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Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
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Track Listings
| 1. The Requiem |
| 2. The Radiance |
| 3. Burning In The Skies |
| 4. Empty Spaces |
| 5. When They Come For Me |
| 6. Robot Boy |
| 7. Jornada Del Muerto |
| 8. Waiting For The End |
| 9. Blackout |
| 10. Wretches And Kings |
| 11. Wisdom, Justice, And Love |
| 12. Iridescent |
| 13. Fallout |
| 14. The Catalyst |
| 15. The Messenger |
Editorial Reviews
'A Thousand Suns'
We were not making an album.
For months, we'd been destroying and rebuilding our band. The experiments that resulted filled the studio hard drive with diverse, abstract sounds. Amorphous echoes, cacophonous samples, and handmade staccato merged into wandering, elusive melody. Each track felt like a hallucination.
We didn't know if any of those unorthodox ideas could be incorporated into a traditional album, but we knew we didn't want our next album to be predictable. Sitting together in the same studio where we made our first album, all six of us voiced a commitment to going out on a limb, to making something truly daring. We asked ourselves: were we all earnestly willing, more than ever before, to abandon the precepts of commercial ambition in pursuit of what we believe to be honest art?
The inclination to begin writing conventional songs for a conventional album came and went. The temptation to adjust our creative vision to fulfill expectations beyond our studio walls yielded to the audacious ambition of what we hoped to achieve as a band. The two years of making 'A Thousand Suns' marked our exhilarating, surrealistic, and often challenging journey into the creative unknown.
On the eve of its completion, this body of work, assembled through unconscious inspiration and unmitigated exertion, has revealed to us notions both stirring and surprising. The album's personified imagery is neither dogma nor political premeditation. The emergent themes and metaphors illuminate a uniquely human story.
'A Thousand Suns' 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
Co-produced by Rick Rubin and Mike Shinoda.
Also available as a Special Edition CD+DVD which includes a 'making of the album' documentary & 'The Catalyst' music video.
We were not making an album.
For months, we'd been destroying and rebuilding our band. The experiments that resulted filled the studio hard drive with diverse, abstract sounds. Amorphous echoes, cacophonous samples, and handmade staccato merged into wandering, elusive melody. Each track felt like a hallucination.
We didn't know if any of those unorthodox ideas could be incorporated into a traditional album, but we knew we didn't want our next album to be predictable. Sitting together in the same studio where we made our first album, all six of us voiced a commitment to going out on a limb, to making something truly daring. We asked ourselves: were we all earnestly willing, more than ever before, to abandon the precepts of commercial ambition in pursuit of what we believe to be honest art?
The inclination to begin writing conventional songs for a conventional album came and went. The temptation to adjust our creative vision to fulfill expectations beyond our studio walls yielded to the audacious ambition of what we hoped to achieve as a band. The two years of making 'A Thousand Suns' marked our exhilarating, surrealistic, and often challenging journey into the creative unknown.
On the eve of its completion, this body of work, assembled through unconscious inspiration and unmitigated exertion, has revealed to us notions both stirring and surprising. The album's personified imagery is neither dogma nor political premeditation. The emergent themes and metaphors illuminate a uniquely human story.
'A Thousand Suns' 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
Co-produced by Rick Rubin and Mike Shinoda.
Also available as a Special Edition CD+DVD which includes a 'making of the album' documentary & 'The Catalyst' music video.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
578 of 648 people found the following review helpful
By Jane Austin
Format:MP3 Music
If you can believe it, this is the first review I've ever written for an album, despite being an amazon customer for years. Why? Because I'm just so damn disappointed in all the negative reviews of A Thousand Suns.
First of all, let me say that I'm not a lyrics person. What I take away from LP's music is a feeling, an emotion, and so far I gotta admit that I'm loving the feeling I get from this album. No, it is not like any of their previous works (though I think we all saw where they might be going as a band after MtM). No, it is not nearly as angry as Hybrid Theory. And no, it is not nearly as catchy as Meteora. So what the hell is it?
