A Music Album Review
// LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS ALBUM REVIEW//
LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS ALBUM REVIEW
GENRE: ALTERNATIVE ROCK/ELECTRONIC ROCK/RAP ROCK
LABEL: WARNER BROS
YEAR: 2012
BAND MEMBERS:-
CHESTER BENNINGTON: VOCALS
ROB BOURDON: DRUMS AND PERCUSSION
BRAD DELSON: LEAD GUITAR
DAVE FARRELL: BASS GUITAR
JOE HAHN: TURNTABLES, SAMPLES AND PROGRAMMING
MIKE SHINODA: VOCALS, KEYBOARDS, PIANO AND RHYTHM GUITAR
INTRODUCTION
THERE I AM SITTING IN MY LECTURE, QUIETLY LISTENING TO MY CLASS MATE’S THOUGHTS AND DISCUSSIONS OF THE VARIETY OF DISPLAYED MUSIC ALBUMS. LINKIN’ PARK’S LIVING THINGS IS THEN ANNOUNCED AND BOOM! THE FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM TRULY DOES BECOME ‘VICTIMIZED’.
PROVIDED ‘BANTER’ BY MY FRIENDS, HEARING CLASS MATES OFF-PUTTING OPINIONS AND READING OTHER CRITIC’S REVIEWS, THE OUTPUT IS MOST EXTRAORDINARY! IT MAKES ME WONDER WHY I LOVE PAYING ATTENTION TO ‘LIVING THINGS’ SO MUCH. PERHAPS, I HAVE A WEAK SPOT FOR BEING TOO OPEN-MINDED, LOVING THE CHORUSES STOKING THE FIRE, OR FOR ELECTRONIC FLOURISHES, HOWEVER MY OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THE ALBUM IS SUPERB.
ONE COULD DESCRIBE THE CALIFORNIAN’S SKILFUL COMBINATION RETURN AS ‘EXPERIMENTAL’. ONE ALSO MAY TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT THIS ALBUM COULD BE CLASSIFIED AS A ‘NON-SPECIFIC’ GENRE. LINKIN’ PARK HAS ALREADY LOUDLY AND PROUDLY QUOTED, “YOU CAN’T STICK US IN ONE SPOT, AND THAT’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN STRIVING FOR” [1 – 2:15].
FIRSTLY, THE ALBUM’S TITLE “LIVING THINGS” RELATES TO THE COVER (WHICH I AM GOING TO DISCUSS FOLLOWING THIS) AND THE TRACKS, BY SIMPLY THE DEFINITION OF THE BIOLOGICAL TERM. ALL LIVING THINGS ARE CAPABLE OF REACTING TO REPRODUCTION: LINKIN’ PARK REPRODUCING MATERIAL FROM THEIR PAST ALBUM RECORDS INTO NEW SOUND. ALL LIVING THINGS ARE CAPABLE OF REACTING TO GROWTH: LINKIN’ PARK NOW ARE SHOWING THAT THEY ARE GROWING UP; FROM 13 YEARS AGO AS NU-METAL TO PRESENT DAY BEING ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH THE MODERN ERA. ESPECIALLY HOW KNOWLEDGEABLE THEY ARE WITH THE PRODUCTION SIDE… ‘LIVING THINGS’ OVERALL PRODUCTION IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE AS OF COURSE THEY HAVE HAD A LOT OF MONEY THROWN AT THEM. THE MORE YOU HEAR THIS ALBUM ON REPEAT, THE NOTICEABLE THE PROCESSED EFFECTS ARE. IF ANY BAND IS AS HUGE AND SUCCESSFUL AS LINKIN’ PARK IS, THERE SHOULD REALLY BE NO EXCUSE FOR THE POOR PRODUCTION. ALL LIVING THINGS ARE MADE UP OF BILLIONS OF CELLS: LINKIN’ PARK’S INSPIRATIONS AND IDEAS BRAINSTORMED INTO ONE COMPLETE BODY, DIVIDED