A Thousand Suns was Linkin Park’s most eagerly awaited album. Did it lived up to everyone’s expectations? The answer is YES and NO. If you have been expecting The Hybrid Theory and Meteora style Linkin Park you will be sorely disappointed. A Thousand Suns is nothing like Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Those who had not realized this earlier – here is news for you Linkin Park is changing their music style. Minutes to Midnight was the starting of this change and it is more prominent in their latest album A Thousand Suns.

Is change a good thing? well… err…. yes. But the change is alienating it’s fans. Linkin Park is experimenting with their music, I think too much experimentation is not a good thing especially at the stage when they are so popular. I may be right or wrong but it all depends on the success of the album.

When I first listened to the album. I was thinking – what is this? how could they mess this up. I am not the only one with such reaction, if you go to Linkin Park fan forums and follow the discussion that is going on there you will see many Linkin Park fans lashing at the album saying that it is a crap and they can’t recognize Linkin Park  style/singing/voice listening to the album. They are saying that Linkin Park is going down the hill and it is time to stop being a Linkin Park fan for good.

Strong reactions huh?

You are not going to get the old Linkin Park type of music in this album but does that make this album ‘crap’? Definitely not. It’s different, you should not be expecting Hybrid Theory/Meteora style music from this album, when listening to A Thousand Suns keep an open mind and listen to it a few times before you come to any kind of conclusion.

Does the change make this album better than Linkin Park’s older albums? It depends on the listener, I liked the album very much but that does not mean everyone will like it.

This is not A Thousand Suns album review. If you want a review check out this Rolling Stones review which changed my perception on the album.

Here is a short paragraph of the review -

However, if the band realizes that to make a real, long-lasting impact on the world they must be fluid, maturing with every album, changing their sound, exploring new territory, they are vilified by former “fans” and critics alike. They are disparaged all over the internet, ignored and/or disemboweled by elitist music listeners, and their efforts at making cutting-edge, mature, different music are mocked, whether or not the mockery is justified. And in many cases, it isn’t.

Linkin Park is a perfect example of this phenomenon.

their 2000 debut Hybrid Theory kicked off the decade with an enormous statement: nu-metal can generate good music.2003′s Meteora laughed in the face of the “sophomore slump,” stating strongly that loud modern rock music could be good, and establishing Linkin Park as one of the most important and biggest bands of the decade.

At this point, Bennington, Shinoda, and Co. could have released rap/rock/metal albums until the end of time and slowly faded into oblivion as just another ultra-popular radio rock band.

Don’t forget to check out the full review.

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