "The Catalyst" thread. The closing of the album with 'The Messenger' felt stripped back and bare bones, but acceptable.

    Needless to say, I gave the album a few more spins and started apreciating it more and more with each listen. I began liking it more and more after each listen. Even the songs that I felt embarassed about before, I now embraced and accepted them as being really good songs. They have made it into my 'favorite songs' category that is primarily all Linkin Park. Listening To the album more, I realized that the Music is art and should be appreciated like art. My 'friends' were razzing me about the new album because they all know how much I supported the band. They got off on how soft the album was. It was a stark contrast to the hard rock and metal I normally listened to. To their surprise, however, I remained steadfast with supporting the band. The album has since become one of my all time favorite albums. With every listen, I find more and more reasons to love the album. I fall more in love with it every time I hear it. "Commercially successful" or not, to me, that's something special. My friend's shit talking has since faded. Perhaps they too saw the light that is ever so prevalent on the front cover of A Thousand Suns.
     
  8. #8
    Jake

    Jake Give me reason

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    The Catalyst came out on August 2, and I was: Fuck you Linkin Park! You got a nice drummer for fuck's sake. What is this that you've done with most of this song? Why the fuck can't you sing naturally Mike? And Brad... are you really even doing anything interesting? I told myself I'd wait for the entire album before bashing the band in public. I sure wasn't gonna do it right away. But before I had the album, I grew very comfortable with TC, and began to appreciate it.

    I tried to hold on till the 14th, but I gave up on the 10th and got myself the leak. I pulled all the curtains in my room, closed the doors, turned the lights off, and played the album from track one. I had the official lyrics in front of me, though, just so I could be sure I had nothing wrong.

    To be honest, I wasn't taken aback at all. I cried when Robot Boy was playing, and then again with Iridescent. That song made me shivered, and it was hard to hold on to the tears. The entire album became my instant favorite. My favorite interludes were Jornada Del Muerto and Fallout. I did not like The Messenger much, because the vocals were too raw, and I clearly was like: Umm, you could have done this mellow, and still sounded much the same or better, Chester.

    I admit, I still don't enjoy TM as much as I expected myself to, but sure I don't hate it. I just like it less than the other songs.

    So this year, I ordered myself the CD (I was looking at the CD+DVD set, but it was out of stock), loved it, and kept it safe. About two months ago, I fell out of love with the band. Basically, went more into Coldplay, and other misc. songs. It is today that I finally, after weeks and months, began listening to ATS again. I don't enjoy it on the same level as before, but I do like it, and I think it is one great thing the band has done. If it were another one of the first two albums, I wouldn't even be listening to Linkin Park anymore; because I have stopped listening to rage-ish music.
     
    Last edited: Sep 7, 2011
  9. #9
    iamsatan

    iamsatan Well-Known Member

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    I got to listen to it 2 weeks before release at Warner Bros. Records. I found it to be more of a shock than Minutes to Midnight and left the building feeling indifferent towards to album. It gave me a WTF feeling and had to take it in. Then it leaked a week after that, I listened to it all day, and ironically it was the same night of the Special Screening Laser Show. I went to that as well, and awaited the crowd reaction to certain songs, particularly "Robot Boy" a song I still loathe, the crowd had a WTF vibe and the room felt dead. At least there were lasers for us to stare at as we contemplated what was going on. The album grew on me pretty quickly and I still listen to it regularly, the only song I skip is Robot Boy. Hybrid Theory is still my favorite LP album but ATS is a very very close second.
     
  10. #10
    cradle

    cradle Foreword LPA VIP

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    On my first listen the only song i liked was WTCM, i remember i hated Iridescent. I had a 128kbps rip and could not hear all the noises going on. I think i was gonna give up on LP that night till i went on the LPA and saw the good reviews, so i gave it some listens and by the 7th listen o_o I understood what ATS was about. So Thank you LPA for not letting me give up on LP and ATS ;)
     
  11. #11
    The_4GT10_fACE

    The_4GT10_fACE Well-Known Member

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    Still the best album they made, no offence. A year later it is still fucking awesome :D
     
  12. #12
    travz21

    travz21 Muscle Museum LPA Super Member

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    I waited for the release. I made sure I was in the right mood and in the perfect setting before listening to it. I got my best headphones, locked my door, turned off the lights, and laid down on my bed and shut my eyes. I've never been so immediately moved by anything in my life. It's by far their best music, unquestionably. The things they did throughout the album brought tears to my eyes.

    To be honest, I haven't listened to the album that much after the first two weeks or so. It deserves a full listen through, and I just don't feel devoted enough to sit down listen to full albums much anymore unless I'm in the mood for it. But it's still some of the best music I've heard, and my opinion of it hasn't changed in the year it's been out.
     
