Living Things vs A Thousand Suns

Discussion in 'Linkin Park Chat' started by Money Maker Mike, Jun 16, 2012.

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Living Things or A Thousand Suns?

  1. Living Things

    68.7%
  2. A Thousand Suns

    31.3%
  1. #61
    Qwerty19

    Qwerty19 Well-Known Member

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    The more I'm listening to LT, the more I'm thinking it totally blows ATS out of the water. Some might think I'm jumping up the gun, but whatever...

    Yes, ATS took more risk. But it's not necessary a good thing. If you always take risk playing with fire, you might end up being burned. Despite the love it's getting on this forum, ATS was far from a perfect record. I still enjoy it, but sometimes, I just felt like I forced myself to like some of the tracks because it was LP.

    Right now, I really think LT is a more honest, well-executed, cohesive record than ATS, while still experimenting. The songs just feel stronger, and not weird for the sake of being weird or monotonous for the sake of being mature.
     
  2. #62
    Geki

    Geki >.

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    LT hands down. I did not enjoy ATS much to begin with, and I really don't like it at all anymore. It has some good tracks; BITS, WTCFM, Blackout, Wretches; but the rest are not very good IMO. I really dislike The Catalyst, Robot Boy, WFTE and Iridescent a lot. I think a lot of the speeches and interludes were kind of stupid, they could have used much better political figures. I think ATS was more or less a passion project for the band. What I mean is, I don't think they will use the ''ATS'' sound again on an album. If they were going to, LT would sound similar to ATS, when it sounds absolutely nothing like ATS.
     
  3. #63
    Blake

    Blake Leave a Trace LPA Super Member

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    Finally someone on here who agrees. I like ATS, but it is my least favorite and a big fact of that was the interludes which for the most part I did find useless. the first listen to the interludes were good but after that not really.
     
  4. #64
    mastae

    mastae Some Honky

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    I'm voting ATS simply because I think the whole "LT is more accessible" argument is kinda BS.

    I love LT and ATS on an equal level but it has nothing to do with LT being "more accessible." It's because LT's last seven tracks are a really great continued exploration into new territory. The first five tracks, however awesome, are really nothing special like you guys are making them out to be. I don't care how much they harken back to the original energy of the band. I love those tracks, and I can admit that they are nothing special.

    ATS, on the other hand, was something special.
     
  5. #65
    lepetitpote

    lepetitpote my presence is a present kiss my ass

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    This. A thousand times this.

    A Thousand Suns is still an album which I think is good but not great. It took me about a month to finally get the hang of it, while Living Things took me less than 24 hours. That doesn't mean to say I hate ATS. I love it like I love anything Linkin Park releases, I just think that, despite the constant admiration for the album on this forum, I'd consider it their worst album. And I don't really enjoy Waiting for the End at all. That's my two cents.

    Don't hurt me
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2012
  6. #66
    Qwerty19

    Qwerty19 Well-Known Member

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    I will never understand this. Sure ATS had some great experimental songs (Blackout, The Catalyst, When They Come For me), but some of the songs were nothing special at all.

    Burning In The Skies is the classic verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, as is Iridescent. The fact the bridge is a guitar solo or a gang vocal thing doesn't change the structure of the song. Both songs are alternative/pop rock songs, it's really nothing spectacular.

    Also, The Messenger is just a classic acoustic song, which ton of rock bands could do.

    It's not like entire ATS was crazy experimentation.
     
  7. #67
    mastae

    mastae Some Honky

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    From the aspect of Linkin Park, not something "a ton of rock bands do" ATS is something very special.

    LP was/still is a mainstream rock band that produces music geared towards selling albums. No matter how much I love their music, their music is made specifically to sell.

    ATS wasn't. It's not just about song structure, it's also about everything that's a part of the track. Burning In The Skies is incredible because of the multiple interpretations of the lyrics (as are many of the songs). But basically everything that could be interpreted as something personal is something universal (Losing what I don't deserve = something phsyical, tangible, and personal to ourselves/our own bodies).

    Iridescent not so much. But then again Iridescent is my 2nd least favorite song on ATS next to W&K.