To me, it's a recovery album. This may be lost on some readers, but if i picture LP's albums as a man going through life, I see their early music as a very wounded and angry man. The catharsis in listening to those albums comes from realizing that not only does someone else out there hurt as much as you, someone out there may actually hurt even more. I revel in listening to those early CDs for that reason. When Reanimation came out, I saw a slightly more playful side to LP. The wounds were still there, but they were being examined now, looked at in an almost clinical, curious way. Minutes to Midnight disappointed me at first, I'll admit it. The wounded man was no longer angry, but I still was. It took me several looped listens to come to terms with the fact that he had moved on, and was beginning to let some of the old grudges go. It's not a tired album - far from it - but MtM does give one the sense that LP was getting tired of fighting all the time. That they were searching for solace.
A Thousand Suns, then, in my view, is Linkin Park's first glimpse of solace. Listening to it, I see the wounded man internalizing his anger differently now than in Hybrid Theory, taking the weight of his troubles on his own shoulders rather than throwing them onto others. A salve of sorts is applied to some of the old scars, though a few new cuts are evident too. It's not a happy album by any means, but it is peaceful, in a way only LP can make industrial noise sound. It's also not a simple album; I am sure that future listens will reveal even more about the music to me. But for now, I felt the need to let other hesitant buyers know that I trust LP pretty implicitly with my musical soul. Whatever journey they want to take me on, I'm willing to go for the ride. And I'm willing to grow up with them too, if that's what they ask of me.
First of all, let me say that I'm not a lyrics person. What I take away from LP's music is a feeling, an emotion, and so far I gotta admit that I'm loving the feeling I get from this album. No, it is not like any of their previous works (though I think we all saw where they might be going as a band after MtM). No, it is not nearly as angry as Hybrid Theory. And no, it is not nearly as catchy as Meteora. So what the hell is it?
To me, it's a recovery album. This may be lost on some readers, but if i picture LP's albums as a man going through life, I see their early music as a very wounded and angry man. The catharsis in listening to those albums comes from realizing that not only does someone else out there hurt as much as you, someone out there may actually hurt even more. I revel in listening to those early CDs for that reason. When Reanimation came out, I saw a slightly more playful side to LP. The wounds were still there, but they were being examined now, looked at in an almost clinical, curious way. Minutes to Midnight disappointed me at first, I'll admit it. The wounded man was no longer angry, but I still was. It took me several looped listens to come to terms with the fact that he had moved on, and was beginning to let some of the old grudges go. It's not a tired album - far from it - but MtM does give one the sense that LP was getting tired of fighting all the time. That they were searching for solace.
A Thousand Suns, then, in my view, is Linkin Park's first glimpse of solace. Listening to it, I see the wounded man internalizing his anger differently now than in Hybrid Theory, taking the weight of his troubles on his own shoulders rather than throwing them onto others. A salve of sorts is applied to some of the old scars, though a few new cuts are evident too. It's not a happy album by any means, but it is peaceful, in a way only LP can make industrial noise sound. It's also not a simple album; I am sure that future listens will reveal even more about the music to me. But for now, I felt the need to let other hesitant buyers know that I trust LP pretty implicitly with my musical soul. Whatever journey they want to take me on, I'm willing to go for the ride. And I'm willing to grow up with them too, if that's what they ask of me.
111 of 127 people found the following review helpful
By A. Estes
Format:Audio CD
What do you do when you're a top-selling rap-rock act and your genre has long since expired? The answer is simple: Evolve. In 2007, Linkin Park did just that. With the release of their polarizing third album, "Minutes to Midnight," they brought an unmistakable pop-rock element to the table, downplaying both the rap and the rock elements that made them such a hit in the first place. While it performed well enough commercially, it alienated a good chunk of their fanbase, paving the way for a predictable "return to their roots" album. Unfortunately for that chunk of fans, the band's latest offering, "A Thousand Suns" is anything but predictable or reminiscent of the Linkin Park of yesteryear. And believe it or not, it's a good thing.
