SOUND BITES

Any criticism, be it constructive or harsh, that Linkin Park receives thanks to their seventh album surely can't be something they couldn't see coming. Flirting with softer, poppier sounds on previous records garnered them all kinds of backlash, and not all of it was fairly deserved. A certain subset of Linkin Park "fans" have vehemently opposed anything from the band that strays too far from the chest-beating nu-metal roots they've been doing their best to shed over the past fifteen years or so. The difference this time out is that, rather than throw on a few harder edged songs to ease the transition, One More Light has no buffer; this is a pop album through and through, with nary a distorted guitar or patented Chester Bennington shriek to be heard. Early returns from the fan base for this new material has been, shall we say, less than encouraging. Lead single Heavy was hit with so much hate from some longtime followers of the group that Bennington in a rece...

Linkin Park has had an interesting career. After hitting a commercial home run on their first at bat with the seething and melodic nu-metal of 2000's Hybrid Theory , they quickly learned that they were expected to play the role of screaming/rapping bros for all eternity. Attempts at stretching out their sound were often met with apathy or outright disdain; their previous album, the intriguing and divisive Living Things , pretty much turned them pop. That is, aside from the blatant exception of Victimized , a thick and metallic screamer that sounded like it descended from an alien planet compared to the rest of the album. No one could have predicted that Victimized would be the song that pointed the way to Linkin Park's future, but here we are; The Hunting Party , the band's sixth and loudest album, finds them aiming to be the most abrasive and heavy version of the band they can muster. And yet, through all the noisy distractions and crunching guitars, The Hunting Party r...

LINKIN PARK In My Remains From: Living Things Released: June 19 By scaling back the heavy handedness of A Thousand Suns and economizing their presentation, the 37-minute Living Things finds Linkin Park intensely focused on their strengths; big hooks, big melodies, and the uncanny dynamic between singers Chester Benington and Mike Shinoda. In My Remains is about as solid a choice as any to start with for anyone who's never heard this band, because it very neatly encapsulates everything this band does right.

A week ahead of its official release, Linkin Park is streaming their fifth album Living Things via iTunes .  Upon first listen, the one thing that becomes immediately clear is the album's streamlined approach; its 12 tracks clock in at a paltry 37 minutes.  Lead single Burn It Down , at a shade under four minutes, is the closest you're going to get to a magnum opus on this platter. As the album plays on, it also becomes apparent that the blatant pop leanings of that single doesn't exactly make it the harbinger of Linkin Park gone full-blown pop that some thought it could be (myself included).  However, it isn't quite the "return to the roots" that's it's being marketed as either.

Over the thirteen years or so of their existence, I've had a somewhat tumultuous relationship with Linkin Park. Their first album, Hybrid Theory , put them on the map worldwide and garnered them a mass of screaming fans.  However, as pleasant as I found a few of the tracks, the samey sound and trite lyrics on most of the album wasn't up to snuff for my personal tastes. As their career progressed, I found myself less interested; still, every once in a while they'd release a single that absolutely torched the place.  Think of Feint , or Bleed It Out and how they explode from the speakers and cover the room in blood.