Whatever reason you had to like or not like the Music of Linkin Park, forget about it! Because after listening to the fourth album you will get either an additional reason or a counter-argument.

While “Hybrid Theory” and “Meteora” sound similar (or as Mike and Dave say, they’re brothers), Linkin Park chose to change their sound on “Minutes to Midnight” – without waiving the elements that made the previous records successful. It was THE piece of art, which split the fan base in two categories: The so called “Nu-Metal” fans and the “Linkin Park” fans. But with “A Thousand Suns” this fan base might completely change. The new Tracks sound in every way different from everything you’ve heard before by Linkin Park - so that people, who didn’t like them before, could be fond of the new tones, instruments, ways of singing and rapping and the lyrics. Every person, who has accepted that the band isn’t doing a certain genre of music, will have to get used to it. Unlike the others, they won’t be thrown in at the deep end.

In my opinion, this album finally reveals the musical identity of Linkin Park - which is still not easy to define, but in any way it is stunning. Every song has an element from the previous one - only slightly changed... like improved or intensified. Combined with totally new and different elements, it ends up being a new Track. This way, all of the songs belong together and form the "Album" that the guys were trying to create - without sounding exactly the same.

I can’t tell you whether it’s going to be the best or the worst album – because it’s just impossible to compare it… with ANYTHING. I listen to a very bright variation of music and I’ve never heard anything like this before. The only thing I know is that I'mtotally excited and can't wait to buy the record – for me it’s worth everycent!


Additional comment by Christian:

To be honest, after listening to this record I’m sure that many, many Fans won’t accommodate to this music, and it’s going to be such a shame. Mikes explanation about why Linkin Park won’t go back to the roots is simple and absolutely plausible. “If we feel like we are doing something that relies on old ideas or old tricks, it kinda feels boring. We already done that, why would we do it again? It did well, I can’t imagine we’re gonna make the idea better. So just let’s not do it.” And this is one of the best things, a musician can do for his music and his fans. On the album, there are so many ideas and there’s so much creativity that you can’t put in a box, it’s beyond everything you are used to.

My suggestion: Kill your anticipation and your expectations towards this album, like the band destroyed and rebuilt themselves to accomplish this record - because you won’t be satisfied if your mind is still hoping for an album that sounds the way you want it to sound.


One more thing: With this review, we wanna thank Mike Shinoda and Dave Farrell for giving us the opportunity to listen to the new album and ask them about it afterwards. For me personally, it was a dream that came true, and I appreciate it very much.
And I'm very happy to have shared this moment with some of my best friends! Totally worth travelling 18 hours from Switzerland and back xD