Yep, I agree with that. In my opinion, there is UIG and Wastelands, which are both good/decent tracks. Then there is AFN and FM, which are both very, very good tracks. And then, there is all the rest, which is fucking amazing.
Touché. The chorus in Wastelands never sounded right to me - love the verses though. I'm not sure whether it's because I've heard it a lot prior to the rest of the album or not, but I find myself skipping it in favour of some of the other tracks. If there are any other fans of Drawbar then I'd recommend a band called Explosions in the Sky. I was listening to Drawbar again earlier and it sounds like something they'd put out, albeit shorter - guitar and drum driven atmospheric music. No lyrics, but still manages to convey a real sense of emotion. Fantastic.
Keys to the Kingdom - One of the best Linkin Park song's in recent times. The chorus is wild and I'm still to hear the explicit version! 9 All For Nothing - Great verse from Mike, I think it deserves a better chorus though. Not really feeling the guest vocalist at all. 7 Guilty All The Same - This song never did anything for me. I find the intro far too long, if it was shorter than I would be a much bigger fan of this. 6 The Summoning - Meh. It's an average interlude. 5 War - Really digging this one. I love the punk influence and it's a truly different Linkin Park song. The guitar solo at the end is great too. 8 Wastelands - The verse is good on this one again, I like the beat. Not particularly inspiring lyrics from Mike and the chorus is a bit standard. 6.5 Until It's Gone - This song has grown on me since hearing the album as a whole. I love the music in this one but the lyrics are poor. 6 Rebellion - So good. Really enjoying the way Mike delivers his verse. Great guitar work again from Brad. Mike coming in after Chester's bridge might well be my highlight of the album. 9 Mark The Graves - Another album highlight. The intro is a bit long for me again but once that's out the way the song really takes off. 8 Drawbar - A lot of people have been disappointed by the lack of Tom Morello on this. Personally I really don't like Tom Morello's style so I'm happy you can't hear his shitty high pitched space guitar nonsense. As far as interludes/instrumentals go this is one of their best. The piano outro really reminds me of Pink Floyd. Up there with Jornada Del Muerto. 7 Final Masquerade - Chester's vocals here are so good. One of Linkin Park's best ballads. 8 A Line In The Sand - This song will probably end up being my favourite, can see it growing on me a lot. Chester's vocals are a bit distant at points but when I actually get round to reading the lyrics it'll be fine and probably clearer. 8 Overall this gets an 8/10 from me. If this had come out instead of Living Things in 2012 it would be my favourite as my interest in the band has faded a lot over the past 2 years. It seems like a really good step for the band though, I didn't think I would hear something like this from the band especially 6 albums in and especially after ATS and LT.
After listening to the album a good few times, that's my opinion. It might change over the next few days/weeks, but so far this is what I think. Keys to the Kingdom - 5 (Great opener. I love the fact that Mike is both singing and rapping here. The chorus is so sick too) All For Nothing - 3.5 (I like Mike's verses and the chorus is catchy) Guilty All the Same - 3 (I have never really cared for this song. It's only average for me. The bridge is descent. I will usually skip it though) War - 5 (I love it. It's so punk. It was really nice to hear Chester singing something like that) Wastelands - 2.5 (I kind of liked it at the first few listens, but it's incredible how I got bored of it so easily. And now compared to the rest it's even worse. I will usually skip it) Until It's Gone - 1 (One of my least favourite Linkin Park songs. Nothing is even ''okay'' for me in this song. I will always skip it for sure) Rebellion - 4 (Really good intro and verses. Mike's is pretty good in this song. I also like the lyrics) Mark the Graves - 4.5 (This song is really growing on me on each listen. It might become one of my favourite soon. The instrumental is definitely sick. Best intro in the album) Final Masquerade - 5 (Best lyrics and vocals in the album) A Line in the Sand - 5 (I love Mike's verses and the chorus sounds so good to me. I like the lyrics too. It will probably become my favourite song in the album) Overall: 4/5 Much better than LT and Meteora, and I think I can say it's better than Minutes to Midnight too. Not sure if it can beat HT. It might, but not just yet. ATS still my favourite. Some points: - I wish Mike would be singing more in this album - Even though, I think Drawbar is a good interlude, it's very annoying they guest Tom Morello just for that. I don't understand it - Brad and Rob have both a great job in this record. Phoenix and Joe can hardly be noticed - Not the best album vocally, but the instrumental definitely makes up for it - The lyrics for Final Masquerade are really outstanding. A Line in the Sand, Mark the Graves and Rebellion have good lyrics too. The rest doesn't have anything special to me - Until It's Gone feels so out of place in the album
Alright I will say it. Am I the only one who is missing Melodic Chester vocals? The lyrics of UIG make it average so that leaves only FM where his melodic voice totally shines . GATS while is exceptionally good musically offer nothing special vocally from him. Other than that,he is just screaming and shouting throughout the whole record. It's almost as if Mike is the new singer for singing cleans while Chester is just for agressive parts. I am not complaning, I still love the record to death. It's just one thing which I really miss on this record.
