I think this is exacty what the band wanted: They wanted people to connect with the album on a personal level. A Thousand Suns was epic and all, but lyrics were pretty obscure for the most part because it was this political concept album. Living Things was supposed to be more personal (Isn't that the reason they even named the album like that?). When I read that the album was going to be more personal I was afraid that the lyrics would be "cheesy" again like in Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Many people are/were able to connect with HT+M because it had very personal lyrics, but looking back at it, some lyrics are kinda cheesy and sound like they were directed at angsty teens (which they were). In Living Things, Linkin Park brings back the personal lyrics, but this time the lyrics are very mature and not cliché'd. I think it's great that you were able to connect with this album on this level.
The band got tired of the politics-fueled themes from A Thousand Suns (even Minutes to Midnight) and have started writing a lot of personal stuff. I don't think they've done that because of the fans.
I'm glad this has helped you, and I hope when I listen to the album on the 25th (UK release) I will connect to it in a similar way.
As I expected, this baby's changing in the course of the day. LOST IN THE ECHO - 8.5/10 IN MY REMAINS - 9.5/10 I'LL BE GONE - 8/10 POWERLESS - 8.5/10
I feel you. It's been almost a year since my break-up, so the lyrics don't affect me that much, but I definitely relate. Thanks for sharing, continue listening to it and look forward to new experiences
As someone who is dealing with a recent break up I have to say Powerless is a song I connected with after hearing it the first time. The lyrics "you held it all, but you were careless to let it fall" are a real heart tugger for me.
Don't forget My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade" that one also seems to be popular with those kinds of people
LOST IN THE ECHO - 9/10 IN MY REMAINS - 9/10 BURN IT DOWN - 7.5/10 LIES GREED MISERY - 8/10 I'LL BE GONE - 9.5/10 CASTLE OF GLASS - 9.5/10 VICTIMIZED - 8/10 ROADS UNTRAVELED - 10/10 SKIN TO BONE - 7/10 UNTIL IT BREAKS - 8.5/10 TINFOIL - 9/10 POWERLESS - 10/10 LIVING THINGS - 9/10 I enjoy this album very much, but as of right now, I still think ATS is a step above.
ATS>LT=HT>M2M=M LITE:7 IMR:8 BID:9 LGM:7 IBG:10 CoG:10 V:8 RU:9 S2B:8 UIB:6 T:? Not as good as Session or CFTI/ or not as good as interlude as WJL and Requiem/Radiance P:9 Magical Moments: 1.LITE intro 2.IMR army chant 3.BID electronic tune 4.LGM ending with flaring quitars 5.IBG's intro, chords, ending scream 6.CoG's beat, Mike's singing, the tune, the lyrics (In India, the way he sings, is a very well known way of singing. My mother loved the way he sang in this song too! She's 49!) 7. V right from the beginning till 1:47 it woke the hell out of me up! 8. Powerless's chords Notes 1) Songs not as powerful as ATS but more energizing! 2) Wishing they were a bit longer 3) Tinfoil is needed? I really dont think so. 4) Living Things is an exciting and rejuvenating album that came out so soon, that's why it'll be special. 5) Fav songs- I'll be Gone, Castle of Glass, Burn it Down, Roads Untravelled. 6) These songs really lit my soul up! 7) The other songs are really good, and I'm gonna listen to them all summer! Thank you Linkin Park! For making my summer the best ever!