INTO SPECIALISED TISSUES AND ORGANS: AS THE GROUP CREATE THE TRACKS COMBINING CONTRASTING GENRES. HOWEVER, LINKIN’ PARK REVEALED THAT THE TITLE WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE THE RECORD IS “MORE PERSONAL”, THAT THE TRACKS ARE ABOUT THE BAND’S OWN PERSONAL LIVES. “IT’S MORE OF A RECORD ABOUT PEOPLE, ABOUT PERSONAL INTERACTIONS. ON THE LAST FEW RECORDS WE’VE HAD AN INTEREST IN GLOBAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES AND THOSE THINGS ARE STILL AROUND, THERE ARE CERTAINLY TRACES OF THEM”, AS MIKE SHINODA SPEAKS TO NME.[2]
THE ALBUM COVER’S ARTWORK SHOWS A LAYER OF SKIN BREAKING APART WHICH REPRESENTS LINKIN’ PARK FINALLY COMFORTABLE IN THEIR OWN SKIN, WHICH MIKE SHINODA HAD SAID IN AN INTERVIEW WITH NME TOO. [3]
TRACK LIST, LENGTH: 37:05
HIGH ENERGY SOAKS UP THE ATMOSPHERE OF ELECTRONIC ELEMENTS IN THIS VERY STRONG OPENING TRACK TO THE ALBUM. SYNTHESISERS RAPIDLY CONVERT INTO AGGRESSIVE GUITARS, AND THEN THERE IS TYPICAL RAP-ROCK BACK-AND-FORTH BETWEEN CHESTER BENNINGTON AND MIKE SHINODA. POWERFUL SCREAMS ARE ELECTRONICALLY ECHOED BACK AFTER THE SECOND CHORUS WHICH IS A CLEVER WAY TO MAKE THE PIECE MORE ENERGETIC.
IT PARTICULARLY REMINDS ME A LOT OF WHEN KORN COLLABORATED WITH SKRILLEX IN THEIR ‘GET UP’ SINGLE.
MIKE SHINODA REPEATS THE SAME PHRASING FOR THE RAPPING, WHICH CAN BE A DISADVANTAGE. THERE ARE NOT ANY PLAYFUL POLYRHYTHMS OR OVERLAPS USED FOR INSTANCE, WHICH A RAPPER LIKE EMINEM WOULD USE THAT MAKES THE RAPPING MORE INTERESTING. HOWEVER, SAYING THIS, LINKIN’ PARK ARE ALREADY SHOWING CHANGE WITHIN THEIR SOUND, THUS, THE LYRICS AND RAPPING CAN PERFECTLY STAY AS IT IS, AS THEY MANAGED TO CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF ‘HYBRID THEORY’ HERE TOO.
FOLLOWS, ARE SOUNDING GUITARS AND VOCALS COMBINED WITH MORE ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS! QUIETER VERSES WITH WHAT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE ORGAN CHORDS ACCOMPANYING, WHICH SHAPES UP THE PIECE AS A MILITARY GESTURE. THE RAT-A-TAT DRUMMING FROM ROB BOURDON PROPELS EVERYTHING INTO LOCK-STEP AT THE MELODIC BRIDGE, AS MIKE SHINODA REPEATS THE PHRASING “LIKE AN ARMY FALLING, ONE BY ONE BY ONE” BUILDING POWERFUL TENSION.
3. BURN IT DOWN
RADIO HIT AND FIRST RELEASE FROM THE ALBUM, WHICH IS ALSO KNOWN AS ONE OF THE FAVOURITES. THE APPEALING SYNTHESISER LINE WELCOMES A ROARING INSTRUMENTAL INTRODUCTION, AND THEN TRAILS A SMOOTHER VERSE LEADING TO AN ENERGETIC AND POWERFUL CHORUS. A CLASSIC RAP HAS TO BE INCLUDED TO PORTRAY THE BAND’S IMAGE WHICH IS NICELY OVERLAPPED BY MIKE SHINODA OVER CHESTER BENNINGTON’S SUSTAINED “BURN IT TO THE GROUND” TOWARDS THE END OF THE PIECE.
