I still listen to it on occasion, but there's something about it that I think just drags it down. A lot of the tracks don't have that lasting "oomph" factor. I still find myself going back to the album, and there are some standouts like GATS, ALITS, AFN even, but outside of that, the album just lacks moments. The biggest one I can think of is the solo on Keys (actually, the intro to ALITS counts as well), but outside of that and Mike's verses, Keys is kind of terrible. Even Living Things had moments that stood out, but THP just feels like a wall of noise without the melodic or sonic finesse or depth that made the other records stand out more. It's an album with a lot of songs that are just exhausting to listen to, without the power to fully back it up. I think that's why it's considered mediocre. It's not a bad album, for sure, but I would put it only slightly above Living Things, and I feel like in the long run, I might appreciate Living Things a bit more, because it at least tried to have each song sound uniquely interesting, even if they were a mishmash of things LP has done before.
I tend to enjoy the band's safer, more single-oriented music. I feel like THP doesn't really do it for me in that regard. I love experimental music but I'm more likely to listen to Thrice, NIN or Radiohead for that. In my opinion, LP is fantastic at creating poppier songs(Final Masquerade, COG, WFTE, Iridescent, etc). I appreciate and enjoy their more experimental ventures, but I usually return to the singles when I listen to LP. Thus THP isn't one of my favorite albums. I do love GATS though.
I don't think I've listened to this album for at least half a year. However... I play Final Masquerade (Acoustic) almost daily.... It's not that I dislike the album its just that I don't very often get the inclination to listen to it. I think I'd enjoy it more if it had more acoustic tracks. Acoustic versions of Rebellion, Mark the Graves, and Final Masquerade would have really added a lot of replay value for me. This is probably a super unpopular opinion. Haha
Yeah, I didn't expect that an official acoustic v. of a Linkin Park song would be that good. Like others said when it first dropped, I wouldn't mind that kind of vibe on a full-length or an EP from the band - especially right after "The Hunting Party". Sometimes, songs like "Final Masquerade" can sound a little overwrought but the acoustic v. avoids that. Like several of my favourite Linkin Park songs, it hardly even reminds me of "Linkin Park" and I love that. Gives it a kind of freshness that the band needs, IMO, at least. For better or worse, "The Hunting Party" isn't the most pleasant listen, as far as LP albums go. The mixing's not as pristine as we're apparently used to. "Rebellion" wouldn't work. "Mark The Graves" could, though. But, then, such tracks would have ruined the flow and consistent vibe of the album. TBH, I'm starting to feel right now that "Final Masquerade" doesn't sit perfectly with the other songs. "Drawbar" going into "A Line In The Sand" might've been okay
Are you kidding me? The Hunting Party is my favourite Linkin Park record. A Thousand Suns may be the best start-to-finish experience, but The Hunting Party just carries this insane energy that is unleashed in Keys To The Kingdom and can't be contained until the end of A Line In The Sand (In which both tracks are IMO the greatest book-ends to an album I've ever heard). Then you have Guilty All The Same, Rebellion, and Mark The Graves on the inside - It's just a fantastic rock album in my eyes. Of course, this is coming from someone who prefers new-age Linkin Park yet still greatly enjoys the art of shredding distorted guitars and screaming into a microphone.
This. I barely listen to pre 2010 Linkin Park. When I do it's 96-99 stuff or B-Sides from up to that point. The last three LP records are pretty regular spins for me. I mean, like, once in two weeks or something... Not daily. But yeah, for someone who likes plain rock and/or punk music, and enjoys the sound aesthetic of new Linkin Park... The Hunting Party is the album. 8/10 would bang.
