Three years on from their hugely successful third album Minutes To Midnight, nu-metal poster boys Linkin Park have wisely decided that it’s time to leave the genre they helped create behind and redefine their sound. According to the band, the sprawling A Thousand Suns had a difficult birth as they were initially worried about the strength of some of the material, but now, after months of tweaking, they’re finally ready to unveil their new direction.
Opening with the sample heavy ‘The Requiem,’ it’s clear from the start that the six-piece want to set up the stall for their new sound as early as possible and, as a result, for many old school LP fans, the first five tracks will be a massive shock to the system. Gone are the aggressive guitars and confrontational vocal styles and in its place stands a more measured band who are happy to experiment with jungle rhythms (‘When They Come For Me’) and 80s textures (‘Robot Boy’). Unfortunately though, the gamble doesn’t quite pay off the way we’d like: tracks such as ‘The Messenger’ and ‘Burning In The Skies’ may be ambitious, but ultimately they lack the balls of their early work. While we applaud their musical bravery, there aren’t enough strong songs on the slab of wax to get us truly excited. Looks like it’s back to the drawing board, lads.
Key Track: ‘When They Come For Me’