BURSTING BASS TREMBLES ACCOMPANYING CLEVER DRUM PATTERNS COMPROMISING LINKIN’ PARK WITH A DARING NEW LOOK. SOUNDS LIKE ‘METEORA’ AND ‘A THOUSAND SUNS’ HAVE BUMPED INTO EACH OTHER AS THE TRACK IS JAM-PACKED WITH ELECTRONIC BACKGROUND BEATS, HIP-HOP VERSES AND TORTURED METAL CHORUSES, “I WANNA SEE YOU CHOKE UP YOUR LIES, SWALLOW UP YOUR GREED, SUFFER ALL ALONE IN YOUR MISERY”. UNEXPECTED HUGE STATIC SCREAMS CLOSE THE ABSOLUTE TUNE.
5. I’LL BE GONE
FAIRLY SIMILAR TO ‘MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT’, INCLUDING THE TYPICAL CYMBAL BASHES, GUITAR RIFFS AND LYRICAL CONTENT ESTABLISHES TO BE DISCONNECTED FROM THE WORLD. GRIPPING SOUND BUT DOES NOT QUITE CAPTURE THE LISTENER’S ATTENTION AS MUCH AS THE OTHERS HAVE SO FAR.
FEEL SLIGHTLY RELAXED FOR THIS NEXT ONE AS THE FOLK SONG-WRITING IS INTRODUCED… EXTENDED METAPHORS AND EASY ARRANGEMENT OF A POUNDING DRUM PATTERN AND SUSTAINED SYNTHESISER LINES COMMENCE IT. THE PRESENTED SOUND IMAGE IS RATHER HAUNTING. THE INSTRUMENTATION SLOWLY BUILDS UP WHICH EFFORTLESSLY SOUNDS SUPERB. COMPARED TO THE START OF THE SONG, THE ENDING IS MUCH LOUDER AND MORE ALIVE. ONE INTRIGUING TRACK INDEED.
7. VICTIMIZED
THUNDEROUS DRUMMING AND AGGRESSIVE GUITARS STARTS STRONG. A BREAK FROM SUCH A HEAVY BEAT, THEN STORMS IN THE HAUNTED VOCALS INTRODUCTION, WHICH LEADS INTO A VIOLENT SCREAMED CHORUS. ALMOST GIVES ONE A SPINNING HEADACHE LISTENING TO ON REPEAT. HOWEVER, AFTER THE FIRST CHORUS THERE IS A TWIST OF MIKE SHINODA RAPPING WITH A ‘BOUNCY’ RHYTHM. THIS TRACK IS ANOTHER PERFECT EXAMPLE OF HOW LINKIN’ PARK HAVE COMBINED MUSIC THEY HAVE DONE IN THE PAST WITH THE MODERN ERA. FURTHERMORE, IT FALLS UNDER 2 MINUTES WHICH IS AN INTRIGUING LENGTH OF TIME OF WHAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF REVEALING IF THEY PRODUCE A NEXT ALBUM.
THIS TRACK STARTS OFF AS A PIANO BALLAD ACCOMPANIED BY A RHYTHMIC PATTERN OF BELLS, WHICH THEN LEADS CHESTER BENNINGTON TO DELIVER “WHOA-OH-OH’S” IN REPLACEMENT AS THE TUNE BUILDS TENSION AND RETURNS TO A TRUE LINKIN’ PARK TREND.
9. SKIN TO BONE
ANOTHER FOLK-LIKE IS AWOKEN BUT COMBINES WITH MUCH MORE ELECTRONIC BEATS COMPARED TO ’CASTLE OF GLASS’. IT FEELS FRESH WITH OPPOSITES, METAPHORS AND IMAGINATIVE DESCRIPTIONS IN THE LYRICAL CONTENT.
