Weekly Poll: Favorite Linkin Park Album • Page 2

The Hunting Party is so dope. Both it & the highs of One More Light were such a breath of fresh air after that stagnation of Living Things (which at the time made me think they’d run out of ideas after A Thousand Suns).

 

Hybrid Theory
ATS
Minutes to Midnight
The Hunting Party
Meteora
Living Things
One More Light

 

A Thousand Suns is so clearly the right answer here IMO. And that's not really a commentary on the rest of their discography; ATS is just such a phenomenal album.

 

That's interesting because that's exactly what I think about The Hunting Party. It blends together a lot and the one dimensional vocal performances don't help distinguish the songs to me.

 

I dunno. It's their most "rock" album, so if that ain't your cup of tea, I guess I can get it.

But, to me, it sounds like the band taking a tool in their toolbox that they'd left mostly untouched for a decade & seeing how much mileage they could get out of it. If A Thousand Suns is them deconstructing their sound, then The Hunting Party is them building as high as they can on the rock foundation underneath that sound, & One More Light on the pop foundation.

That's why I see Living Things as their most stagnant album. There are some strong songs on their that I'd enjoy if they up on shuffle, but it's their only post-Meteora album that doesn't have a defining thing to make me wanna listen on purpose. Its sound, its identity, is just... another Linkin Park album. At least to me. *shrug*

 

The Hunting Party is a super mixed bag IMO. The back half of that album has some INCREDIBLE songs. Rebellion, Mark The Graves, Final Masquerade, and A Line In The Sand all stand as some of the band's best work and I'll stand behind my opinion that Drawbar is a lot better than people give it credit for. But the first half just kinda feels like it's heavy for heavy's sake and uninspired

But yeah, Living Things is definitely their safest album, especially coming off A Thousand Suns. "Toolbox" was a pretty popular buzzword for them when they were promoting the album, and it's pretty apt. It felt like they didn't really push themselves and just said "Here's what we've done before, let's mash it all together" and it was just unsatisfying as a whole even if there are some real highlights on there. It's not their worst album (and I do actually probably like it more than The Hunting Party), but it's probably their least interesting next to Meteora. Now if they had really gone in on the folky direction that they were messing with on Castle of Glass, Roads Untraveled, and Skin To Bone, we'd be talking...

 

Adding another to "I love The Hunting Party". I love that kind of music, so I am bias there, but I think Guilty All The Same, Rebellion, Mark The Graves, Final Masquarade and A Line in the Sand would all be in my top 15 songs from them.

 

Never expected this thread to have so many votes

 

I will not accept this "All For Nothing" erasure.

 

Okay, maybe I need to listen to THP again

I remember it starting and ending really strongly with a whole lot of filler in the middle

 

All For Nothing has probably my favorite solo on the album and Mike's second verse is good (by post-ATS standards), but it's still missing something. I feel like Page was a way bigger waste on this than Morello was on Drawbar, but I only ever see complaints about the latter. At least the guitar tone on that is so unmistakably Morello even if he's not shredding.

 

I had a counter on Myspace for how many times i had listened to Minutes to Midnight so that cant not be my vote lol

 

Oh it's not about the style as when I found out their intention was to make a ball to the walls rock album, I was all over it, and my favorite songs are actually the heaviest ones. I'd go even further and claim it was the perfect time for them to bring that energy and aggression back, full circle moment and all. I was one of those fans who was initially disappointed by every post-Meteora album, and was then constantly writing fanfiction in my head about a Qwerty inspired album.

The Hunting Party somewhat gave me this, so I should have been grateful, yet I still think it could have been so much more. The biggest offender remains Chester to me. It sounds like he was trying so hard to bring back that raw and screamy side of him he forgot to write... memorable melodies and hooks? It's the only album where I've got this problem with him. Overall, it feels like they wrote and recorded that album in such a spontaneous way, which I think they actually did if I recall correctly, and at times... it shows.

Guilty All The Same, Rebellion, and Keys To The Kingdom still slap anyway!

 

What I was trying to say about The Hunting Party but summed up so succintly.

I'm still mostly positive on Living Things, in all its "let's please all our fans by bringing back radio-ready choruses" glory, but I agree with its criticisms too.

 

Minutes to Midnight

Meteroa
Hybrid Theory
A Thousand Suns

The Hunting Party
Living Things

One More Light

 

Super close between Minutes To Midnight and ATS, but I give a slight edge to Minutes To Midnight. Also want to shout out All For Nothing on The Hunting Party. That song rules!

 

I have not listened to a full album by this band since Meteora and thus I vote for Meteora!

 

Had to go with Hybrid Theory. Came out just after I’d left school and slap bang in the middle of my two year nu metal phase. By the time the follow up had come out, I’d moved onto heavier and more experimental music. But HT holds a special place in my heart.

 

One More Light is the only album I don't really go back to, but I may give it another shot at some point. I agree with the sentiment that Living Things is their least interesting, but I still like the songs and there are some interesting directions they take in the back half. "Castle Of Glass" is legitimately great and "Powerless" is a soaring closer.