Linkin Park come back with an explosion on Living Things, the energy of Hybrid Theory controlled with an iron cape, the classic rock edge of Minutes To Midnight returns and most importantly for young adult casual fans, a very mature travelling of the road where Meteora was headed.
Living Things is a lyric focused album at heart,
The album begins with a rough sounding wash of synth followed by Dubstep influenced loud sub bass/synths and crunchy power chords taking the lead along with Mike's fantastic verses and delivery, LOST IN THE ECHO will go down as number 1 in many fans' favourites for years to come and knock any doubt caused by A Thousand Suns into the water.
Chester Bennington's signature screams return to tease as Mike comes back to hit us with more fist pumping verses, we realise that we aren't waiting for any choruses, this song is chiselled to perfection by the sound scientists.
Linkin Park return to the familiar with songs such as IN MY REMAINS or I'LL BE GONE, both of which stand confidently alongside the band's 2007 Minutes To Midnight with their rock style and dynamic nature, IN MY REMAINS is perhaps one of the best songs of the band's career and it's surprising that this wasn't released as a single.
Lead single BURN IT DOWN is a great fusion of pop music and industrial, bringing back the simple pad melodies that were present in the band's earlier work, such as Crawling or Numb, this song will excite any fans of that era, but unfortunately Mike Shinoda's last rap verse falls flat and in turn hurts the song.
LIES GREED MISERY is a song that you will either love or hate, and it boils down to what you prefer between sound and lyrical content, this overmastered/badly produced song, while simple.. is great lyrically "I wanna see you choke on your lies! swallow up your greed! suffer all alone in your misery!" alongside a very heavy pop/club anthem which sonically sounds more of a celebration than a revenge story, which is what makes this such an interesting number.
SKIN TO BONE in my opinion, is the creative highlight of the album.
From the strange and interesting percussive synths, to Mike and Chester's vocal duet throughout, this is the style that I hope the band continue into "Oohhhh.. Skin to bone and steel to rust" Mike and Chester harmonize together as the song comes to a close with a Fort Minor-esque tribal drum solo.
Linkin Park bring the heavy again with VICTIMIZED, definitely the bands heaviest song ever.
This ode to punk is extremely heavy on the drums, Rob Bourdon flams through with ferocious authority and dominates this short but powerful song, another revenge story.
"Victimized! Victimized! Never again! Victimized!"
Though this song may provoke ridicule from the more bitter of Linkin Park's enemies, you can't deny that this song is a nation sized bundle of energy.
The biggest surprise on the album comes in the form of ROADS UNTRAVELLED, metal and glass objects make up the subtle but wonderful percussion as we are reminded not to weep for the mistakes we have made. "Weep not for Roads Untravelled, weep not for sights unseen" Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda harmonize together vibrantly as the rest of the band come together to resonate a song that will bring fans from all over the world together in their longing for letting go of the past.
"Take me down to the river bend" Mike sings as the band enter a new era on CASTLE OF GLASS, we are taken into a space clouded by futuristic synths, catchy drumming by Rob Bourdon and Chester's voice sweeping in and out as we soar into the heart of southern america, an interesting new song which expresses the new tool in the band's box, folk music on acid.
The freshest but strangest song on the album is the Run DMC homage/lullaby UNTIL IT BREAKS which takes cues from the roots of hip hop, but turns the table when Chester interrupts with "Bring me the strength of the rising sun, bring me to kingdom come" followed by the surprise lead vocal debut of guitarist Brad Delson, this song takes more risks than anything we encountered on A Thousand Suns, while seeming pre - 2000 Linkin Park at times with the subleties that support Mike's rap verses.
The closer, POWERLESS, has Chester singing from the heart about a lover who took his trust and left him behind "You'll never know what I became because of you." With a signature Shinoda beat controlling the tempo of the emotion as we are sent into a climax of all of the elements that make Linkin Park such a special group.
This is an album which remains cohesive as each hit plays, takes the conventional album layout and breaks it with the quality of the music across the board, I predict that whilst much of the Hybrid Theory fanbase will be longing for more of the world of which Living Things came from, they will find it easier to dig back into the older albums without any feelings of grief, it's come full circle now, i'm very interested in what the future holds for this gem of a rock band.
Easily the best record this year so far, though competition has been scarce.
Rustic's score: 84/100
Scores out of 10:Catchiness: 8.4
Production: 8.8
Creativity: 7.2
Lyrics: 8.4
Cohesion: 9.1