    The Messenger is a classic acoustic song, yes, but it's sang with the un-autotuned, rawness of Condemnation by Depeche Mode. That's not something you hear most singers doing. A lot of people complained about the track because they felt Chester's vocals were "strained" and "annoying" when that's really what makes the track great imo.

    It's not just "what style is this song?" or "what is the song structure?" It's everything that was packaged into ATS. It wasn't a commercial album from a commercial band.

    ATS might not have broken musical boundaries, but it broke so many boundaries for Linkin Park.
     
  8. #68
    LeoMPhillyFan

    LeoMPhillyFan Well-Known Member

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    I agree so much with everything you and Geki said, except WTFE is a top 10 LP song for me. While I still love it like all of LP's albums, IMO it's their weakest album. While I appreciate the fact that one of the biggest bands in the world tried a politically charged experimental concept album, TBH they didn't pull it off as well as people on this site seem to think. On a side note, It looks like now that LT blew it out of the water, we can finally talk bad about ATS without being called nu-metal fanboys.
     
  9. #69
    @LP2K12

    @LP2K12 Est. 2K12

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    For me the order is as follows:

    A Thousand Suns
    Living Things
    Reanimation
    Hybrid Theory
    Minutes to Midnight
    Meteora
    Collision Course
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2012
  10. #70
    Requiem1394

    Requiem1394 Well-Known Member

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    EASILY A Thousand Suns. I understand how people want a band to continue to put out the same or similar music, as that is why they fell in love with them. The problem is that people change and tastes evolve. From HT to ATS, I felt the band evolved and grew along with my own tastes. I don't want screamy/angsty/boring songs. I became an "album" person and that's why ATS spoke to me. The call backs, the recurring themes, and the haunting harmonies brought the Chester/Mike dynamic to its peak. As individual "songs", it may not be amazing, but I listen to it as an album, and it sticks with me.

    Living Things... is a group of songs. Some quite good, some quite generic. It feels like MTM all over again, albeit better produced and tighter. Many on here are championing LITE echo as some glorious "return-to-form," but it's a form I don't much like anymore and, honestly, I don't think they're that good at anymore. Castle of Glass is excellent, but I think that owes itself mostly to the harmonies.

    That all came off a bit harsher than I intended. I just REALLY like ATS. Living Things is still better than MTM and Meteora... though it will be really interesting to see how these songs sound live.

    One final note: I haven't yet heard these in full quality through nice headphones, so there is likely a LOT more depth to be found. So, as with all music, I expect my feelings to change along with my experiences.
     
  11. #71
    I Like Cheese

    I Like Cheese Well-Known Member

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    I'd so ATS but only, only by just a tad.
     
  12. #72
    Ben

    Ben Well-Known Member

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    I don't see any similarities between MTM and LT. MTM was a much more organic album, with very few electronic sounds to speak of. LT is full of electronic sounds, practically the entire album is built off of them, and their folk-inspired melodies and lyrics are nothing like the MTM political-driven lyrics, nor are the melodies similar. I really don't see the comparison at all.

    I see LT as a completely unique piece of work. There are "anthems" like IMR, IBG, and BID, but a majority of the album is very experimental and extremely well executed. Conversely, MTM feels like a clusterfuck of sounds with no connection to each other.
     
  13. #73
    Requiem1394

    Requiem1394 Well-Known Member

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    My comparison with MTM was meant more as how it came off as an album. As in, a collection of songs without a terribly cohesive theme. MTM feels MORE scattered, certainly, but I think LT is also disjointed. And I understand why a lot of people are loving that. It lets the band explore the, uh, toolbox. It just doesn't work that well for me. I like a more cohesive album and it bummed me out that they went from the feel of ATS to LT.

    This is not a judgement of the band, just an expression of my reaction to the change between albums.
     
  14. #74
    KaitoKid

    KaitoKid Lyricist

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    I didn't like ATS at all, I am really annoyed with those interludes and heavy electronics. I don't even know how many tracks ATS has. So Living Things by a mile for me.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2012
  15. #75
    hawk

    hawk because the internet LPA Super VIP

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    Don't forget everyone: once you've picked your favorite, hit up your signature with an obligatory album comparison.
     
