Linkin Park – Living Things (2012) ENGLISH

My first encounter with Linkin Park was a painful one. It was back in those days where my MTV channel was still worth to look at. Basically you just have to know that Belgian people were lucky enough to get the UK version of MTV until some damn moron realized one-half of Belgium was French-speaking and then, out of the blue, we were forced to watch the French version of MTV. Anyway… During one of those glorious 2003 English MTV days, I was in another room listening to it rather than watching it when I heard an amazing guitar riff. In less time that it takes to say “wow”, I rushed to get the name of this guy… and ended up smashing my right big toe on my oak cupboard. I hopped around to the sofa, trying my best to keep tears inside and finally had enough time to listen to the whole song. That song was “Don’t Stay”, the band was Linkin Park and I stayed in front of my TV screen for more than an hour watching them “Live In Texas”.

Two months ago, the California-based band released “Burn It Down”: the track was a hell of a good one and gave me a great feeling of expectation upon their return. Back then, I would never have known that I would have much more than I had imagined. Now that I’ve listened to all tracks of “Living Things”, “Burn It Down” seems somehow light compared to the power of its other tracks. Or is it because I listened to “Burn It Down” like… more than a hundred times since its release? Who knows?

I’ve never been a fan of rap music and singers yelling in my ears. Knowing that, liking Linkin Park remained one of the many mysteries of me for years. Ten years and a few introspection sessions later, I think I found out why I opened my arms wide open for them.

Mike Shinoda’s rap lyrics don’t have the usual aggressive and violent side most MCs give to them or, at least, he doesn’t spit out disappointing moments of life in words that hurt. Plus this guy has always showed positive attitude, respect towards other artists and doesn’t carry the cliché version of the rapper. I couldn’t agree more with artists displaying that kind of attitude.

As for the power-singing part, Linkin Park’s ingenuity was to mix up what I would call “normal singing” with stronger vocals to ease things a bit for the common listener. Chester Bennington’s voice has incredibly improved since “Hybrid Theory” and it is now obvious the man has a complete understanding of how his voice works. I watched the band’s performance for the Rio+Social event and the way he handled “Lies Greed Misery” left me totally speechless. And full of respect. Whether you like the band or not, no one can say that this man is not a singer.

Since the release of “Minutes To Midnight”, Mike has been involved in singing harmonies parts in addition to his rapping verses. I still don’t know if we can give full credit to producer Rick Rubin – who by the way is still on board as a producer for this one - for that but I still enjoy having both Chester and Mike sharing parts. There’s a good vibe coming out of it and it’s getting better with every new album. “Castle Of Glass” and “Roads Untraveled” are fine examples of this great vocal collaboration between the two band mates.

For those who have already listened to the album or checked every piece of information concerning the release of “Living Things”, it won’t be a surprise to you if I write that another one of the guys has been taken inside the singing side of the Force. Ladies and gentlemen, Mister Brad Delson, generally behind a six strings instrument, shows us he has a voice in “Until It Breaks”. And I like that! I like good surprises and this is definitely one.

Speaking of Mr Delson, did any of you ever felt some intense tingle passing through your whole body while listening to a certain part of a song? This guy did that to me with his guitar. Twice. At the 3:24 of “Shadow of a Day”’ and the 2:40 of “Burning In The Skies”. Did I get that feeling again while listening to “Living Things”? I did. Try 2:07 on “Roads Untraveled”. Or let me know if I’m just crazy.

Thanks to DVDs that usually come with CDs, website reports, LPU chat, interviews, we were able to learn how these six guys work all together. It was obvious from the very start that Linkin Park is made of six VERY different individuals who have each a point of view, strength, life experiences… All these individualities are put together to form a consistent whole. In the end, I’m quite sure that’s part of what makes them so different of many others. Each of them bring something to the band, each of them work hard to find something they haven’t done previously... whether it is musically, lyrically or… visually. All that without forgetting who they are, where they’re from and… most importantly, that even if they might not always agree with each other, the six of them are stronger together than separate. So… me liking them is not only about the music but also about the attitude.

The boys mentioned they tried to bring all they have learned from the making of their previous four album studios to create something new. “Living Things” is indeed a great mixture of what they brought when they started (Lies Greed Misery, Victimized, Until It Breaks…) to what they released years later (In My Remains, Burn It Down…) and… it works!

“Burn It Down” already gave us a hint that the band were back with a great energy and from the very first seconds of “Lost In The Echo”, it is already there and the dynamic somehow remains through many tracks.

I already gave you my point of view about “Lies Greed Misery” while praising Mr Bennington’s vocal ability. “I’ll Be Gone” also displays some interesting vocal power but has a funny side: I’m so used to have Linkin Park singing songs for Transformers movies that I told myself “This is the Transformers song!”… before realizing there was no movie with the robots from outer space planned before… 2014. Old habits die hard!