Trading in the undeniable hooks and chunky guitar riffs that populated their earlier albums for synthesizers and hip-hop beats, "A Thousand Suns" is certainly a tough cookie to swallow. While the tasty licks of guitar-God Brad Delson (sarcasm) will forever be missed, the band more than makes up for it in ample amounts of ambience. A semi-concept album, "A Thousand Suns" brings to mind a more angsty version of "Year Zero," with its themes of war and humanity. You may wonder if a band like Linkin Park is up to the task of making such a bold artistic statement, but surprisingly enough, they pull it off rather competently. With Rick Rubin once again serving as co-producer, the band gives the set a centralized theme and sound, even if the songs themselves wander down different paths. Sure, if you strip away the various spoken word and instrumental interludes that fill out the record, you're only left with nine full-length songs, but within these tracks, the band runs the gamut from hip-hop and electronica to pop and even progressive. Somehow though, these songs manage to sound alien when placed outside of their element, thus ensuring that "A Thousand Suns" is an album that can only be appreciated in its proper form, from front to back.
While "A Thousand Suns" may not be exactly what everyone wants from Linkin Park, at the end of the day, no one can accuse them of repeating themselves or recording the same album twice. At this point in their career, it would be all too easy to rest on their laurels and keep churning out "One Step Closer" clones. It's an album that lacks commercial edge and takes more than a few listens to fully sink in, but when approached with an open mind, it reveals itself as one of the band's most inspiring and definitive pieces of music. If you're hoping to get your white-boy angst on with this record, you may feel Linkin Park owe you a thousand apologies for "A Thousand Suns," but in the end, they don't, and really, you should have grown out of it by now.
Trading in the undeniable hooks and chunky guitar riffs that populated their earlier albums for synthesizers and hip-hop beats, "A Thousand Suns" is certainly a tough cookie to swallow. While the tasty licks of guitar-God Brad Delson (sarcasm) will forever be missed, the band more than makes up for it in ample amounts of ambience. A semi-concept album, "A Thousand Suns" brings to mind a more angsty version of "Year Zero," with its themes of war and humanity. You may wonder if a band like Linkin Park is up to the task of making such a bold artistic statement, but surprisingly enough, they pull it off rather competently. With Rick Rubin once again serving as co-producer, the band gives the set a centralized theme and sound, even if the songs themselves wander down different paths. Sure, if you strip away the various spoken word and instrumental interludes that fill out the record, you're only left with nine full-length songs, but within these tracks, the band runs the gamut from hip-hop and electronica to pop and even progressive. Somehow though, these songs manage to sound alien when placed outside of their element, thus ensuring that "A Thousand Suns" is an album that can only be appreciated in its proper form, from front to back.
While "A Thousand Suns" may not be exactly what everyone wants from Linkin Park, at the end of the day, no one can accuse them of repeating themselves or recording the same album twice. At this point in their career, it would be all too easy to rest on their laurels and keep churning out "One Step Closer" clones. It's an album that lacks commercial edge and takes more than a few listens to fully sink in, but when approached with an open mind, it reveals itself as one of the band's most inspiring and definitive pieces of music. If you're hoping to get your white-boy angst on with this record, you may feel Linkin Park owe you a thousand apologies for "A Thousand Suns," but in the end, they don't, and really, you should have grown out of it by now.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I got hooked on Linkin Park about 5 or 6 years ago when I really started listening to music, and when I say hooked I mean hooked. I would not only listen to Hybrid Theory and Meteora non-stop, but I would listen to any unreleased song I could find. I was a die-hard fan. So naturally when I heard that they were going to put out Minutes to Midnight, I would look high and low for any glimpses of what the new material would be like. When the album finally dropped, I bought it, but was a bit let down. I expected the Mike Shinoda's raps over the rock beat with Chaz shredding the chorus with sing-scream lyrics. Instead, I got a few hard songs, and a bunch of soft ballad-esque songs. But the ballads grew on me, and Minutes to Midnight became one of my favorite CD's. So flash forward 3 years to the release of A Thousand Suns, I basically knew what to expect. The soft songs took some getting used to, but in the end they became favorites.
1 - The Requiem - Leadoff song with an apocalyptic feel. The distorted refrain from The Catalyst adds a chilling perspective to it. Overall a good way to start the album off.
