There's no denying that the last 3-4 years have been a very interesting time to be a Linkin Park fan. Over the course of 3 years or two separate albums, Linkin Park have made two very abrupt and unexpected changes in their sound. On Minutes To Midnight (2007), the band showed signs of leaning towards being a soft rock act, while on A Thousand Suns (2010) the band completely threw out the Linkin Park rulebook and did a complete 180 from the sound of their previous album. Most people expected Minutes To Midnight to be the new sound of Linkin Park, so when that wasn't the case...it made many fans confused on what to expect after A Thousand Suns. So my question is, what would you prefer for Linkin Park's future? Would you like them to perfect the new sound they created with A Thousand Suns (aka ATS II), or would you want each album to be different from the last, with no clear genre or "style" in place for the band? Please vote and share your opinions/reasoning in this thread!
The only true way to make an ATS II is to go for a completely different sound. ATS was them doing something completely new to them, and to go with that 'sound' again wouldn't be a true spiritual sequel to ATS at all.
I vote for another Reanimation, I'm find with their new sound, or a new sound, but want them to do a new 'remix' album again with that style sound.
This is a good point, and is how I feel about it. A second ATS could sound a lot different from ATS, if that makes sense.
I want another new sound preferably. I want a record that has a ton of rapping but with ATS/M2M type singing. More songs like Hands Held High, basically.
I agree. The sound of ATS is so diverse, the only way to live up to that standard or cross it would be to be more diverse.
Personally i want an up tempo album, regardless of it being rap or rock or any style. I love their slow songs ( Iridescent, Robot Boy, Shadow of the Day ) but i feel like there are other bands that can make slow songs that are almost just as good but nobody can make songs like the catalyst and when they come for me
Very, very well said. I completely agree. BITS and Iridescent are GREAT tracks, but they still feel like songs that many other bands could make. This was an even bigger issue with Minutes to Midnight. Songs like WTCFM, The Catalyst, Blackout, and Wretches and Kings are what we need more of. Songs that only Linkin Park can make.
I want more songs in the vein of when Mike was playing samples of what he was working on (in the MOATS dvd) and he said "I'm not on some What I've Done shit". The style of those songs seemed so different for the band, and I wish we could hear whatever happened to them and have some songs like that on the next CD as they were nothing like on ATS.
I really hope they build on the sound they created with A Thousand Suns. In my opinion it's their best work by a fairly large margin and it would be criminal to ditch the uniqueness of that album. That said, they shouldn't just make ATS II.
Make that two. I've been saying for a while now about how I want Linkin Park to take it a step even further by making music that just really can't be described and where song structure is completely at random. And like you said, some of those sounds did seem that way. My best example truly would be the 9.14.10 ATS preview that was on LPTV back last year. That was what I had expected the album to perhaps sound like. And as Ben knows, I've described to him what my perfect song would be, and it is very crazy in terms of vocals to insturmental to structure. But most importantly, I'd like a theme that is a bit less negative than ATS. I'd like a more hopeful, positive album that speaks of something like never giving up instead of people hating themselves or the end of the world
Lyrically, I actually wouldn't mind a continuation of ATS. At the moment, I prefer songs that talk about the world we live in. Songs about "not giving up" just sounds cheesy to me. Linkin Park should go all out political on their next album.
well, no I like that about ATS. That I find to be a justification for what a truly great band is. A band that sings about drugs and personal gain is annoying. But ATS was also very depressing at times and I wouldn't mind some more happier songs. And happier doesn't mean happy jolly at all but just not about world ending. And never giving up matches well with what they've accomplished in ATS. It doesn't have to be cheesy
I'm of the exact opposite opinion. I think they've covered the "world event/political" theme enough. Time to move on. But since MTM their lyrics have improved massively! I wouldn't mind them going back to some introspective stuff, only this time as more matured song writers. I think that would be brilliant.
depressing may have been too strong of a word to use. perhaps negative would have been better. guess I just want something more positive and hopeful? My best metaphor would be having the perfect song that can express the emotions of a kid who survives the apocalypse and how he grows to never give up. But not at all a story, just lyrically things that talk about hope and never giving up instead of the end of the world and politically about how much you hate Bush.
The this conversation progresses, the more I realize how little I actually care about what they sing about . As long as it's not angst or some cheesy love song.