Underrated Era? Where’s the Love for ATS, Living Things & THP in "It Starts With One"?

So I’ve been reading It Starts With One by Jason Lipshutz (not done yet, so no full verdict), and one thing I’ve noticed so far is how little attention A Thousand Suns, Living Things, and The Hunting Party are getting. I get that Hybrid Theory and Meteora are the obvious go-to classics, and One More Light has a lot of emotional weight because of Chester… but this middle era feels kinda slept on in the book.

I’ll say it straight up — A Thousand Suns is, to me, their best album. Yeah, I know that’s not a popular take in some corners of the fandom, but that project hit on another level. The cohesion, the ambition, the flow from start to finish — it wasn’t just music, it was an experience. “The Catalyst,” “When They Come for Me,” “Iridescent,” “Blackout” — all of it felt so intentional and layered. Even the transitions and interludes tied the whole thing together like a dystopian journey.

I know it divided fans at the time, and it’s definitely not “radio rock” like their early stuff, but man, it was bold. And that boldness deserves more than a passing mention.

Anyone else feel like these albums kinda got the short end of the stick in It Starts With One? Or am I just too deep in my LP era right now?

 

I'm glad to hear that

 

I haven't read that book but A Thousands Suns is by and a large a favorite on here - for good reasons. Lots has been said for example in this thread : https://www.lpassociation.com/forum/threads/a-thousand-suns-love.47083/

Living Things is fan favorite for lots of younger fans, and the record was a big commercial success thanks to its 2 huge singles, BID and COG.

The real dark horse of LP discography is The Hunting Party, easily their most underrated record IMO.

Hated by a few, brushed off due to its raw production and deep dive into niche genres, and even ignored on Papercuts. Yet, the record contains some of their most ambitious songwriting (GATS, MTG, ALITS), a few legendary guests (Rakim, Daron), and is backed up by a consistent technical proficiency to a degree never seen before or after in their discography. While the final product suffers from a lack of cohesion and a few lackluster tracks - looking at you Wastelands and UIG - it deserves more recognition. If only for what it tried to accomplish and for pushing the band comfort zone. When you think about it, it's the last record where LP trully stepped out of their traditional pop format.

That said, seeing the band premiere KTTK and AFN was really comforting.

 

Yeah you're preaching to the choir here with A Thousand Suns love.

I haven't read more than the intro to Lipshutz's book yet, but I have a digital copy. My impression from that, comments about it, and familiarity with his work is that it's more geared toward the general public's understanding of the music industry, which would explain his focus on their best-selling albums.

Also, it's worth noting that the early years of Linkin Park have a particularly large wealth of "inspiring" stories to present. They beat the odds a lot and that's a story that resonates with people. They fought uphill to get a record deal, then fought uphill again to keep their style against the A&R forces at the label, and then beyond anyone's expectations Hybrid Theory exploded and went RIAA Platinum within two months of release. There's a ton to unpack even just with that, from the humble beginnings of Mike and Mark making music to being the biggest artist on the planet in a few years. People love a good underdog story.

Then you have the side projects and the eventual realization by the band that Linkin Park could be all of that in one. Minutes to Midnight. Everything after falls into that new paradigm, but then you need One More Light because it's a very major part of the band's story, because of the devastating loss of Chester.

That's the way I see it, at least. The most engaging music business stories for the general public lie in the first three albums, and then there's the emotional content around OML. Everything in between gets into the weeds of artistry, production, and the like, and it comes after they were well-established and had much more freedom.