So right off the bat I’m going to say that I was very skeptical about Linkin Park‘s new album A Thousand Suns many because I didn’t really like their last album, Minutes to Midnight.

But I have to say, after listening to A Thousand Suns several times throughout the week I feel like in a way Linkin Park has kind of reverted back to the music they used to play before Minutes to Midnight. Which is a weird notion, seeing as a good chunk of the songs do resemble songs from Minutes to Midnight only better.

By far, my favorite song on the album is “Blackout” because the music, lyrics, and vocals are just epic in every sense. Through my first time listening through the album I was immediately attracted to this song, and named it my favorite song from the album from the beginning even though that tends to change with the amount of times I listen to the album. This one didn’t.

With a mixture of slow and fast songs, this album gives the listener a bit of everything. I enjoyed the little bits of recorded material from Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders, too. I always love when bands give us some material that are not lyrics but pieces from history or movies (Dream Theater’s “Honor Thy Father” for instance). Especially if the parts do a very good job at bringing the album together more, which in this case they do because it helps to set the mood. Also, seeing that A Thousand Suns is a concept album about war has it win a few more points with me. As I’ve said in previous posts I love a good concept album, and the fact that this album is a concept album will keep me coming back to it just to delve a little deeper.

Although I do like this album better than the last, I still wouldn’t call it best album I’ve ever heard in my life. Maybe I grew out of my Linkin Park stage, or maybe I’m just not really into the direction they decided to take with their music, but this album was one that I had to force myself a little to listen to. When I did listen to it I enjoyed it a lot, but a few listens was all I really felt I needed. There really wasn’t anything about the album that held my attention enough that made me want to listen to it over and over again for weeks on end.