Continuing their slow crawl toward middle age, Linkin Park opt for moody over metallic on A Thousand Suns, their fifth album.
A clear continuation of 2007’s Minutes to Midnight, A Thousand Suns also trades aggression for contemplation, burying the guitars under washes of chilly synthesizers -- a sound suited for a rap-metal band that no longer plays metal but hasn’t shaken off the angst, choosing to channel inward instead of outward.
So few rap-metal bands have chosen to embrace their age -- they fight against it, deepening their technical chops while recycling ideas -- that it’s easy to admire Linkin Park’s decision not to shy away from it, even if their mega-success gives them the luxury to pursue musical risks.
The problem is, the subdued rhythms, riffs, and raps of A Thousand Suns wind up monochromatic, an impression not erased by the brief bridges between songs, sampled speeches, and easy segues, every element retaining moodiness without offering distinction.
Brooding is a better vehicle for angst than rage for a group whose members are well into their thirties, but an album created on a grayscale is less than compelling for anybody lacking the patience to squint and discern the minute details.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The RequiemLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 02:01 | 4 MB | 9 MB |
| 2 | The RadianceLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 00:57 | 2 MB | 6 MB |
| 3 | Burning In the SkiesLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 04:13 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | Empty SpacesLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 00:18 | 0 MB | 1 MB |
| 5 | When They Come for MeLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 04:53 | 11 MB | 32 MB |
| 6 | Robot BoyLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 7 | Jornada del MuertoLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 01:34 | 3 MB | 9 MB |
| 8 | Waiting for the EndLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 9 | BlackoutLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 04:39 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 10 | Wretches and KingsLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 11 | Wisdom, Justice, and LoveMartin Luther King, Jr., Linkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 01:38 | 3 MB | 7 MB |
| 12 | IridescentLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 13 | FalloutLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 01:23 | 3 MB | 6 MB |
| 14 | The CatalystLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 05:39 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 15 | The MessengerLinkin Park | Linkin Park | Play | 03:01 | 6 MB | 15 MB |
| 47 mins | 109 MB | |||||
| 47 mins | 299 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neal Avron | Mixing |
| 2 | Chester Bennington | Group Member, Lyricist, Vocals |
| 3 | Rob Bourdon | Group Member, Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Kymm Britton | Publicity |
| 5 | Anton Brooks | Publicity |
| 6 | Lindsay Chase | Production Coordination |
| 7 | Brad Delson | Group Member, Pro-Tools, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Ryan DeMarti | A&R, Production Coordination |
| 9 | Dave "Phoenix" Farrell | Group Member, Vocals (Background) |
| 10 | Nicolas Fournier | Assistant |
| 11 | Joe Hahn | Creative Director, Group Member, Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Jerry Johnson | Drum Technician |
| 13 | Liza Joseph | A&R |
| 14 | Martin Luther King, Jr. | Composer, Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part |
| 15 | Linkin Park | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 16 | Frank Maddocks | Art Direction, Creative Director, Design |
| 17 | Ethan Mates | Engineer, Pro-Tools |
| 18 | Vlado Meller | Mastering |
| 19 | Josh Newell | Engineer, Pro-Tools |
| 20 | Robert Oppenheimer | Interviewee |
| 21 | Rick Rubin | Producer |
| 22 | Czeslaw "Nobrain" Sakowski | Programming |
| 23 | Mark Santangelo | Assistant |
| 24 | Mario Savio | Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part |
| 25 | Mike Shinoda | Creative Director, Engineer, Group Member, Lyricist, Pro-Tools, Producer, Vocals |
| 26 | Peter Standish | Marketing |
| 27 | Josh Vanover | Artwork, Creative Director |
| 28 | Ellen Wakayama | Creative Director |
| 29 | Tom Whalley | A&R |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |