A Thousand Suns, the fourth studio album by American band Linkin Park is one of the most awaited album of the year. The last album by Linkin Park was Minutes To Midnight released in 2007 which was a huge success for them. Since then, LP fans including me were desperately waiting for something new from Linkin Park and we've finally got A Thousand Suns.
A Thousand Suns, at the very first look, is not an 'usual LP material'. Linkin Park is known for doing something new every time. And its exactly what they did with A Thousand Suns.
A Thousand Suns contains 15 tracks. The first two tracks are The Requiem and The Radiance which describes the feel of the album.
The third track is Burning In The Skies. Now this is one of the tracks which I liked most from the album. Starting slowly with some piano stuff, this track gripped me with its lyrics. "I used the deadwood to make the fire rise, The blood of innocence burning in the skies.." Amazing! The thing I liked most in this track is the Guitar Solo. Simply amazing!
The fifth track is When They Come For Me. Let me come out of this first. Ah! This is the song which actually suggests that this is not an 'usual LP material'. Wow! Amazing work done by Rob. The track starts with guitar and drum work. Then comes Mike 'the rapper' Shinoda. Personally, I'm a fan of Mike Shinda as a rapper. He has something in his rap which makes me hear him continuously and I don't want it stopped. He has done a great job again after Bleed It Out in Minutes To Midnight.
Then comes the sixth track Robot Boy. Starting with piano, this low and slow song takes you to the world of beautifully written lyrics.
The seventh track is Jornada Del Muerto, meaning of which I don't know, takes the album forward and brings us the eighth track.
The eighth track is Waiting For The End and this is also an unexpected song from Linkin Park. Great work done by Shinoda and Chester. Good work on lyrics too.
Then comes Blackout. The ninth track from the album. This track reminds me why I love Chester as the part of Linkin Park (because I don't like his live performances mostly) and why he's the life of Linkin Park.
After that we have the tenth track Wretches And Kings. Shinoda returns with his unique rap. This track is more like a hip-hop song, LP style! In the end, Mr. "not just a hired DJ" Hahn also makes comeback with his turn-table.
The eleventh track is Wisdom, Justice and Love which quotes Martin Luther King Jr.
The 12th track is Iridescent. Again good work at lyrics. Chester has done good job again.
The 14th track is The Catalyst. This track was a huge hit as soon as it was released as a single. I liked the track just because of the drum work done by Rob. Specially when the track moves to the end. The music video if this track was also amazing. (really? amm, I don't know)
At last, there is the 15th track - The Messenger. Chester has done superb job with this track. I don't think there can be a better song to end the album.
Overall, the album A Thousand Suns is an album I enjoyed throughout. In my Tweet to @linkinpark,I said A Thousand Suns does not meet the expectations. Yes thats true! This album is totally unexpected. I didn't expected tracks like When They Come For Me which is totally different from past LP tracks. After listening to the whole album five times in one day, I've come to the conclusion that the album is (not) something we wanted from LP with good guitar and drum work with Shinoda's rap and Chester's superb vocals.
At the end, I will rate the album A Thousand Suns 3.8 out of 5.
I will be desperately waiting for music videos of Burning In The Skies and When They Come For Me. I will also look forward to live performances of Burning In The Skies, When They Come For Me and Waiting For The End.