  13. #13
    Benjamin

    Benjamin LPA team LPA Super VIP

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    As for me, I read all of the interviews and remarks by the band prior to the release. I can't say I was that surprised like some people were. I was expecting something way different and got it. Though I admit it took me a while to fall in love with all the songs. WTCFM especially. I borderline hated that song for the longest time. I thought it was just too weird and the chorus was strange. But then once I paid attention more to the lyrics I started getting into it more. Eventually it all clicked. It's now perhaps the band's best song period. As for the rest, I loved them all after a few listens. Though, as the months went by I began to be critical of Wretches and Kings and Iridescent. To this day I think those two songs are very weak compared to the rest of the songs. And yet they're still good songs which shows you how amazing the rest of the album is.

    I think 10 years from now ATS will be praised as the album that saved Linkin Park. It finally was able to help the band departure from their sound. Although M2M tried to do this, it loses value since there's not one song on there that doesn't sound like something you've heard by a different band. ATS however has songs like WTCFM, Blackout, and The Catalyst which are original as orignal songs can get (if you ask me).
     
  14. #14
    Jadedjcbxnyc6981

    Jadedjcbxnyc6981 Active Member

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    I woke up early (6 in the morning) on the official release day of ATS so that I could download it from i tunes and linkinpark.com. So I was already listening to it when I tried to go to best buy that morning to get the Deluxe version (with the ATS t-shirt) but Best buy was having technical difficulties so I couldn't get it, walked to work and the song that I kept on repeating had to be WTCFM. It was addicting and til this day its my fave off the album. When I first heard TC, I had downloaded it onto my ipod and when the beat kicked in I stopped dead in my tracks, looked at my ipod and checked to see if this was the right song. I loved it from the first time I heard it. BITS grew on me (especially after watching the video), took me awhile to like Iridescent but I love the chorus part ("let it go") its very uplifting, a song of hope. The Messenger is not my fave song, til this day I skip it, I know its about his kids but IMO its so depressing (the melody and whatnot). When I first heard WFTE I thought to myself "why is Mike rhyming like a reggae artist" lol, but I love the song. Blackbirds reminds me of the movie "The Crow" don't know why but everytime I hear it I can imagine making my own video incorporating the song with the movie. Listening to the full album is an definitely an experience

    I also remember being mad at myself since my job is across the street from the Best Buy Theatre in TImes Square and seeing the fans line up for the LP show. Oh I was so pissed, but I guess it wasn't meant for me to go
     
  15. #15
    Jeff

    Jeff WORSHIP LPA Addicted VIP

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    After "The Catalyst" was released, I pretty much threw my expectations out the window. I had anxiously waited for the album to come out, getting excited for more news to come about the album, accompanied by the puzzles that were thrown at us in order to find out more about the record. And then when it had leaked I couldn't help myself, and was tired of waiting, especially since I had spent a good $140+ on the album before it was even released. It just blew my mind away, and left me shocked at the masterpiece they were able to produce. At this point, A Thousand Suns is probably the only album that I still play front to back every once in awhile, as I wait for album number 5 to be released, hopefully sometime next year.
     
  16. #16
    Derek

    Derek LPAssociation.com Administrator LPA Administrator

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    So what you're saying is you tried the Ketchup. :kappa:
     
  17. #17
    Benjamin

    Benjamin LPA team LPA Super VIP

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    [​IMG]
     
  18. #18
    Tim

    Tim My perversion power is accumulating LPA Super Member

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    I still throw on "Waiting for the End" occasionally, but I don't think I've listened to the album from front to back since last year.
     
  19. #19
    Dusty

    Dusty LPA Super VIP LPA Super VIP

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    "I wasn't prepared for what I was about to experiance..."

    After I had heard "The Catalyst" I didn't know what to expect with "A Thousand Suns". Many people who had heard the album early during listening events had a real hard time trying to explain what they had Just heard. Then, the album leak came and I did what I could to avoid it. I even stoped visiting the LPA for a few days to get away from the temptation of downloading the leak. Finally, on September 15th, 2010, I was on my way to finally pick up my copy of "A Thousand Suns". I wasn't prepared for what I was about to experiance...

    I was blown away when I heard the album for the first time. I really didn't know how to feel about it with my first listen but with every listen I fell more in love with the album. I still consider it to be Linkin Park's best work to date and can't wait to see if Linkin Park will step it up go beyond "A Thousand Suns" with album 5.

    A year later I still try to listen to the album from front to back and always seem to get a new experience every time. With Linkin Park on the last leg of their "A Thousand Suns" world tour, I can't help but be very excited to see what the future holds for them. Linkin Park seem more determined and motivated then ever when it comes to writing music they want to write.
     
  20. #20
    Blackee Dammet

    Blackee Dammet Feminism Is My God Now

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    It's still just ok. I think if they would have trimmed a bit of the fat, it would have been an amazing EP, but as it is now, it's just an ok album.
     

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