Lost In The Echo - 9/10 Like this one the most. Great performances from Chester and Mike and I have a soft spot for anything that sounds like old school LP. In My Remains - 8/10 Nice poppy track, big anthemic chorus and catchy melodies. Reminds a bit of New Divide with that big pounding beat and the electronic accompaniments. Burn It Down - 8.5/10 It seems a lot of people don't like this song; I beg to differ. When I first heard it gave me a lot of hope for the new record and I still think its one of the better songs on the record. Lies Greed Misery - 5/10 This seems to be channelling more old school LP with the rap verses and screamed chorus, but it hasn't really grown on me since I first heard it when it was leaked. Just sounds bland and unappealing, the sounds and melodies aren't too great. It could've been a lot more. I'll Be Gone - 7.5/10 Got a similar vibe to this as I did with In My Remains, big, soaring guitar driven chorus. The string backings are quite nice, but apart from that I found it sort of average. Castle of Glass - 8/10 Well, this one is probably one of the more unique tracks they've done. Fortunately, the band have still managed to create a nice sounding song with a catchy chorus and a nice, cadenced sound. Good vocals from Mike. Victimized - 4/10 I haven't come around to this song at all. It seems they just cobbled together some really harsh sounds without too much consideration regarding whether it sounded good or not. Dissonance and unpleasant noises can work but I think they really dropped the ball on this. The melodic singing from Mike at the start just felt out of place, which is a shame because he delivers a nice rap verse. LP, try consulting some 90s era Nine Inch Nails if you want to do more of this kind of stuff. Roads Untravelled - 7/10 Another reasonably good song that I don't have any strong feelings towards either way. Very Minutes to Midnight-esque, though I found the lyrics a bit too sentimental. Skin to Bone - 8.5/10 I quite like this one. Very nice, catchy melody that's been well infused with that distorted, pounding electronic sound. Until It Breaks - 6/10 Another song I found a bit muddling. I appreciated the hardcore hip hop vibes, but again, the various changes and shifts felt really jarring and I found it all to be a bit too disparate. Tinfoil - N/A This is really just a pre-cursor to Powerless. Powerless - 8/10 LP really utilised the electronic elements here quite well, I particularly enjoyed the shuffling synthesised beat throughout the verses. Very moving, stirring vocals throughout, but I feel it's not quite as epic and powerful as it could've been due to its short length. But it's still a pretty good song, and would probably make another decent single. OVERALL - 7/10 Well maybe it hasn't sunk in completely, but right now I'm finding it to be somewhere between good and average. LP have done themselves a favour by shelving the whole conceptual, experimental approach that was on A Thousand Suns, but I'm still finding all their efforts to mash together different genres not particularly impressive. They're definitely finding their feet on this record, but a lot of the songs felt quite disjointed and I didn't get a very big sense of any real continuity. So overall, it's a respective effort but they need to put in a little more work in establishing a consistent sound, rather than just throwing in whatever they feel like.
My (slightly) critical review of Living Things http://spydistrict.com/2012/06/living-things-by-linkin-park/ Feel free to like/comment on the review. I'd love to hear your opinions. Also as a shameless plug, we're looking to add in more reviewers to the site. Should you be interested, let me know through a PM. Cheers.
I really liked the album. It's too early to compare it with other abums, but this is definitely Linkin Park at its best. It sounds fresh and most of the experimentation turned out well. I think this is by far the album with the best melodies. Even the weakest track (Until It Breaks for me) has some good melodies. My favorite songs are Castle Of Glass, Lost In the Echo and Powerless, although it's definitely an album I can listen to from beginning to end without skipping any song and that's always a good sign. I'm not gonna review the songs, but I can give them points: Lost In The Echo - 10/10 In My Remains - 9/10 Burn It Down - 8/10 Lies Greed Misery - 8/10 I'll Be Gone - 8.5/10 Castle of Glass - 10/10 Victimized - 9/10 Roads Untraveled - 9/10 Skin to Bone - 7.5/10 Until It Breaks - 7/10 Tinfoil - 8/10 Powerless - 10/10 Overall: 9/10. Good job LP!
Epic Songs (Top 10 LP for me) 10/10 - Lost In The Echo - reminiscent of the old LP, which is my favorite LP personally 9.5/10 - Powerless - my favorite album closer; extremely powerful piano and great singing Awesome Songs (Top 25) 9/10 - In My Remains - powerful song, love the "like an army falling one by one by one" ending as well 8.5/10 - Lies Greed Misery - i appreciate this song so much more after hearing the album 8.5/10 - Burn It Down - too poppy/unoriginal for some, but a nice mix of all the right LP qualities for me 8.5/10 - Roads Untraveled - grew quickly on me, great tandem ballad by mike and chester Good/Great Songs 8/10 - I'll Be Gone - reminds me slightly too much of the offspring's "you're gonna go far, kid" 8/10 - Castle Of Glass - don't see the "best lt song" hype, nothing you haven't heard before on radio, but lyrics are great Average Songs 7.5/10 - Until It Breaks - had so much potential to be better, still a cool, unique song though 7.5/10 - Tinfoil - not their best instrumental by any means, but a nice interlude that flows seamlessly into Powerless 7/10 - Victimized - this song has grown a little on me, but still could have been so much more Below Average/Bad Songs (Bottom 10 LP album songs) 6/10 - Skin To Bone - just cannot get into this one; the instrumental is pretty sweet, but the lyrics/content suck imho Overall Album Rating 8.2/10 - great 5th album by LP; closest to Hybrid Theory/Meteora, which are still personal favorites of mine M=HT>LT>/=ATS>>MTM