“Victimized” is like being punched in the face so fast that you don’t even have time to realize you were punched. Fast is definitely how the song works… A fast rhythm for a veeery short track and that’s what I call a real flash of inspiration!

“Roads Untraveled” reminds me of another song, written and sung by Shinoda but not as Linkin Park. I’m not even sure Mike is aware that “Roads Untraveled” could definitely be a follow-up to Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go”. I guess the piano intro helped me drawing a parallel between both songs but it is actually the lyrics that gave me that feeling. If “Where’d You Go” was a song about a person whose lover is always on the road and all the consequences of it, I saw “Roads Untraveled” as that lover’s point of view after his soul mate’s departure, tired of waiting for his return. Devastating moment… but making this an amazing song to me!

Other songs also deal with breaking-up as well as betrayal and painful moments. Pessimistic songs? Yes, some of it. Linkin Park has always written about hard topics for the heart, it’s no big news, people! But they’re also good at saying that sometimes, you have to let things go or that you’re stronger than everyone would like to think… and they do it with powerful melodies.

A LP album wouldn’t be a LP album without an instrumental track: “Tinfoil” is a perfect little 1:11 jewel. Its main purpose is to introduce the final song but even on its own, it’s still a beautiful melody.

And here we come to the final song which is – no surprise – a ballad. A song about being… “Powerless”. Ending an album with such adjective is the ultimate irony… because there’s absolutely nothing powerless about this album. It’s a powerFUL album.

Powerful but short. 36 minutes of complete paradox. “Living Things” is short in length but doesn’t seem so. I got carried away by the 12 tracks and totally lost track of time. And pushed play once more as soon as the final seconds of “Powerless” came. Some people complains these days on the lengths of albums and I still can’t figure what’s finally best: having 36 minutes of great music or having your favorite band/singer adding 20 more minutes of music he’s not fully satisfied with. What if YOU, as a music lover, found these 20 minutes absolutely useless in the end as well?

On the other hand – and this is one downside of “Living Things” – I was highly disappointed to find out there was no DVD or interactive part coming with the CD. I am personally a fan of these DVDs because they contain a lot of interesting information on each LP album’s development. I suspect some future re-release containing what I crave for and I HATE so much those re-releases that force fans to buy an album AGAIN… just to get what wasn’t in the first issue they bought.

I still have a say a few words about “In My Remains”… It didn’t take me long to realize that this one is a hit. It MUST be released as a single! It has powerful lyrics and an incredible energy. When I heard “Bleed It Out” for the first time, my first thought was that this one would definitely rock once played live. I wasn’t wrong: it’s a powerful song that allows Linkin Park’s audience to have the maximum of fun and sing along at the top of its lungs. “In My Remains” will do the exact same thing. I see it. I actually see and hear the crowd singing back to the boys “Like an army falling one by one by one”… and probably not believing it at all. The LP street soldiers won’t let their leaders down that easily. Years passing by and the “army” growing bigger is the better proof of that.

So… which songs is/are my favorite(s)? Well, the Linkin Park boys have often, if not always, managed to find a crack in a life that seems great to anyone. A crack I sometimes relate to. A crack that helps realizing that in the end, we’re all the same… whether you’re still at school, whether you’re working for a public institution or… whether you’re part of a multi-million albums selling band. Pushing the development further, having the boys singing out loud the same pains that I (and you!) have felt at times helps passing through the harshest moments of life more easily. Writing here my favorite songs taken out of “Living Things” – or any other Linkin Park albums – would definitely reveal way too much about what’s inside me. And I’m not ready for that… yet.

There’s a preconceived idea that listening to aggressive music makes you more nervous. Well actually I always listen to Linkin Park when I’m angry: their strong melodies mixed with sad lyrics full of intense frustration have this incredible power to evacuate my own frustrations… and therefore helping me keeping my inner peace safe. Linkin Park writes about life. About things that happens in everyone’s life. Making the album’s title so obvious in the end.

Some albums have a strong and instantaneous effect and while listening to these, words come fast and easily. They can go as fast as well because of the numerous feelings you have on the moment and you may not remember all of it later. Therefore, the best thing is to write them right away. I didn’t have my notebook while listening to “Living Things” for the first time : I was in a train and ended writing most ideas you read here on the first piece of paper I found. My train ticket actually. The expression on the face of the train controller after I told him “Let me finish my sentence and you can have it” was totally priceless! :p

What an irony in the end, right? I discovered the band while they were singing “Don’t stay”. It looks like I disagreed and eventually stayed near them. The six members of Linkin Park definitely left their mark on me on that day of 2003. Musically. And literally. Do you know every time I walk with bare feet, there’s a cracking sound coming from one of my toe. Guess which one?

Tracklist :

Lost In The Echo
In My Remains
Burn It Down
Lies Greed Misery
I’ll Be Gone
Castle Of Glass
Victimized
Roads Untraveled
Skin To Bone
Until It Breaks
Tinfoil
Powerless