I noticed it too. Especially after going back and listening to Living Things after The Hunting Party. Chester sounds completely different in those two albums. Obviously, if he wanted to, he could still sing like that (those songs were only two years ago, after all), and we all know this direction was very intentional. It does take some getting used to.
I noticed it too. Especially after going back and listening to Living Things after The Hunting Party. Chester sounds completely different in those two albums. Obviously, if he wanted to, he could still sing like that (those songs were only two years ago, after all), and we all know this direction was very intentional. It does take some getting used to.
lol I feel the new songs will cause him more stress live. He sounds more natural, sure, but he's also singing way more aggressively than before. I just feel like In My Remains or even Lies Greed Misery are way less taxing than fucking Keys to the Kingdom or War. I mean fuck, there's an album full of nothing but head-bangers.
You're definitely not the only one. I think this is the main issue with the people that didn't like the album. I said it above too. There's nothing special about the vocals in the album, especially with Chester. Other than Final Masquerade being quite outstanding, the rest is just Chester screaming all over the place, pretty much. Mike does delivers Rebellion and A Line in the Sand pretty good, but I think that's it too.
The verses in GATS, UIG, and MTG would like a word with you. Also, Chester screams the bridge in Rebellion, but sings clean in the rest of the song. This is most notable in the very first chorus. This is in addition to FM, as you already pointed out.
To be fair,he sounds great on the agressive songs live.But I have serious doubts reguarding KTTK or WAR. As much as I admire Chester vocals,those two will be really really difficult to pull off live.
I think it is more of a Rob and Brad's album than Chester and Mike. And I am perfectly happy with that. I just fucking love Chester's vocals in Final Masquerade
Let's make one thing clear. The Hunting Party completely strangles the life out of Living Things and its partner, Recharged. It does so in the most brutal of ways and is completely unforgiving. It does the same to any naysayers who ever claimed that the band have lost their edge and could never go back to being heavy again. The Hunting Party straps you into a visceral roller coaster of noise that only lets you catch your breathe once or twice before shooting off into hell again. Linkin Park have, once again, completely redone their style and rediscovered themselves as musicians and song writers. I am ranking this as the second most impressive album ever done by the band, right behind A Thousand Suns. Brad and Rob have finally come out to play and they completely steal the spotlight for the entire ride. If you went back in time and had me listen to something like Keys to the Kingdom or War in a time when I was listening to a Linkin Park song like Iridescent or Roads Untraveled, I would have never believed that it was the same band. In a time where indie music is dominating rock radio, Linkin Park has come out with their most unexpected and just purely awesome record to date. Strap in. Here we go. 1. Keys To The Kingdom - We are wasting no time here, folks. The opener to the album kicks your teeth in right off the bat, with Chester screaming in a way he never has before. We kick straight into a riff that would make heavy metal fans bang their heads. This is one of the band's heaviest songs to date; most definitely the heaviest chorus. Rob punishes his drum kit while Brad shreds a true guitar solo for one of the first times ever. This will get the pits moving for sure. Mike singing over the final chorus really makes this song. Couldn't ask for a better song to start this thing off. Now hang on tight, because we're just getting started. 2. All For Nothing - This song does a great job of carrying on the energy unleashed from KTTK. Mike jumps on board and lets loose some filthy rap verses. The "1,2,3,4!" before every chorus is definitely a highlight. Bound to be an anthem for the band live. I find the chorus to be very lacking here though. Page Hamilton doesn't have too gripping of a voice and the chorus itself sounds much too generic. Luckily the energy carries this song all the way through. The song ends with you hearing "Put the heavy shit there." "The heavy shit right here?" Now you know that it's time to get really serious. 3. Guilty All The Same - Here it is. The core of this album and a representation of all that it stands for. This is Linkin Park at their best and my personal favorite song off this record. We are treated to over a minute and a half of an introduction (and a hell of an introduction it is!) before Chester does his first singing on this album. He is raspy and ready to rock. The riff is infectious and will stick with you all day. Nobody can resist banging their head to this jam. The bridge really breaks it down here and the band goes into full jam session mode while Rakim unleashes some of the best rap lines I have ever heard. His flow is all over the place and there is no way of knowing where he's going next. We kick back into the chorus (which you can probably sing along to at this point) before the song goes out with a BANG with thrashy drums and a blistering guitar solo. This is definitely "the heavy shit". 4. The Summoning - Take a quick breath and try to process what just kicked your ass. This is an instrumental but it definitely will not let you rest for long. This track is one big build up that lets you know that something HUGE is about to happen. Perfect precursor to the skull fucking you're about to receive. 