I loved THP the first time I listened to it, and I still love it the same way almost 2 years (wow time flies) later. Absolutely astonishing album; the composition, energy, talent, and PASSION that the band possesses is on display up front and center here, especially the passion. The rawness of the songs lets you really hear the emotions in Chester and Mike's vocals (apart from UIG maybe, but thats the exception to the rule), the incredible drumming from Rob that shows his technical prowess, and Brad's stellar guitar work. Sure, its not the most complex guitar work in the world, but since when did being super complex mean that something is good? There's nothing wrong with playing regular Drop D barre power chords if that's what fits the song! Only song I have some issues with from THP is Until its Gone; the lyrics and vocals pale in comparison to the rest of the album, yet the instrumentation is rather outstanding, especially the lead guitar riff in the beginning. I would never in a million years expected Brad to play something like that! The Hunting Party is still my second favorite LP album (only behind ATS, my ever reigning favorite album of all time) 2 years on. I'll be surprised if LP7 dethrones it. ^this times 100000x The only time I listen to Hybrid Theory and Meteora is if im really pissed off or if its a live version. I do love Reanimation alot though, and Minutes to Midnight is still amazing. But HT and Meteora? Meh, they were cool way back when. Crawling and OSC still make me fucking cringe. The older demos from LPUX, 11, and 12 are really fucking good though. Especially the In the End demo
Exactly. My list of "good" old Linkin Park that I can still listen to on a regular basis and not cringe is as follows: Papercut A Place For My Head Faint Lying From You That's it. With You and Pushing Me Away get the odd playback and make me say "oh yeah this song used to be amazing". Compare that to the rest of their discography and... well the contrast is staggering. For instance, on my always-evolving general playlist I use in the car and around the house, I have 4 songs from Minutes To Midnight (5 with Across The Line), 5 songs from A Thousand Suns, 2 songs from Living Things (actually shocked it's this low), and still 9 (NINE!) songs from The Hunting Party. Oh, and nothing from pre-2007 Linkin Park. This. Listening to Keys To The Kingdom's screamed intro/guitar solo, Guilty All The Same's colossal intro/Rakim, Rebellion's incredible vocal dynamics/Malakian, and A Line In The Sand's absolutelyfuckingeverything is still as exciting and fresh to my ears as it was a year and a half ago. And I listened to the full album again in spite of this thread this afternoon. Loved. Every. Second.
Some songs have aged very well to me, others I've grown quite tired of. But it's hard to say these things definitively, because often I forget about a song for a good while, listen to it for the first time in a long time, and really appreciate it again. For example, a year ago I probably would've said LT didn't age that well and was kind of forgettable, I've not listened to much Living Things at all since THP came out, but I'm finally tired of THP when it comes to getting my LP fix and I find myself going back to LT before most of their other stuff. These days, I consider Powerless, COG, IMR, LITE, etc to have aged really well and remained pretty special tracks in my playlists. As far as THP goes, GATS and ALITS get better every time I hear them, Rebellion will always remain a super solid track, KTTK is always there when I need the burst of energy when working out, and War, AFN, MTG, Wastelands, and especially UIG are pretty boring and I rarely listen to them. FM is a terrific track but I just overplayed the heck out of it when it came out so I rarely listen to it. Also, yes, Rob kills it on every track. When I listen to the tracks I usually fixate on the drums and how dynamic they are compared to most other music I listen to.
SO, i listened to THP today in full and have to admit that i forget how much i really liked it. It feels as fresh as on the first day. KTTK as an opener is awesome, GATS always kicks, Rebellion with Malakian always awesome, Mark The Graves special and A Line In The Sand a fucking War shifty. Also the other tracks i dont dislike as much as i thought. All For Nothing is a cool mainstream-rock song which would be a good single imo and Wastelands and Until Its Gone are maybe a bit lame, but not too bad. Final Masquerade (with Drawbar as a fucking jam as an introduction) is also a nice ballade. And as some other already said. Rob killed it.
No need to be an Internet clown. Its just a surprise because I feel like all of this came out the blue.
Honestly most of their albums besides ATS and some songs from MTM haven't stood the test of time. Everything from HT/Meteora era sound awfully cliched and angsty. Even though ATS still sounds quite fresh, the band again took a dip with LT and THP.
It's aging far better than Living Things imo. LP was only redeemed in 2012 for me because I found The Rising Tied. Lol