10. UNTIL IT BREAKS
A STRANGE BUT ENTERTAINING ROCK/HIP-HOP PIECE IS SET FREE. A HEAVY HIP-HOP RHYTHM WITH RAP COMMENCES WHICH IS THEN FOLLOWED BY A SOFTER CHORUS SUNG TOGETHER WITH JUST A SIMPLE PIANO HARMONY. HOWEVER, THE BIGGEST TWIST HERE IS THE HYMN-LIKE SINGING LATER ON, ENDING THE ENTIRE PIECE AFTER SUCH TOUGH EMOTION. “SO REST YOUR HEAD IT’S TIME TO SLEEP AND DREAM OF WHAT’S IN STORE” TRULY DOES NOT REMIND ME OF LINKIN’ PARK AT ALL! IN FACT, THIS SHOWS EXACTLY HOW MUCH THEY HAVE BEEN EXPERIMENTING.
11. TINFOIL
TINFOIL IS A QUICK BUT ONLY INSTRUMENTAL TRACK OUT OF THE ENTIRE ALBUM THAT COULD HAVE LASTED A BIT LONGER. IT STARTS OFF WITH A SUSTAINED ELECTRIC GUITAR CHORD THAT RISES UP THE SCALE SLOWLY THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE PIECE, THEN PROGRAMMED DRUMS ARE ENTERED WHICH HAVE CLEARLY BEEN PROCESSED. LASTLY FOLLOWS A QUIET REPETITIVE PIANO MELODY. THIS PIECE CLASSICALLY REMINDS ME OF A TRACK THAT WOULD BE USED IN THE ‘RESIDENT EVIL’ FILM SERIES. THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR CAME TO MIND IMMEDIATELY: HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=KHNCQNTQHWK .
12. POWERLESS
LASTLY, THE 12TH TRACK PRESENTS A SLOWER BUT STANDARD LINKIN’ PARK PIANO PIECE ACCOMPANIED BY THE USUAL INSTRUMENTATION WHICH ENDS THE ALBUM VERY WELL. CHILLED BACK AUDIO STARTS OFF WITH THEN BUILDS UP TO A LEGENDARY CODA.
BBC’S LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS REVIEWER, IAN WINWOOD[4], COMMENCES WITH HOW MUCH HE THOUGHT ‘A THOUSAND SUNS’ WAS “INNOVATIVE AND ASTOUNDING”, BUT HE CANNOT FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT LIVING THINGS? I BELIEVE THEIR FOURTH STUDIO ALBUM WAS TOO EXPERIMENTAL! HE THEN FOLLOWS WITH “LINKIN’ PARK ARE NOT TRYING AS HARD AS THEY ONCE DID”. PERSONALLY, I DISAGREE BECAUSE THEIR PIECES ARE COMPOSED DIFFERENTLY COMPARED TO MANY MUSIC ARTISTS IN TODAY’S SOCIETY, ESPECIALLY IN THE MAINSTREAM CHARTS. HAVING A MASSIVE BANK ACCOUNT, LINKIN’ PARK HAS PERFECTLY CONSTRUCTED THE ‘LIVING THINGS’ TRACKS IN A LEGENDARY UNIQUE WAY. FURTHERMORE, LINKIN’ PARK “DOESN’T DELIVER MUSIC AS INTERESTING”… WRONG! ‘UNTIL IT BREAKS’ IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF HOW INTERESTING LINKIN’ PARK CAN BE TO THEIR AUDIENCE. I MEAN WHO USUALLY CONVERTS FROM HIP-HOP TO HYMN IN JUST ONE SONG! IT WOULD SIMPLY BE BORING IF LINKIN’ PARK DID NOT SHOW CONTRAST COMPARED TO THEIR OTHER ALBUMS, ESPECIALLY HOW CREATIVE THEY REALLY ARE.
THE GUARDIAN’S LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS REVIEWER, DAVE SIMPSON[5], FINALISES THAT “LIVING THINGS WOULD HAVE BENEFITED FROM MORE OF SUCH ADVENTURE”. ONCE AGAIN, THIS ILLUSTRATES LINKIN’ PARK ARE NOT EXPOSING ENOUGH CONTRASTING FACES; STYLES WITHIN THE ALBUM. ALREADY, FROM ANALYSING THE TRACKS BEFORE, I CAN DISAGREE WITH THIS STATEMENT AS THE ALBUM RANGES FROM HIP-HOP TO HARDCORE PUNK, TO DEATH METAL AND FOLK. WITH SO MANY FACES, ONE COULD SIMPLY BE IN ANY MOOD BY LISTENING TO THIS ALBUM. DUE TO A VARIETY OF SOUNDS HEARD, LINKIN’ PARK CAN EXPAND THEIR FAN-BASE. DAVE SIMPSON, HOWEVER, ENDS ON A POSITIVE COMMENT, “THEY STILL SOUND LIKE A BAND ENJOYING A SECOND LIFE”, INDEED A SECOND LIFE WHERE THEY ALSO HAVE ‘ROADS UNTRAVELED’ TO YET CONTINUE THEIR ADVENTURE. HOWEVER, BOTH REVIEWS OVERALL SHOW VERY MIXED REACTIONS.
A BAND DOES NOT NEED TO STICK TO AN IDENTICAL TYPE OF AUDIO, TO SATISFY THEIR AUDIENCE AND TO BE CONSIDERED GOOD. IN FACT, IF PEOPLE ARE UNDER THE MIND-SET THAT WHATEVER IS MEMORABLE IS KNOWN AS ‘GOOD’, THEN THEIR THIRD STUDIO ALBUM; ‘MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT’ WOULD FALL UNDER THIS CATEGORY VERY WELL, AS MANY PEOPLE EMERGED TO LOVE IT BECAUSE IT HAD A POP FEEL TO IT TOO. MENTIONING THIS THOUGH, SOME UNIVERSAL MUSIC ARTISTS ARE HEAVILY CRITICISED FOR STICKING TO THE SAME STYLE OF MUSIC; NICKELBACK FOR INSTANCE [6]. YOU CANNOT FULLY ESTABLISH A TRADEMARK FOR LINKIN’ PARK STARTING FROM THEIR CRUNCHING GUITARS, SUBSTITUTED BY THEIR PRESENT DISTORTED GUITARS, TREATED AND PROCESSED WITH ADDED EFFECTS ONTO THEM THAT THEY DO NOT PARTICULARLY SOUND LIKE DISTORTED GUITARS ANY MORE. I MEAN THERE ARE SOME CONNECTIONS WITH THEIR PAST WORK – ‘UNTIL IT BREAKS’ & ‘VICTIMIZED’ STILL CONTINUE TO FALL UNDER AN EMO LABEL AND THE RAP (TONED DOWN A LITTLE) IN ‘LOST IN THE ECHO’ FOR EXAMPLES.
LINKIN’ PARK GET SLOTTED INTO THE ALTERNATIVE ROCK/PURE ROCK METAL GENRE BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THEY ORIGINALLY SOUNDED LIKE WHEN THEY RELEASED THEIR DEBUT ALBUM; ‘HYBRID THEORY’. HOWEVER, PERSONALLY I WOULD CATEGORISE THEM NOW INTO ALTERNATIVE ROCK/MAINSTREAM. IF HOWEVER SOME SOURCES ARE STILL GOING TO ESTABLISH THE GROUP AS ANY PART OF METAL MUSIC[7], THEY NEED TO PORTRAY AT LEAST ONE TRAIT THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITHIN METAL. OTHER THAN FEEDBACK FROM THE GUITARS, NOT THEIR ETHOS, THE WAY THEY DO NOT PRESENT THEMSELVES NOR DO THEIR LYRICS CONVEY THIS.
