I used to hate this album. I then actually bought the album the other day at F.Y.E and I read through the booklet. Read the whole intro letter LP gives us. I then listened to it with an open mind (decided to get thsi album cus I started to love their soft stuff after hearing The Little things give u away (see I used 2 be one of those little only like LP's Metal stuff *censored* boys)) so anyways this album is IMO their 2nd best album. BTW shinoda does some of his best rapping on here! Great record. Lets discuss it here!
It's considered god-tier around here, but I've actually always found it bloated. Love what they were going for and there were some gems on there, but it sounds like a really extravagant EP as opposed to a solid, fully realized album. Even the "full experience", listen to it front to back with the intros and interludes and all that shit, its alays just hit me as a "pretty good" album as opposed to their magnum opus. I'd like to see them go down that direction again, they seem more comfortable with it and between the Hunting Party era aggression and the ideas they had during the ATS days I think they really can make something mindblowing. It's a very, very good listen, but I'll argue it's terribly overrated.
It's only overrated here. It deserves praise though. In the context of LP's discography it's so good.
Definitely has some of their best songs ("Waiting For The End") In the right direction in terms of production, style, and attitude Feels like they didn't hit the album's full potential
Some thoughts: The album on the LPA here (undeservedly) is considered a god-like album, even though it's a decent album from an okay band. It could have been so much more. Having Waiting for the End, Burning in the Skies, Robot Boy AND Iridescent all on the same album makes it totally legit. Unlike the majority, I fucking love The Messenger, and consider it a perfect epilogue for the album.
IDK if it is just me. But when I listen to this story I feel like its a movie or a story. Can't believe people say its not a fully realized album?
itt: everyone claiming the album isn't god-tier when they say everyone calls it so ... but album is god-tier. best Linkin Park album.
It's "god-tier" in the sense that out of all of LP's albums, it's probably the closest the band has gotten to perfection. Is it "god-tier" in comparison to other bands? Of course not. It's the best album by an okay band. I think it's important to realize that all discussions about how good ATS rates is in context of Linkin Park, not music as a whole.
I hated ATS the day it came out. I was really disappointed. But a couple of months before LT came out, I kinda free into it and it's sound. Now I think it is my 2nd favorite album around here. I'd rate it a 10 for effort, 9 for quality, Btw, I would LOVE to hear the rest of those demos in making of ATS.
^ This. I can't decide whether I prefer this album or "The Hunting Party" more. I think that, ultimately, their strengths and weaknesses even out. To me, "A Thousand Suns" has more varied and more interesting songwriting - it has strong songs ... but "The Hunting Party" is a more cohesive listening experience and a better album.
I think everyone has been doing that. I just think even in the context of of the bands discography, even if some of the pieces are incredible, the sum of them doesn't necessarily add up to being that far beyond where they were before. The approach was commendable yeah, but at the end of the day, it was 10 songs that I personally only liked a little over half of.
One reason I think this ended up being the band's best album is because it seems like they didn't concern themselves with some of the trivial things they are known to concern themselves with. With Living Things, it was "these songs need to be snappy," and with The Hunting Party, it was "they need to be rock with lots of guitar work." With A Thousand Suns it was "let's experiment." The only limits they put on themselves was to reject anything that sounded too much like anything they'd done before. Other than that, it was free reign. Don't want to write a chorus? Don't. Don't want to play guitar? Don't. Want to end a song with a strange yodel/chant from Chester? Do that shit. Write good music and however it comes out, it comes out. That can be daunting. Sometimes restraints can really help creativity. But Linkin Park seems to be at their best when they take the "blank canvas" approach to writing music.
Its a Good album with some great songs in it.Its not a god tier by any means.Its really overrated here and really underrated outside LPA.But you have to agree WFTE,The catalyst , WTCFM,BITS,Iredescant are great songs. I personally love Blackout.(Although i listen to censored versions of songs from MTM and ATS and also THP).Overall i can say that IMO LT>ATS as it contains less interludes and more rock songs and has perfect mixture of melody and aggression
Everything you just said is exactly how I feel. To me, ATS is far and away the best work the band has done because of this. And the album is strung together by beautiful interludes, and now songs like Robot Boy and Blackout are used as interludes for their live work, keeping the show together by helping it flow. Also, we haven't had any discussion about what the album has meant to us personally. For me, ATS came out at a time when I was lonely, and a little depressed. I was dealing with leaving friends behind for greener pastures and regretting it--Burning in the Skies was there for me. I felt like not much was going my way, and I was tired of putting effort into things that never ended up in my favor--Robot Boy was there for me. I wanted to go explore the world, and experience things I hadn't up to that point--Waiting for the End was there. Iridescent made me feel like it was okay to feel stressed with everything going on and to "let it go". And The Messenger served as an important reminder to me that life was always going to throw shit my way, and that even if I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, as long as I love myself and love others just the same, that things will be just fine. These songs meant so much to me at a time when I really needed to hear them. And then when you put it together in an order that tells such a wonderful story, and has songs like WTCFM, Blackout, W&K and The Catalyst that show off all different types of elements that LP has to offer, it becomes obvious to me that it will be a tough album to beat out for my admiration. It is my undying favorite record.
Save for that one guy who broke up with his girlfriend after hearing it Wait, was that "A Thousand Suns" or another album?