2 - The Radiance - More of a driving beat, with an excerpt from the speech from Mr. Opphenmeier talking about the atomic bomb and relating it to the Bhagavad Gita (a text I just finished for one of my college courses). Not anything really special, just a filler
3 - Burning In The Skies - Really soft electro song with Mike singing the verses and Chester singing the chourus. Beat is made up of electronic drum and a toned down electric guitar and piano. Bridge of the song has some pick-up of the guitar to give it more of a driving beat
4 - Empty Spaces - Think Civil War. Sounds pretty cool.
5 - When They Come for Me - This is one of those songs that will grow on you. Has a bass drivin tribal drum beat with some synthetic guitar elements. Mike kills the verses while Chester does an arab/indian imitation over the chourus that sounds really good actually
6 - Robot Boy - Really basic song, probably my least favorite on the album until it grew on me. Chester and Mike harmonize singing verses over a power ballad beat. Vocals on this song are great.
7 - Journada Del Muerto - Instrumental leading to Waiting for the End. Really expected something darker due to the title (Spanish for Journey of the Dead) but instead got something that is 80's synthesizer sounding.
8 - Waiting for the End - Really a feel good song. One of my favorites on the whole album. Mike drops 2 sick reggae style verses over a electrodrum and piano beat. Chester comes in with a beautiful chourus, and the song is capped off with a fist-pumping head nodding (not banging) bridge and finish. Really wish they would play the intro with actual guitars live, because it would sound sick.
9 - Blackout - The intro had a weird yet cool 80's feel to it. Chester comes in with 2 scream/rap verses and finally lays waste to his vocal chourds on the chourus. After the second chourus the 80's beat is replaced with a hard driving head-banging electro beat with the chourus being chopped and screwed and basically remixed by DJ Hahn. The song changes once again to end with a soft singing verse by Mike over a beat almost identical to the intro.
10 - Wretches and Kings - Best song on the album. Starts off with a speech by Mario Salvo, then launches into a head banging guitar beat. Mike drops 2 dirty verses with Chester sing/screaming the chourus ala old Linkin Park, with DJ Hahn dropping a turn-table solo at the end. Lyrics and beat make the song a staple for any pre-game playlist.
11 - Wisdom, Justice, and Love - Dr. Martin Luther King delivers a speech over a piano, and his vioce gradually changes to evil robot
12 - Iridescent - One of my favorites. Starts off with a slow piano and deep lyrics, then gradually builds and builds into a full-fledged song with guitar, drums, lead vocals, and gang-vocals in the background. Truly worth your listen
13 - Fallout - Chourus from Burning in the Skies is repeated with distortion. Leads up to The Catalyst
14 - The Catalyst - First single, and a really good song. Starts with a fast paced electrodrum and turntable scratch beat with Mike and Chester trading vocals. The song adds more and more layers until it breaks into the bridge, where it gets really good. Bridge breaks into piano and drum beat with Mike repeating "Lift me up, Let me go." Then Chester belts out the same lyrics along with Mike, and the original beat is fused with the current one forming an epic finish.
15 - The Messenger - Not sure why everyone is down on this one. I believe it's a very good song, and Chester belting out the lyrics over acoustic guitar makes it captivating. Beautiful ballad with good lyrics to live by.
1 - The Requiem - Leadoff song with an apocalyptic feel. The distorted refrain from The Catalyst adds a chilling perspective to it. Overall a good way to start the album off.
2 - The Radiance - More of a driving beat, with an excerpt from the speech from Mr. Opphenmeier talking about the atomic bomb and relating it to the Bhagavad Gita (a text I just finished for one of my college courses). Not anything really special, just a filler
3 - Burning In The Skies - Really soft electro song with Mike singing the verses and Chester singing the chourus. Beat is made up of electronic drum and a toned down electric guitar and piano. Bridge of the song has some pick-up of the guitar to give it more of a driving beat
4 - Empty Spaces - Think Civil War. Sounds pretty cool.
5 - When They Come for Me - This is one of those songs that will grow on you. Has a bass drivin tribal drum beat with some synthetic guitar elements. Mike kills the verses while Chester does an arab/indian imitation over the chourus that sounds really good actually
6 - Robot Boy - Really basic song, probably my least favorite on the album until it grew on me. Chester and Mike harmonize singing verses over a power ballad beat. Vocals on this song are great.