IT IS VALUED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT SINCE THE MILLENNIUM, THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE HAS SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED. FOR INSTANCE, MUSIC STYLES HAVE COMBINED - TAKE THE RAP-ROCK BAND ALSO FROM CALIFORNIA, HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD MERGING RAP VERSES, HIP-HOP RHYTHM AND SCREAMO HARMONY (HARDCORE PUNK) INTO THEIR ‘PAIN’ SINGLE, EXACTLY THE SAME WAY LINKIN’ PARK HAVE SHOWN WHAT THEY CAN ACHIEVE, BUT WITHOUT THEIR FANS GIVING A “POLARISED REACTION”. THIS EFFECTS HOW TODAY’S MODERN AUDIENCE INTERPRETS LINKIN’ PARK AS MAINSTREAM AND IS NOW A BIG MIXTURE OF INFLUENCES. SO IT IS UNFAIR TO THE GROUP, WHO HAVE ACTUALLY ADAPTED THEIR ORIGINAL WORK AND HAVE INCORPORATED UP-TO-DATE MATERIAL, WHICH OBVIOUSLY WAS NOT AVAILABLE TO A METAL BAND 13 YEARS AGO. IN FACT, I WON’T BE SURPRISED IF LINKIN’ PARK SOON STARTS ADDING DUBSTEP INTO THEIR NEXT ALBUM.
LOUDWIRE’S LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS REVIEWER, CHAD CHILDERS[8], PRAISES THE BAND WITH A MORE POSITIVE APPROACH TO THE ALBUM, ESPECIALLY BY RATING IT 4/5. CHAD MENTIONS LINKIN’ PARK “CONTINUES TO EXPAND THEIR WORLD-VIEW WRITING”. THE WAY HE HAS BROUGHT UP THIS REPRESENTS THE BAND WANT TO COME TOGETHER WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD AS WE ARE ALL LIVING THINGS. I HAVE NOTICED OVER THE PAST FEW ALBUMS, PARTICULARLY ‘LIVING THINGS’ THAT LINKIN’ PARK’S TRACKS ARE FEATURED IN FILM/GAMES:
- THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER IN 3D HORROR FILM USES ‘POWERLESS’ – ‘LIVING THINGS’.[9]
- THE MEDAL OF HONOUR: WARFIGHTER VIDEO GAME USES ‘CASTLE OF GLASS’ – ‘LIVING THINGS’.[10]
THUS, EXPANDING THEIR COMMUNITY WITH THEIR “WORLD-VIEW WRITING” SHOWS THE BROTHERHOOD, A SIMILAR VISION AND MOST VITALLY HAS A CONNECTION, AND THEN ONCE THIS CONNECTION IS LINKED, LINKIN’ PARK HAVE NO NEED TO FEEL ‘POWERLESS’. FURTHERMORE, THE LESS THAN 3 MINUTES TIME SCALE OF SOME OF THE TRACKS ESPECIALLY ‘TINFOIL’ ONLY AS AN INSTRUMENTAL, BRINGS FORWARD A NEW EXPLORATION, AND A NEW AUDIENCE.
CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND’S LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS REVIEWER, DAVE BUCHANAN [11], EXPRESSED HIS VIEWS TOO HARSHLY AND BY RATING THE ALBUM ONLY 1/5, SHOCKS ME INDEED, HOWEVER INTRIGUES ME TOO! DAVE ILLUSTRATED “HOW EASY IT CAN BE FOR A BAND TO LOSE ITS WAY”, NOW ON A MUSICAL LEVEL, IT IS SAFE TO SAY HE DOES NOT BELIEVE LINKIN’ PARK SHOULD EARN ANY SUBSTANTIAL CRITICAL PRAISE, ALTHOUGH, LYRICALLY LINKIN’ PARK HAVE NOT LOST THEIR ORIGINAL DIRECTION IN THE SLIGHTEST WAY. THE BAND STILL WRITES WITH A PERSONAL AND CONFESSIONAL ATTITUDE, RELATING BACK TO PAST SONGS SUCH AS ‘WITH YOU” OR ‘IN THE END’, AS WELL AS ANGER AND FRUSTRATION PROMINENTLY THROUGHOUT THE RECORD.
