Linkin Park's new album - The Hunting Party

[Dagger Dias]

It's finally here. Linkin Park released The Hunting Party on June 13, 2014. This is their 6th album (disregarding two collaboration albums and two remix albums) and it is one that just may bring back some of the older fans. That's right, the heavier material that many felt was absent on the last three albums is back and then some. I personally preferred Living Things, but many of the older fans might be interested in this new material. This album is heavy from beginning to end.


1. Keys to the Kingdom (3:38)

2. All for Nothing (3:33)

3. Guilty All the Same (5:56)

4. The Summoning (1:00)

5. War (2:11)

6. Wastelands (3:15)

7. Until It's Gone (3:53)

8. Rebellion (3:44)

9. Mark the Graves (5:05)

10. Drawbar (2:46)

11. Final Masquerade (3:37)

12. A Line in the Sand (6:35)

Total length: 45:12



The first singles are Guilty All the Same, Until It's Gone, and Final Masquerade. I loved Until It's Gone. The lyrics really spoke to me and it's extremely catchy. Check the album as a whole out if you want some fun heavy music to listen to whether you're a Linkin Park fan or not. If you're a fan of their first two albums but not the newer ones, this may be the one to bring you back. Give them another chance if you were of that mindset.

What are your thoughts on The Hunting Party? Do you like it, why or why not?

Any other thoughts on Linkin Park in general? Anything on topic within our rules is welcome.

Discuss!

 

[Meth Head]

Despite what the "Linkin Park ain't good anymore" bandwagonners would say, Minutes to Midnight and A Thousand Suns were actually underrated as fuck. I can't really say the same for Living Things - nothing more than a transparent attempt at winning back aforementioned bandwagon, if you ask me - but between MTM and ATS there are a dozen great experimental tracks overlooked by most. What I've Done, Blackout, New Divide, etc. rock as hard as anything from the nu metal days. Too bad the hipsters don't care.

Hunting Party is the "back to roots" album that Living Things should have been. The sound of it is more reminiscent of their pre-fame days than their nu metal phase. If that isn't hitting the reset button on your career, I don't know what is.

 

[ABMorales787]

Best album since Meteora I'd say. I honestly don't understand detractors of this amazing band at all. They say the band has lost the touch they started with. Truth is they've lost it since their second album. Every single release Linkin Park has is a totally different style of music. Whether its the Rap/Rock from Hybrid Theory the Emo style of Minutes To Midnight or the Dubstepish Living Things, each album has a notably different style. Most bands can't pull that off and makes them stale in a hurry (am I right, Limp Bizkit?). Linkin Park can and its given them a 15 year lifespan and will keep going as strong as the likes of Metallica, Aerosmith, AC/DC and on.

As for the album itself, love "War" and "Mark The Graves". They have a Punk/Metal blend that sort of reminds me of Metallica's "Kill Em All" album.

 

[nightmare]

This is a welcome change. I dislike Chester, not Linkin Park & I think that is where most people confuse the issue. His voice isnt what it used to be & is not that great live. The rest of the band though is still badass & hits the mark every time. The last few albums have not had the same feel, but still good & I applaud them doing something different with their sound.


Glad to hear they put some crunch back in their music.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Despite what the "Linkin Park ain't good anymore" bandwagonners would say, Minutes to Midnight and A Thousand Suns were actually underrated as fuck. I can't really say the same for Living Things - nothing more than a transparent attempt at winning back aforementioned bandwagon, if you ask me - but between MTM and ATS there are a dozen great experimental tracks overlooked by most. What I've Done, Blackout, New Divide, etc. rock as hard as anything from the nu metal days. Too bad the hipsters don't care.

The way you described Minutes to Midnight and A Thousand Suns is exactly how I would describe Living Things. While I don't dislike those two albums, I do rank them as the two worst of the band's material. Living Things was brilliant and the strongest tracks there are among the best material the band has ever produced. Lost In the Echo, In My Remains, Burn It Down, Roads Untraveled, and Powerless are all on par with Hybrid Theory's tracks to me. I do agree with you about What I've Done, it might be my favorite Linkin Park song and it made up for the rest of Minutes to Midnight being their worst album to me.

As for the new stuff, I have been listening to it extensively since the release. Until It's Gone is by far my favorite. I love it! Rebellion is my second favorite and the contribution by Daron Malakian was cool. Drawbar is a pretty instrumental that gives a bit of a break in between the heaviness of all of the other songs. The album as a whole is strong overall, and we finally have an album that can be listened to without skipping a track. As much as I defend Living Things, even that album had two skippable tracks on it amongst the criminally underrated gems it contains. The heaviness is a welcome change although I cannot rank The Hunting Party above Living Things. Different people will have different opinions on it. That being said, it has done well so far. 140,000+ sold after less than a month of being available. Not bad at all.

 

[CyberPunk]

Linkin Park has experimented with their sound a lot since the second album. Detractors say they lost their touch, but honestly, their songs have always been catchy, if not great. While they say that The Hunting Party is 'back to roots' kind of deal, it's actually more. Last two albums had a lot of overproduced sounds with synth/electro influence. This album has more guitars and drums.

Personally, I like each song from this album. For me, the best one is "All for nothing" with Page Hamilton. "War", "Until it's gone", "Rebellion", "Mark the graves", "Final Masquerade" etc. are all great to listen. Overall, I'd say it's a great outing for LP.