Living Things: Album Review by ShArK

So it has been quite some time since "Living Things" has released, and I'd like to share my review for it from first listening to the album to now.


1. Lost In The Echo: As soon as it started, it immediately reminded me of how "Hybrid Theory" kicked off to a bang with Papercut. Not so much of the way it sounds (still love them both in its own way) but the impact of Mike rapping in the beginning followed by Chester and so on. After "A Thousand Suns" with hearing Mike do his thing on "When They Come For Me" & "Wretches & Kings" I was satisfied with this track to hear a familiar style to start off the album. + I was amazed that Joe scratches on this one. One thing I know for sure is that, A lot of people don't realize that LP has grown up. Yes, I do sometimes miss their old style of lyrics that really spoke to me in hard times, but these lyrics do well and have a lot more meaning then it seems. From the first listen, I loved it, and still do.

2. In My Remains: Right when chester started singing, right off the bat it reminded me of "Dead By Sunrise." At first, it sounded like Burn It Down, but the differences later on gives it a push. A lot of people noticed Rob's drum when the song silences into Mike's part but for some reason I didn't give it much importance as it deserves. "Like an army falling, one by one by one" is a strong way to put the song to an end. Pure Brilliant. From the first listen, It kinda went passed me as I felt like Chester was just singing but many days later, his singing was telling me something much more important.

3. Burn It Down: I remember waiting on the LP site to hear the full song when a certain time hit and when I listened to it, it sounded just as good as "What I've Done" & "New Divide" This was the first track that released off the "LT" album and I was enjoying the new electronic sound. My mind thought of 8 bit video games until the guitars come in which balances it out. As soon as Mike jumped onto the track, my face threw a smile and was excited that rapping was back in the first single. I remember waiting for "WID" to release and wanted to hear Mike but in the end all I got was "Na, na na's" It wasn't disappointing at all, the song is still awesome. Overall, this song is a keeper from the start. + it sounds just as great live.

4. Lies, Greed, Misery: Again, excited to hear Mike but on the first listen I thought the lyrics were kinda weak. I noticed his rapping has gotten this new style where he says many words that rhyme with "No," and says it in somewhat the same tune which isn't boring because I love when he does new things when he raps. When the track-list of the album leaked, I thought this song was gonna be crazy, and I wasn't wrong..It is. At some point I kinda got the idea and wanted to see where the change would come and when Chester sang "You did it to yourself" and started screaming, my first reaction was like "what on earth is going on here?" sounded like a buncha noise and him screaming but over time, it grew on me and it's not as bad listening to it a couple times or so. This song just needs more listens to be liked and LP never disappoints.

5. I'll Be Gone: For some odd reason, I've skipped this song many times on my Ipod cause I felt like this song didn't have any depth or spark to get me hooked. I felt like he was just singing without any emotion (though you can hear it). however, the more times I listened to it, I started to grow with it and now I add it to my playlist. Again, it felt like another "DBS" song and forgive me if my ears seem weak, but I really didn't know when or where Owen's parts are in the song but eventually I can sorta hear it in the background and the end of the song, it makes sense. So as I said before..LP never disappoints.

6. Castle Of Glass: OH..MY..GOD. This song just killed me. There's nothing I don't love about this song. Throughout the years, LP's slowish singing songs started to become my favorites more than the actual rock ones. For example, "My December" & "Not Alone" etc. As listening to the album in order, when this one came on, I just fell in love with it. Within hours, I even made a cover of it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78XXFH-b28g) I can go on and on about this song, but all I'mma say is WOW.

7. Victimized: I won't lie, my head was bopping to it on the first listen. Although this song kinda comes outta nowhere, I will say I was expecting a little more from it. All over FB, I saw comments saying this song was the best of all the tracks. It has Mike singing, Chester screaming, and Mike rapping. It's kinda all over the place but eventually I liked it and it really put a twist after "COG" I somehow wish it could be longer but it is what it is and I can't wait till they perform it live.

8. Roads Untraveled: This song is really underrated. It has this type of "No Roads Left" similarity in it. Though the lyrics are short, the first listen was kinda like how I heard "In Between" but over time it just makes more sense and becomes a favorite. After a few days of fully understanding the song, I decided to make a cover of this one too. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48boXXSxUGU) For those who hate it, It just takes more time.

9. Skin To Bone: The beat is just addicting. I'm kinda saddened wishing the lyrics could've been better but it works. I enjoyed listening to this song and I think it's the first time I heard Mike using that effect the same as Kanye West uses on the "808's & Heartbreak" album. (Forgetting the name of it) When chester goes into the "Ahhhh" tune, It got me hooked and had it on repeat. Then..I decided to make a cover of it Because it was just an addicting song to sing. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD4szyXud9o)

10. Until It Breaks: Mike doesn't let down on this song. The drums, the bass, everything in this song is just amazing. Not to mention, it reminded me something out of "Fort Minor" but overall it's a great track to bop the head to. He also gives his vocals a little swagg really making the song better to listen to. If he just rapped to it, It may have sounded how he did on the LPUX song "I Have Not Begun." One thing that surprised me was the ending of this song. Before even reading that Owen was featured on "Ill Be Gone" I thought he actually sang this part until It was stated that it was Brad. Least expecting him only because I knew Phoenix did some backing vocals on a few tracks from the previous 2 albums and it would make sense for him to sound like this...maybe. But I was wrong and it was Brad. Some people hate the ending but I thought it was powerful. And yes..I did a cover of Brad's part. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC4OifamPng)

11 / 12. Tinfoil / Powerless: I don't know if it's just me or most people will agree, when Tinfoil comes on, I keep thinking Joe's going to come into the track scratching like how he did on "Session" but due to how short it is, there were no scratching from him. I can literally hear it in my head and it would sound so awesome but it's ok. What can I say about "Powerless?" the tunes amazing, the guitars amazing, the piano keys are amazing. This song is quite powerful and it leaves me to no words. This really went head to head in my favorites with "COG" and couldn't decide which one I liked better. In the end, they both were a tie and it concluded the album really well. As a whole I give the album an A-. Within 2 years, they made this beautiful record and realizing "ATS" only had about 8 full tracks to listen to (made in about 4 years), this really makes up for it. Here's the cover of this song as well. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doZunKtb87Y)

 

The official LPA Living Things review thread is here: http://www.lpassociation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36819

Joe

 

My bad, I posted it in there now.