Is ATS the best album (both lyrically and musically wise) so far?

Well shit, I'm surprised I went all this time without once posting in this thread. I guess I don't need to at this point, because Louis and a couple others really hit the nail on the head, but just one thing I want to address.

Let's get it straight: When the OP asks "musically wise," and correct me if I'm wrong, she did not mean how the music SOUNDS. she meant how the music is composed and written. sound is more or less irrelevant in the equation.

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to musical sounds. Some like loud sounds, some like melodic, some like aggressive, synthy, bass-y, distortion, the list goes on. But the composition of the music surpasses all of that because EVERY song, regardless of sound, can be compared apples-to-apples if you look at the composition.

And THIS is where A Thousand Suns just fucking eats up most of Linkin Park's earlier work. The earlier music is pretty much just basic power chords with safe chord progressions and common song structure. Nothing really dares to even try to step out of the box. A Thousand Suns does. Not only that, but the layers in some/most ATS songs are just ridiculous.

So in summation, people like Dementia may prefer the sound of earlier albums because it's more upbeat, a better mix of X genre and Y genre, etc etc., but as far as composition goes, it's not even close. A Thousand Suns gets it.

 

Yes.

 

I just spit out my coffee.


I love ATS now and have listened to it a zillion times, but the interludes do NOTHING for me. The repetitiveness of them is enough to make me skip them whenever they might come on. I think the band could have done way better with them. The album is incredible, I just don't know if I think it's their best... or maybe I just don't think they did their best with it, if that makes any sense.

 

Yea I think I just spit out my coffee too.

I can understand if a lot of you love ATS, but to say that it's their best album... That's rubbish. LP's signature sound can be found in HT and Meteora - it's what Linkin Park (the very band in question) was founded upon. It's what made most of you get into LP, yes? Moreover, it's what made them famous. Simply put : Hybrid Theory and Meteora are LP.

I don't even think LP themselves would agree with you. They're not stupid, and they know that their apogee was back in the day of HT and Meteora.

I personally only like a few songs on ATS and I think the fact that they tried to politicise the album, talking about nuclear bombs and shit is ridiculous. I'm sorry but doing that kind of stuff belongs in the '60s - they're about 40 years too late. This isn't the cold war anymore and there's no point in artistic or social mobilisation against nuclear weapons lol.

Lyrically speaking : Mike's raps sound so immature on the album. They're crap. Just compare "When they come for me" to "By Myself" for example, and you shall see. On the first two albums, his lyrics were ambiguous and abstract, it was actually poetry, and that's what made it good.

As for Chester, I'm not saying he should scream all the time, but in any case, when he does (also on When they come for me) it's just muffled. Same thing on Lies, Greed and Misery. Compare it to their older stuff and you'll see the degradation. Oh and on "The Messenger" - wtf was that? Horrible lyrics and screaming. It sounded like some 19 year old in his parent's garage.. What a shame.

Remember how well Mike can draw? Who the fuck made ATS's cover? A child? It's a joke... And where is Joe Hahn's scratching..? There is not one bit of scratching throughout all of ATS. Don't tell me there's nothing wrong with that..

Anyway you people just fucking astound me when you say ATS is Linkin Park's best album... get off the crack pipe. You've obviously been listening to the wrong band for the past 10 years.

 

The entire post reads like you're just fucking with people trying to fish for a reaction, but;

An incredibly strong case could be made that Meteora has very little in common with Hybrid Theory EP, and that therefore Meteora isn't "real LP".









And to say Mikes rapping on "Somewhere I Belong" is poetry and not immature is hilarious.

 

I love how he says there's no scratching on ATS when there's like the last forty seconds of "Wretches and Kings" and the solo in "The Catalyst".

 

I think saying that the real Linkin Park is somewhere in the HT EP - Meteora days completely undermines the entire goal of Linkin Park. Back then they were young and just now figuring out music. But they always had the goal of combining genres. They started off with rock & rap because that's the easiest to do and obviously WB encouraged them to stay in that lane because they knew it'd be extremely profitable. But if you listen to something like Reanimation you can see where ATS would surface from. Reanimation almost serves as a prequel to ATS in some aspects. Granted Reanimation was heavy in Hip Hop, but the layers used, the soundscape they were attempting to create with that was highly ambitious and the only album you can find that was even remotely close to that was ATS. So I honestly feel like ATS is exactly what LP has set out to be from the beginning. Obviously no band does something that ambitious on their first try which is why we have more stripped down albums like Meteora and Hybrid Theory doesn't mean that HT is the defining sound of LP, thats just what got us hooked on the,

 

As i said it, my Opinion it's before Living Things, nope Hybrid Theory is always the best, and Now Living Things has been better than ATS

 

The Catalyst, Wretches and Kings.

I think ATS is heavily creative album but I've loved every era of Linkin Park and can't really put any of the albums above each other. Is ATS as far as the song arrangement goes more complicated than the majority of their previous stuff (not including The Little Things Give You Away), yeah.

