Follow-up thread to Hybrid Theory : https://www.lpassociation.com/forum/threads/lets-review-part-1-hybrid-theory.47086/ Meteora : https://www.lpassociation.com/forum/threads/lets-review-part-2-meteora.47107/ Minutes to Midnight : https://www.lpassociation.com/forum...art-3-minutes-to-midnight.47112/#post-1489354 Merry Christmas to all! ---------------- Top 3 Qualities Creativity : if there should be only one album in LP catalog I'd praise for its creativity, it'd be this one. With ATS, LP managed to craft a sound unlike any other band (that I know of), while definitely keeping the essence of the band present. In some ways, ATS contains a lot of sonic elements that were celebrated on HT (distortion, scratch, screams, electronics, hip-hop, etc.) but re-blended, reshaped to create a new unique sound. Tracks like WTCFM, WFTE, Blackout or The Catalyst are a testament to this. Songwriting: I think, compared to the previous records, this album was a big step-up in term of "structural" songwriting. Longer songs, more variations within songs, less reliance on the pop formula. And they managed to pull it off while maintaining their sense of melody and their craft for catchy hooks. This is something I appreciate a lot, because more experimental songwriting can sometimes feel a bit forced/clumsy or compromise on other elements, and I feel like they avoided that trap successfully with ATS. Everything works smoothly, and the listening experience is engaging from beginning to end Instrumentation : this album contains a lot of beautiful layers, synths, tones, all tangled together, creating pretty interesting soundscapes that always feel rewarding to revisit. The synth solos in Robot Boy, Jornada or The Catalyst, the percussions in WTCFM, the breakdown and outro of Blackout, the outro of Wretches, ... so many amazing moments come to mind. Top Issue Accessibility : this is kind of a non-issue. Not every album has to be accessible, and ATS isn't even that hard to get into. But as a collection of songs, the slow-burning nature of a lot of the tracks and the multiple interludes make it so that ATS isn't maybe the best album to dive into if you're looking for easy-to-digest, immediate-impact bangers. Then again, that is not the aim this album sets to accomplish. I know that, on a personal level, I tend to revisit the album more rarely, as I find the urgency and immediacy of records like HT less demanding in term of attention and more directly rewarding. A bit of a silly comparison is that everyone loves a good intricate meal with tons of different flavors and spices, where the chef put a ton of attention in order to deliver the most delicious food you could get. But having it every day could become a bit exhausting to the senses
Pros Creativity: ATS stands as their most adventurous and innovative album, with each song offering something truly unique. It pushes boundaries, blending genres, experimenting with unconventional structures, and crafting an atmosphere unlike anything in their discography. Songwriting: The songwriting on this album is a major leap forward. Most tracks feature exceptional dynamics, steering away from the formulaic structures of their nu-metal roots. Consistency: For me this album is also their most consistent. I consider almost every song to be a masterpiece Cons There's none, this is literally my second favorite album of all time
Creativity obviously. It's pretty diverse and the songwriting is well done too. Even as a somewhat non-fan of this album, it's obvious that those qualities are high here, especially creativity.
Hi all! I used to do the sales pitch for this as: "MTM is what happens before the explosion, ATS is what happens after." I find the build-up and release of the atmosphere masterful, and theme-wise, I find it authentically suggestive of a decaying civilization, of humankind at war. For some reason, in my head, this war is against us and what we have done using technological progress to infuse pain in the planet and humanity. Also, for some reason, I link this album (atmospherically, at least) to Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Empty Spaces always is for me that scene where Tom Cruise climbs that hill hearing battle sounds and then suddenly everything turns into chaos without knowing who's on the other side of the hill). Now, the qualities / issue stuff Qualities! Creativity - The sole idea of creating an atmosphere throughout the entire album about how we are destroying everything and the fault is our own seems utterly great, being the misanthropic guy I am. And then the move of compassion with Iridescent and The Messenger is very kind to me, as they do with Not Alone, or the recent final turn in Over Each Other, showing there's always hope. Diversity - The range between Blackout as the heaviest and The Messenger as the most mellow is incredible. Lots of genres, lots of bold elements (the Mario Savio's Speech, Oppenheimer's quotes, Japanese Lift me up let me go...) they make an experience of beyond. Lyrics - Wretches and Kings. That's it. For me is THE BEST here. (and this knowing that WFTE, WTCFM and The Catalyst are also here). The front of the attack is exactly where I'm at. Somewhere in between the kick and the hi-hat. The pen and the contract, the pitch and the contract. Some of Mike's best lines. Issue: If anything, I hate the placement of Iridescent on the tracklist. I'd prefer this order Wisdom, Justice and Love Fallout The Catalyst The Messenger Closing with the hype and hopeful final part of Iridescent Than the actual order Wisdom, Justice and Love Iridescent Fallout The Catalyst The Messenger IDK, Iridescent for me is a closing track, and it puts me down with its placement ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. But HEYYYYYY, all in all, I love the journey that this record takes you through. It's a menacing and yet humbling experience.