7 - Journada Del Muerto - Instrumental leading to Waiting for the End. Really expected something darker due to the title (Spanish for Journey of the Dead) but instead got something that is 80's synthesizer sounding.
8 - Waiting for the End - Really a feel good song. One of my favorites on the whole album. Mike drops 2 sick reggae style verses over a electrodrum and piano beat. Chester comes in with a beautiful chourus, and the song is capped off with a fist-pumping head nodding (not banging) bridge and finish. Really wish they would play the intro with actual guitars live, because it would sound sick.
9 - Blackout - The intro had a weird yet cool 80's feel to it. Chester comes in with 2 scream/rap verses and finally lays waste to his vocal chourds on the chourus. After the second chourus the 80's beat is replaced with a hard driving head-banging electro beat with the chourus being chopped and screwed and basically remixed by DJ Hahn. The song changes once again to end with a soft singing verse by Mike over a beat almost identical to the intro.
10 - Wretches and Kings - Best song on the album. Starts off with a speech by Mario Salvo, then launches into a head banging guitar beat. Mike drops 2 dirty verses with Chester sing/screaming the chourus ala old Linkin Park, with DJ Hahn dropping a turn-table solo at the end. Lyrics and beat make the song a staple for any pre-game playlist.
11 - Wisdom, Justice, and Love - Dr. Martin Luther King delivers a speech over a piano, and his vioce gradually changes to evil robot
12 - Iridescent - One of my favorites. Starts off with a slow piano and deep lyrics, then gradually builds and builds into a full-fledged song with guitar, drums, lead vocals, and gang-vocals in the background. Truly worth your listen
13 - Fallout - Chourus from Burning in the Skies is repeated with distortion. Leads up to The Catalyst
14 - The Catalyst - First single, and a really good song. Starts with a fast paced electrodrum and turntable scratch beat with Mike and Chester trading vocals. The song adds more and more layers until it breaks into the bridge, where it gets really good. Bridge breaks into piano and drum beat with Mike repeating "Lift me up, Let me go." Then Chester belts out the same lyrics along with Mike, and the original beat is fused with the current one forming an epic finish.
15 - The Messenger - Not sure why everyone is down on this one. I believe it's a very good song, and Chester belting out the lyrics over acoustic guitar makes it captivating. Beautiful ballad with good lyrics to live by.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
fun stuff
i particularly like the song a thousand suns a lot.... although i don't listen to this album on repeat unlike the previous ones they have done i stilll enjoyed it a lot
Published 2 days ago by Tiny Milli Bug
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hmmph..
This seems a totally different technique for Linkin Park. It is kind of difficult getting used to the sound. I wonder if they will ever go back to their original debut sound?
Published 10 days ago by D4N3R5
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!
I have never listened to Linkin Park before but OMG I love this CD. The lyrics are amazing and many can relate to them.The different styles of songs are also very enjoyable. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Elizabeth Fraser
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
It is a great cd. I enjoy all of linkin park albums that have been released. Linkin Park rocks the house.
Published 20 days ago by William E. Segrest
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it
I am a huge fan of Linkin Park and I bought this to complete my collection. Amazing album, glad I bought it.
Published 20 days ago by Amber Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome CD! A Must Buy!!!!
I love this CD. It is a must buy! Good Rock'in Energy! Makes you want to get up and Jam and dance!
Published 21 days ago by James C Trojanowski
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great album - but NOT what you're used to from Linkin Park!
WARNING: THIS IS NOT YOUR FRAT BOY ROOMMATE'S LINKIN PARK CD! First off, let me say I am a big Linkin Park fan. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Toby Waterman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the greatest, but not the worst.
I really enjoy Linkin Park for the type of music they put out. I didn't think this album was their biggest success to date, but it does have some notable tracks on there. Read more
Published 1 month ago by ShadesofWhite
2.0 out of 5 stars
Meh
"30 minute free-form Jazz odysseys are not OK," to quote Guitar Hero. I have yet to make any real sense of this one. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael J Hopkins
5.0 out of 5 stars
LOVE IT
This one is awesome. I had it for my mp3 player - which crashed and burned. I do hope that I will be able to transfer it to my new portable sound when I get a new one. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Moira A. Erin
Listmania!
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