5. War - Linkin Park goes full punk on this fast paced heart attack of a song. Rob completely tears up the entire song with Chester shouting all over the place. This will cause heavy damage in the mosh pits. Brad shows up to do work in his best guitar solo to date for the bridge. This song takes no prisoners and lets you know that Linkin Park is ready to shred. If you're still alive after this song, get ready for... 6. Wastelands - The riff for this song will definitely get the place jumping. Mike has his best raps of the entire album on this. Chester sings the catchiest chorus off the album as well. The synth in the background of this track really makes it stand out. It is a very safe song for the band but still holds its ground firmly and never lets the onslaught that is The Hunting Party falter in the slightest. 7. Until It's Gone - The inevitable hit single off of the album, the song starts in the most classic Linkin Park way imaginable, except that there's something a bit different. This song is infinitely more a wall of noise than hits like Burn It Down or New Divide. Lots of stuff going on in the background of this song. The most simple lyrics of the record, perhaps even of the band's whole career. Even this song doesn't let the energy fade for one second. Rob stands out yet again with some of his best drumming on here. This is a giant anthem that will have the crowds singing along for sure. The ending truly brings it all home. Huge production for this song. 8. Rebellion - This is a Linkin Park song with a System of a Down riff, which is of course thanks to actual SOAD guitarist Daron Malakian supplying said riff. Don't get me wrong though, that is a very good thing. This is the new BOUNCE song. Nobody will be able to resist jumping around to this jam. Mike sings and carries us through the best lyrics on the album. Chester lets loose some of his best screams on the chorus, which bring to mind other memorable Chester scream bridges like Given Up. One of the best of the album. 9. Mark The Graves - This song is really all over the place. It goes fast, it goes slow, it goes heavy, it goes soft; it is EVERYWHERE. Phoenix has finally arrived on a Linkin Park album with one of, if not the best bass track of the band's career. This song features another long intro that shows off a lot. A constantly changing guitar part that is accompanied by Rob's drumming that is also constantly changing before finally settling into a nice groove that Chester sings over. Really really really great harmonies happening between Chester and Mike on this song. The bass line stays with you long after the song ends. And yet ANOTHER guitar solo finds its home here to showcase Brad. The drumming here really gets you grooving as well. Easily the most unique song on the album. 10. Drawbar - Tom Morello brings a haunting mood to this piano driven instrumental. Now is truly the time to catch your breath and relax for a couple minutes before we end this album. The piano builds up perfectly to the next song. 11. Final Masquerade - We have arrived at some of the best singing ever recorded by Chester to date. Really different sounding than anything he's done. This is the ballad of the album, but make no mistake, it's far from boring or slow. This is a true highlight of the album and the lyrics and emotions that run through it will stick with you. THIS is how you write a slower song. It completely shoves others like Roads Untraveled, Iridescent, Shadow Of The Day, ect. right out the window. Brad's guitar tone really sells it here. Great stuff. 12. A Line In The Sand - We have reached the grand finale to the record. It was quite a ride. We had ups, downs, loops, and complete drops. The closing track of The Hunting Party begins with a slow build. The sound of a thunderstorm rolls in and the ambience settles with Mike delivering some of his best singing to date. Truly chilling. Don't get too uncomfortable though. Rob arrives to pick up the pace one last time and then the guitars kick in, borrowing the sounds from every song so far to make a forceful, driving riff that carries the rest of the song. Guilty All The Same returns in a big way, bringing the album full circle. Chester unleashes some final screams for the chorus and Mike raps over a piano just to make sure that every base is covered. Just when you think it's over, Brad switches it up and he and Rob start jamming huge. The atmosphere definitely lets you know that this is the end. The song goes out in a huge way, with wailing loud guitars and drums over Chester screaming his lungs out. The final notes are of Mike reprising his singing from the intro and we're left in the wake of the destruction that this album has left us. I love this album and I could not be more proud of my favorite band for making it. This is exactly what the world currently needed.
The minute the album started with Chester screaming on KTTK all the way to Mike softly singing on A Line In The Sand was just a kick ass experience. I will say that I had a much better first experience with LIVING THINGS, but that's probably because I heard half of THP before the full album leaked so the hype level was not as big as opposed to THP. Nonetheless, for now, THP is my favorite LP album, and possibly my favorite album in General. Wastelands is probably the most disappointing on the album for me, and not feeling Mark The Graves a whole lot (tho I have a feeling it will grow on me), but the big stand outs are KTTK, AFN, The Summoning, War, Drawbar, and Final Masquerade. My verdict is 9/10
Correct me if mistaken, but isn't this also the first LP studio album not to feature the word 'lies'?