Question: if there’s an atmosphere and a theme linking the album, is this then a Rock Opera o Linkin Park Opera? Like Tommy or so?
Man I feel like I can't articulate this one well at all. There's so much. Let's get started on the positives: Creativity - This album is filled to the brim with creativity. They go all over the place on this album, with an acoustic number, a fingerpicked ballad, dirty balls-to-the-wall industrial hip-hop with chanting, and so on. I don't need to remind everyone about the creative offerings here. They also introduce different structures to their songs, bring in interlude tracks to support the overall concept, and support a singular idea throughout the album, something unheard of for them in their more "collage" type previous offerings. This album starts extremely intentionally using lyrics of its climactic mission statement of a song that is "The Catalyst," then immediately moves into a sample of Oppenheimer, to really set the tone. Already we've established that this is a concept-driven record, and that there will be political and anthropological overtones. We get synth solos (two of them!) for the first time in the history of Linkin Park, two more sampled political speeches, and an incredibly balanced spread of dynamics across the length of the album. The band blends Rob's live drums with the electronic and sampled ones with expert precision, bringing in Rob's kit at the right moments for impact. Joe takes a sample of the crowd from Mario Savio's speech and says "This will work for a dirty scratching breakdown," then proceeds to pull out a ton of advanced scratching techniques he hasn't really shown outside of some of their pre-Hybrid Theory demos. And then, on top of all of that, the album is constantly self-referencing lyrically or sonically, with each of transitional numbers using elements of all the other songs on the album. They just eschewed every convention of writing a normal "Linkin Park song" and chose to do something out of the box instead. Diversity - This album goes all over. Even in the same song. The sharp contrast of "Blackout" is one of the most impactful moments as it switches from Chester screaming like crazy, further manipulated and resampled, into a calm atmospheric outro with Mike singing cleanly. "Waiting for the End" switches between very heavily percussive rap verses to very ambient, stripped back parts by Chester, before bringing this all together for the outro. "When They Come for Me" is beyond categorization, with the syncopated layered drums and chanting contrasting with the hip-hop verses where Mike is name-dropping all of his influences. They really test their sonic palette over the course of this album, and even the detractors who say it's just an electronic album will have a hard time reconciling that with songs like "Burning in the Skies," "Waiting for the End," "Iridescent," or "The Messenger." Instrumentation - Not their most technical album but I think it shows some of their best instrumental capabilities around the board. Rob's drumming in "Iridescent" is one of my favorites, Joe's scratching on "Wretches and Kings" gets me, Mike performs two synth solos that I adore, Brad does fingerstyle guitar for the first time since like..."Pictureboard" or "She Couldn't," and Dave is all over with the bass, being a central component of songs like "When They Come for Me" or "Wretches and Kings." Not to mention all other really interesting and catching instrumental parts they add...harmonium on "The Messenger," a Rhodes organ on "Iridescent," the very classic-sounding synth sounds of "Blackout" that build a soundscape that completely contrast with Chester's vocals. Acoustic piano just really comes back time and time again for this album too, and I love moments such as "Wisdom, Justice, and Love" or the piano buildup of "The Catalyst." There's just such an array of sound crafting in the instrumentation, and real intentionality with the instrumental composition. I could analyze it for days. And I have. Weakest part? Jeez, now this is a hard one. Maybe I'd just say that the only thing I wish about A Thousand Suns was that it totally leaned into its concept. "When They Come for Me" clearly sticks out from the overall theme, and some of the songs do get a little too abstract to where it gets debatable whether this could be considered a proper "concept album." But I still love this album, I will take it for it is, and these things maybe take it down to like 98% for me.
Little bump. Living Things coming tomorrow, if I'm not too tired The stats for ATS have been interesting so far, much more focused on a few qualities than for the previous albums.