LINKIN PARK: "A Thousand Suns" Is A Thousand Percent YES.

But they may…because if you plan on purchasing their latest CD, you will not recognize them.

And that’s ok. We all have an experimental phase… I get that.

“The two years of making 'A Thousand Suns' marked our exhilarating, surrealistic, and often challenging journey into the creative unknown. It grapples with the personal cycle of pride, destruction, and regret. In life, like in dreams, this sequence is not always linear. And, sometimes, true remorse penetrates the devastating cycle. The hope, of course, springs from the notion that the possibility of change is born in our most harrowing moments. Enjoy the music.”
Linkin Park

A Thousand Suns is a concept album dealing with nuclear warfare and themes of war in general and humanity. "On this record, the concepts blend human ideas with technology. Human fears, your fear of what's going to happen in the world, the music kind of references that," said Mike Shinoda (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards) on an interview with MTV.

Aside from a thought-provoking record, I learned a few new history lessons as well.

The album's title comes from the Hindu Sanskrit scripture, the Bhagavad Gita: "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, it would be like the splendor of the mighty one”. It’s a quote made famous by J. Robert Oppenheimer in reference to the atomic bomb. Mr. Oppenheimer is known as the “Father of the atomic bomb”.

You really can’t pick a song or two to highlight when you have to listen to the whole album. You will not appreciate it. Frankly, I didn’t like it at first, but am SO GLAD I stuck it out and paid attention. I hope you will be too.

This review is in song order… I admit it’s longer than most reviews, but please take the time as Linkin Park puts out an honest attempt to get their fans to think…and I would love to know what you think about the songs.

The Requiem – The vocals are creepy to this very short song. It’s music to accompany a weird dream you are having, only to wake up and figure out (thankfully) it was just a dream.

The Radiance – In less than a minute, you are listening to the theme song to the apocalypse. Seriously, the second time I listened to it, my heart started to race as you listen to the J. Robert Oppenheimer reference to "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".  Uncool Linkin Park… I don’t get scared easily.

Burning In The Skies – Ever wonder what it would sounds like if maybe Depeche Mode, New Order and Linkin Park had a ménage a trois and a musical child resulted? Yeah, me either really, but this song made me wonder. Loved the actual music as it was seemingly upbeat, but the lyrics were depressing…once again.

Empty Spaces – This “song” is eighteen seconds of sounds from the outdoors and war and then silence. I really thought my speakers had stopped working after being under attack by crickets…

When They Come For Me – Techno music that has a primal beat with a defiant rap. I could see it in a dark kind of gang movie with drug dealers, but I am thinking maybe that’s not what they were going for but you never know… The drums and chanting are just so unsettling toward the end.

Robot Boy – Once again, the word “dark” comes to mind as keyboards start the song along with a mellow group chorus and strong percussion. Three minutes into the song, it becomes a beautiful melody “Hold on the weight of the world will give you the strength to go…So hold on….” I was thinking this was a positive message, but I wonder… Was someone dying? Does the song really mean you will have the strength to go on by to leaving this world in death? Sorry for the morbid thought, but the human mortality rate is high in war. I wonder what you will think when you listen to it?

Jornada Del Muerto – I had to Google this. The title of the song is Spanish for a "route of the dead man”. The Jornada del Muerto is a long stretch of flat, essentially waterless land about 100 miles (160 km) from north to south that remains almost entirely uninhabited and undeveloped to this day in New Mexico (U.S.A.). It was also the site for the first atomic bomb test. That’s a lot of information for a minute and a half of unintelligible singing. It’s pretty music that goes into a frenzy, then stops.

Waiting For The End – This song starts kind of trippy with a bit of a reggae rap, then the sound switches to a more mellow, calmer and back to the reggae rap. I liked it. The music is cool. 

Blackout – Ahhh…screaming vocals and space age music – what a combination. Then the song calms down as maybe Bennington (vocals) got back on his medication. Did I just write that out loud?

Wretches and Kings – Another history lesson within a techno “fight the power” rap that pushes the idea of revolution with a touch of reggae vocals. It sounds angry, but it grows on you about 3 minutes into it…. Then loses you once after another 30 seconds… The speaker in the song is Mario Savio and I had to look him up as well. Turns out he was an American political activist who was known for his speeches. In 1964, he stood on top of a police car at Berkeley College (California) and spoke out against a civil rights matter. His famous speech was something like this, “There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all." Interesting…

Wisdom, Justice, and Love – WTF? Linkin Park takes their next speaker (Martin Luther King, Jr.) and turns him into Mr. Roboto. (That’s a reference to a Styx song. If you don’t know then GOOGLE that too.) This speech in a nutshell speaks out against war.

Iridescent – HERE is Linkin Park. The band shows up, but in a different way. Now it’s music that is like a Coke commercial song. This song is like a beacon of hope in such a bleak album. I mean it’s not bleak I guess, well, yes it is. Nuclear war is not really suitable for pleasantries.

Fallout – A 1:30 minutes of a soundtrack to someone who may be suicidal. Don’t like the robot trying to sing.

The Catalyst – This was the first single released to radio. It starts out like the other songs and I don’t think this was a good pick for the radio, but it is different. I had to wait three and a half minutes into it to hear the traditional Linkin Park sound. A link to the video can be found HERE.

The Messenger – This is Chester Bennington (vocals) as you have never heard him AND the only instrument is an ACOUSTIC guitar. I LOVE this song. It’s the happy feel warm and fuzzy part. Thank you Linkin Park for ending the story this way….

“When life leaves us blind,
Love keeps us kind,
It keeps us kind…”

While this is a step out of Linkin Park’s comfort zone, it is thought provoking. This is a political album. This is like one of those movies that you have to think about and not like an entertaining comedy. A Thousand Suns tells a story. A story still broad enough so the version that plays out in your thoughts and emotions will be different than anyone else’s. It’s hauntingly beautiful. Life is fragile. We have regrets. There is war and strife, but above that the human spirit is alive and strong.

Hey, thanks for hanging in there and reading this review. I would love to know your thoughts on “A Thousand Suns”.

Linkin Park is Chester Bennington (lead vocals), Brad Delson (lead guitar, backing vocals), Mike Shinoda (vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards), Dave "Phoenix" Farrell (bass, backing vocals), Joe Hahn (turntables, synthesizer, samples, backing vocals) and Rob Bourdon (drums, percussions, backing vocals).

BE SURE to check out Linkin Park’s website after you watch the video for “Waiting For The End”…

To purchase “A Thousand Suns” (Warner Brothers Records), click here.