As seen in Mike's Blog: http://mikeshinoda.com/2010/09/12/a-thousand-suns-album-review-shoc...

Linkin Park album reviews aren’t something I spend a lot of time on.  Years of work have gone into our last two albums, and seeing a writer
attempt to sum that album up in a couple paragraphs can be pretty
brutal.  Especially when you’re Linkin Park; reviewers save their
glowing pieces for fresh breakout stars and indie bands–it keeps their
magazine credible and current.

Somehow, A Thousand Suns has inspired some writers to go against the norm, and write some really thoughtful and complimentary pieces.  Jordy
Kasko on ReviewRinseRepeat wrote the following:

“It’s funny how the music business works. Release an amazing debut album, and it is generally recognized as such by critics and
laymen, helps to set a new genre standard, is replayed for years, and
assists the band in building a huge fanbase. After that is when things
get weird. If the band in question decides not to vary their formula,
makes mediocre music that retains many of the elements of their
original material, and plays it safe, their fans stick by them and the
critics aren’t too harsh (see: the response to my review
of the new Goo Goo Dolls album). 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."

To read Mike's full blog, go to the link at the top of the post

To read the review in it's entirety, go to http://www.reviewrinserepeat.com/artist/linkin-park/album/a-thousan...