When it comes down to it though, Linkin Park aren't going to be remembered for A Thousand Suns. They are always going to be remembered for Hybrid Theory and I doubt anything they do at this point will change that.

 

I can understand if a lot of you like Radiohead's Kid A, but to say that it's their best album? That's rubbish. Radiohead's signature sound can be found in Pablo Honey and The Bends - it's what Radiohead (the very band in question) was founded upon. It's what made most of you get into Radiohead, right? Moreover, it's what made them famous. Simply put: Pablo Honey and The Bends are Radiohead.

I can understand if a lot of you like Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral, but to say that it's his best album? That's rubbish. NIN's signature sound can be found in Pretty Hate Machine - it's what NINE INCH NAILS (the very band in question) was founded upon. It's what made most of you get into NIN, yes? Moreover, it's what made them famous. Simply put: PHM IS Nine Inch Nails.

I can understand if a lot of you like Red Hot Chili Peppers' By The Way, but to say that it's their best album? That's rubbish. RHCP's signature sound can be found in Mother's Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magik - it's what RHCP (the very band in question) was founded upon. It's what made most of you get into Red Hot Chili Peppers, yes? Moreover, it's what made them famous. Simply put: Mother's Milk and Blood Sugar Sex Magik are Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Because the band calling Meteora "Hybrid Theory Part Two" and clearly stating they didn't want to make a Hybrid Theory Part Three means they want to go back to that.

Oh wait, apparently music isn't about venturing out to create something new; it's about finding a signature sound and sticking with that to make money and be successful.

Well then, better tell the Beatles that it was a bad idea to make the White Album.

Or better yet, tell musicians to stop making new music. Just do cover songs. I mean, why mess with something that works?

Oh man, I'd hate to have political albums 40 years too late... better tell these artists that they've got it fucking wrong. It's okay, I'll wait:









On that note, fuck making concept albums! I mean, talking about fictional shit that never happened is ridiculous. It's not even happening and there's no point in artistic or social mobisation against things that aren't happening!

Wait, we're talking about raps sounding immature? Let me pull a few quotes here:

Rhyming would with would with would with would with would with would is definitely scholarly, poetic work.

I feel my heart is aflutter.

Hello! Imaginary Chester here. I'd like to apologize for the fact that we don't double our vocals in the studio anymore. Oh and also for my voice changing in the 10+ years since Hybrid Theory came out.

Oh, and I'm sorry that I'm in my late 30s and I DON'T want to write about teenage angst.

I'm sorry that a song written for my eldest son sounds like some 19 year old in a garage. You're right, who am I to write songs for myself? I should be writing music JUST FOR YOU, right?

Sorry. I'll make sure to fix all my mistakes.

-Imaginary Chester

I don't know about you, but when I try to do two things at the same time, one or both of those things suffers. Especially compared to focusing on only one thing.

"Hey Mike, I know you're writing all this music and all, but could you also work on the art as well? I'm sure neither will suffer because you're so overburdened."

Joe Hahn's scratching says hello in the last 40 seconds of Wretches and Kings.

 

This is true, though.

 

I'd defer over Mother's Milk because they themselves weren't very satisfied with the end result. And I definitely think By The Way is in many ways superior to Blood Sugar Sex Magik. It's my favorite album by them and, in my opinion, their best.

 

While you are entitled to your opinion, I find this comment very disrespectful. You should be glad there are variations of LP fans, even if they think Linkin Park's best album is what many would consider a pile of doo doo. Everyone has their own taste, and I personally find it a good thing that people like ATS, because if everyone only liked the same thing, the music would become boring and repetitive.

 

This album for me is a classic.One of best album I've heard in my life.

 

Oh man. This is not a question. ATS is definitely the best of LP, and the best album I've ever enjoyed. Yeah, I'm a fanboy on this one, but this entire experience is definitely exciting and beautifully-crafted. I still remember the first word after the entire album experience from me is, BEAUTIFUL. It is.

 

1. Minutes to Midnight
2. Meteora
3. A Thousand Suns
4. Hybrid Theory

Why is HT on the last place? Because it's fucking not enough to obtain the other albums. A Thousand Suns is much better cause it makes much more sense (just a concept album ), Meteora sounds just better than Hybrid Theory, and Minutes to Midnight is a mix of both ( apart from a few songs like Valentines Day)....

ToTopic:
A Thousand Suns is definitely not their best work they've ever done. But it's a very good thing. And I LOVE all songs.The most of them will just never reach the level from songs of M and MtM.
Besides that, after all it's very special and an important point at the history of the band



Sorry for my bad english (is it really bad?).

 

Minutes to Midnight was the worst musically while Metoera was the worst lyrically.
Hybrid Theory lacked the depth that ATS gained through the journey made COMPLETE through the interludes. If break ATS down from its lyrics, the transition effect of the interludes make sense. ATS was a more-than-meets-the-eye album.