  16. #76
    lepetitpote

    lepetitpote my presence is a present kiss my ass

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    Haha Living Things is owning A Thousand Suns. As it should be

    I hate when they cite us as them because we're not. We appreciate everything they do
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2012
  17. #77
    The Prisoner

    The Prisoner ...O...

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    I voted for ATS.


    I just listened to LT 3xtimes. (Already three times more than I originally planned)
    It's awesome. It's almost equally ranked with ATS for me.
    But like some others also pointed out, the first four tracks on LT are just "very good" tracks (with the exception of LIES GREED MISERY being "only" a "good" song) while the other tracks on LT are simply amazing.

    IN MY REMAINS could have been a lot more experimental, if they had buillt more upon the second part of the song and had added another strucutre-element.
    Though the melody of IN MY REMAINS is the one which's stuck in my head the most, besides the one of CASTLE OF GLASS.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2012
  18. #78
    LeoMPhillyFan

    LeoMPhillyFan Well-Known Member

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    Yea, and I don't even like nu-metal that much. Linkin Park is the only one I love. I only like a few songs from other nu-metal bands. (Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, P.O.D, etc.)
     
  19. #79
    Gman2887

    Gman2887 Well-Known Member

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    But you were just saying that if you "play with fire you get burned," insinuating that it was overly experimental. You can't argue both ways.

    I haven't listened to LT yet and won't until Tuesday when I buy the physical CD because I'm a stubborn traditionalist, but it seems to me that maestae is diving in to more than weather or not the songs were experimental. Practically every song on ATS was something the bad hadn't really done before-- sound wise, some of it structure, some it the interludes, some of it the style...etc... And they were connected by a large canvas that held a particular theme together very tightly. That's part of what makes it a very special album all the way through. Quite frankly I can't listen to the album unless I listen to it straight through. It such a strong story-like journey and still get chills listening to the songs.

    I hope LT gives me something similar, but so far I've been slightly let down by Burn it Down and Lies Greed Misery, especially the latter song. Neither one gave me the same jaw-dropping feeling as when I heard The Catalyst and Wretches & Kings.
     
  20. #80
    travz21

    travz21 Muscle Museum LPA Super Member

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    I just listened to the album about 3 hours ago for the first time without hearing anything beforehand (not even Burn It Down) or reading any reviews. Lost In The Echo starts the album off really amazingly. That's really the only song title I looked at since I shut my eyes and just laid on my bed to listen to the whole album lol. There were some average songs during the beginning and middle, but the last 4 or so songs were really strong. There was a decent variety of songs going on in this record.

    The album was fucking cool with the heavy electronic sounds and drums, but overall, on the first listen, it just seemed like a collection of random singles cut down to 3:20 virtually every song with very little depth compared to A Thousand Suns. It felt like an improved version of their Hybrid Theory sound and a big step backwards musically at the same time. Like, yeah, it's some good stuff to listen to, but that's it. The album almost reminded me of a better version of Dead By Sunrise mixed in with Hybrid Theory. While most people will enjoy an album full of singles, I find it unrewarding. I have no doubt I'll be addicted to a lot of these songs, but overall, Linkin Park needs to step up their game. They seemed to have fallen back into their comfort zone but are just using more electronic instrumentation to try and pass it off as something new for them.

    I know it's not even been 2 years since ATS, so it's to be expected that they'd do songs that come naturally in order to put out another album this quickly (for them), but is this really all you're striving for, LP? I thought ATS was a stepping stone to bigger, better, and more challenging pieces of music.


    Edit: And my vote is for ATS right now. The album had a much bigger scope, was better musically, and the songs were much riskier and challenging to listen to. I think the songs are better and more memorable, too. Living Things had probably 5 songs that really caught my ear on the first listen, while ATS gave me the chills on all but a few songs my first listen.


    Edit: I also want to add something I forgot. I like that some of the songs on Living Things had the vocals take a back seat to the instrumental. I don't know which songs, but I enjoyed that. It's nice to have the vocals sitting really back in the mix for once. I'll have to listen again later and look at the titles this time.
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2012

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