IN CONCLUSION, IT IS UNQUESTIONABLE THAT LINKIN’ PARK HAS GONE IN WITHOUT FEAR, “FINDING THE INSPIRATION FROM EACH OTHER” [1 – 1:34], AND APPEARED WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS A GREAT CHANGE SINCE THEIR THIRD STUDIO ALBUM RELEASE; ‘METEORA’.THE MAJORITY OF FANS CONTINUE TO EITHER HIDE THEIR OPTIMISTIC VIEWS OF ‘LIVING THINGS’ (WHO HAVE NO NEED TO) OR ACT LIKE THE TRANSFORMATION WAS A TERRIBLE THING. EVOLUTION IS IMPORTANT. FROM ‘METEORA TO ‘A THOUSAND SUNS’ WAS POSSIBLY TOO MUCH OF A CHANGE, HOWEVER AS A BAND, THEY DO NEED TO FEEL LIKE THEY CAN EVOLVE, WITH FANS ON THEIR SIDE WOULD BE EVEN BETTER. LINKIN’ PARK ARE THE ONES WHO ARE PRODUCING THE MUSIC AFTER ALL, THUS, THEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO DO WHAT THEY WILL WITH THEIR ACT. THEY HAVE BUILT THIS RECORD ON EVERYTHING THAT THEY HAVE DONE IN THE PAST! ‘LIVING THINGS’ IS AMUSING, ATMOSPHERIC AND IS WITHOUT A DOUBT A WELL-WRITTEN ALBUM. THE ORIGINAL FAN-BASE MAY STILL BELIEVE THAT IT IS GARBAGE (AFTER READING THIS REVIEW) AND SOUNDS LIKE INSANITY DUE TO THE MUSIC ALTERATION OF METAL ROCK TO ELECTRONIC ROCK, HOWEVER I SHALL FINISH OFF WITH LEAD VOCAL SINGER CHESTER BENNINGTON PERSONALLY ENDING MY REVIEW, THAT ‘LIVING THINGS’ IS “GOOD INSANE!”[1 – 1:57]
REFERENCES
[1] ^ LINKIN PARK - MAKING OF LIVINGTHINGS.YOUTUBE. 18TH JUNE 2012.
[2] ^ LINKIN PARK: “OUR NEW RECORD IS FAR MORE PERSONAL". NME. 20TH APRIL 2012.
[3] ^ LINKIN’ PARK: “WE FINALLY FEEL COMFORTABLE IN OUROWN SKIN”. NME. 19TH APRIL 2012.
[4] ^ BBC’S LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS REVIEW. BBC. 29TH JUNE 2012.
[5] ^ THE GUARDIAN’S LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS REVIEW. THE GUARDIAN. 21ST JUNE 2012.
[6] ^ “WHY NICKELBACK IS THE WORLD’S MOST HATED BAND”. POST MEDIA NETWORK INC. 26THJANUARY 2012.
[7] ^ ILLUSTRATING LINKIN PARK AS 'METAL’. WIKI. 28TH NOVEMBER 2012.
[8] ^ LOUDWIRE’S LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS REVIEW. LOUDWIRE. 25TH JUNE 2012.
[9] ^ MUSIC TRAILER FEATURING 'POWERLESS’. YOUTUBE.19TH JUNE 2012.
[10] ^ MEDAL OF HONOUR TRAILER BEHIND THE SCENES WITH LINKIN’ PARK. YOUTUBE. 24THAUGUST 2012.
[11] ^ CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND’S LINKIN’ PARK: LIVING THINGS REVIEW. CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND. 2ND JULY 2012.