Sputnikmusic Living Things Review

[kwill]

http://sputnikmusic.com/review/50378...Living-Things/

What do you think of these reviews? They are a lot more negative in general than the ones around here... Thought this could be an interesting topic.

[Requiem1394]

The writing is more negative than the score reflects, certainly.

[Top2Bottom]

"There are no buyers"...Hmm we'll see about that.

[Blackee Dammet]

Sputnik is a user based review site, there are going to be both incredibly negative and ridiculously positive takes on this and any album.

That said, this particular review I thought was pretty fair. Take off the fan glasses and most of what he says is pretty spot on.

[crazygolfer]

An album such as Living Things will generally get mixed reactions. This isn't a surprise to me personally. I mean the album includes everything but the kitchen sink; thus resulting in many people not enjoying every song on the album. Some people want to hear more hardcore "classic" LP, whereas some people want to hear the more "experimental" side of LP. IMO this album strikes a pretty good balance of all the things they've done, and also throwing in some new elements such as folk. I gotta say though, I'm really tired of all the bitching towards the last few albums.

[Shadester]

The writing is more negative than the score reflects, certainly.

I thought it was the opposite. Reads like a 4.0 but he seems too concerned with his sputnikmusic cred to give LP a 4. Plus UIB being having an "overbearing production fetish and Shinoda’s needless white-boy posturing"? Lolno.

When he really lost me though was saying Numb was better than Powerless.

[Blake]

I thought it was the opposite. Reads like a 4.0 but he seems too concerned with his sputnikmusic cred to give LP a 4. Plus UIB being having an "overbearing production fetish and Shinoda’s needless white-boy posturing"? Lolno.

When he really lost me though was saying Numb was better than Powerless.

I think Numb is better than Powerless, there is nothing wrong with opinions.

[Comstock]

Burn it Down is not the WORST they've ever written.

[Xero21]

Better than most professional reviews you'd hope to find, even if I don't agree 100%.

[Tweak]

critics writing bad reviews sicken me for some reason. They seem to like to show off how smart they are but not ever justify their reasoning. Seems like the only requirement to be a "credible" critic is owning a thesaurus.

[kwill]

I think that he has a fair review, and I respect his opinion. Others on the site: not so much.

In my honest, unbiased opinion, this album deserves a 5 out of 5. I love radio-friendly music, but just as long as it sounds good to my ears, and this record is one of the best the radio world has to offer. I suppose the reviewers here just simply don't like radio-friendly, electronic music Linkin Park. Most of the discussion there is about heavy metal, and they see LP as poseurs who are trying and failing to be metal.

(BTW, I love metal, and Linkin Park)

[mastae]

I may be a LP fan, but let's be honest... music critics LOVE to hate LP just like music critics used to LOVE to hate Depeche Mode (look at how many times Rolling Stone has "gone back" and re-reviewed a DM album for their cred).

EDIT: For how much flack they typically get, that review was well-tamed. I pretty much agree with it.

[Spitz]

While I don't think Minutes to Midnight should be as maligned as it appears to be, I thought this was a good review. I may enjoy Until it Breaks, but I can notice that Mike seems to "strike the baller pose a little too hard," to quote Allmusic. About the only thing I can disagree with is which songs are more worthy of approval.

[DaMU]

critics writing bad reviews sicken me for some reason. They seem to like to show off how smart they are but not ever justify their reasoning. Seems like the only requirement to be a "credible" critic is owning a thesaurus.

In general, those who find critics sickening are those fearful of thoughts different from their own. Once you accept that you're going to disagree with many critics, critical opinion becomes much easier to read, evaluate, and appreciate. I don't agree with every point this reviewer made, but he explained himself lucidly and posed some interesting questions. Certainly this...

“Victimized”, characterized (correctly) by Rolling Stone as “the band’s most aggressive track in years”, finds Linkin Park paying homage to short-fused punk rock bands like The Black Pacific and the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, with the brief two-minute skit arranged precipitously around an explosive drum pattern and a guitar riff that sounds like it was woven out of pure barbed wire.

...is a well-written, informative thought. Even if you dislike the song, it offers a clear and effective description that reads much like the song sounds.

[cloudscream]

That's actually a relatively positive, or should I say, balanced review. He comes across as liking what he had heard, but he was subliminally compelled to include some negative comments to protect his cred. You know, liking a Linkin Park song/album is gross.

[Xodus]

Agreed with just about everything he said about this album and the previous four except for the score and and that "there will be no buyers" so I think it's a fair review.

Looking at LP's facebook page the album is getting great reviews from fans except the usual fans bitching about HT and Meteora.

[Xodus]

Burn it Down is not the WORST they've ever written.

It's the worst since SIB, imo.

[Robot Man]

1. Burn It Down is nowhere close to their worst song.
2. Powerless is better than Numb.

[lepetitpote]

1. Burn It Down is nowhere close to their worst song.
2. Powerless is better than Numb.

In your opinion...

[Alexrednex]

I kinda like his review(don't like the hating on MTM though)
But few point were really off:
1. Until it breaks - Bad review!? One of the best songs on the album, and that is because of Shinoda's lyrics and his rap vocals are spot on.
2. Powerless worse than Numb? Lol got to love when people just comes with bold statements with no backing it up.
And for the record - Tinfoil is more of and intro than anything, works fine combined with Powerless, and together they beat Numb -> Lyrically, more interesting sound and vocal performence. While i don't see Powerless as their strongest track, it's still good.