Living Things isn't great, but neither is it bogged down by a concept that's as half-baked as it is portentous, as ATS is. It's hard to say.
Exactly This. A Thousand Suns is way better than Living Things. There is no doubt. Living Things is also a very good album, I really love it. But A Thousand Suns is just better.
ATS is just a more intelligent album. It just has more substance. And it has plenty of energy. I don't know where this idea that it had no energy came from. WTCFM, WFTE, blackout, wretches, the catalyst all have pretty high energy and BITS and Robot boy aren't too bad. So I wasn't really yearning for more energy. Especially at the expense of more complex music.
I would say that A Thousand Suns is technically the more intricate and musically sophisticated album, but Living Things is much more easy to just jump into at any given point. I have gotten a bit tired of Living Things lately though, as I do with all music at some point or another. I'm sure in a few weeks/months I'll go through another huge LP phase and listen to their albums to death again. lol