It's not always Warners fault, Linkin Park played like, what, 3 or 4 songs off the album the second they released it? They didn't need to do a full world tour for it, but it was almost like the band themselves instantly forgot about the album the second they released it. Warner wanted it to fail? The band themselves acted like they just put out an EP and moved immediately forward. A good case could be made they didn't help at all, but even then the blame's equal parts Warner and Linkin Park themselves. While they don't sell anything close to what they used to, Linkin Park is actually still one of the bigger rock bands out at the moment. I think it was actually Living Things itself that was recognized as the highest selling album of that year, and it had barely scrapped Gold at that point.
Well dude that was a nice healthy decade of dominance, even now they're still one of the biggest bands in the world. They're doing a-ok.
The fact that they're still being asked for mainstream award shows, getting the #1 album in Billboard and having Top 40 hits is still pretty big and rare for a band like Linkin Park. They're probably the only band of that era to still be immensely popular now. They've even survived the punk era of the mid-2000s.
It's great to see that Living Things has sold quite well in a music economy where pirating is the norm. I can't quite explain it but there's something much more satisfying about owning a physical copy of an album rather than a digital download, at least to me. Despite the criticisms LT has garnered the past few years I still consider it to be a highlight in LP's career. Some of my absolute favorite LP songs come from this album. As for LP6, I am hoping that the lead single will be accessible to a wide audience but will sound different and fresh at the same time (i. e. not influenced by EDM like much of the music industry at the moment).
Linkin Park will co-headline Greenfield Festival, Rock am Ring and Rock im Park. That's more than enough proof that they remain one of the biggest bands in the world. They aren't in the news these days because they don't make nu metal songs. Plain and simple. Who cares. A Thousand Suns was an incredible album. If the band still made nu metal songs, I'd kill myself. About the promotion for this album, I'd have to agree that it was PATHETIC. I mean, how many times did the dates for the singles change? How many singles were released without any prior knowledge? Did anyone know about Powerless being a promotional single? Not quite until someone posted it here. LITE was supposed to release in September and kept getting postponed date after date and eventually that it was released silently as a single with no announcement or promotion whatsoever. Castle of Glass also had a different release date and was then released much later. The only reason Castle of Glass did at least mediocre was because it was attached to Medal of Honor. The only single they even promoted was Burn it Down and we saw how that became a success. In my opinion, LITE had a bigger potential because it was technically an old fashion LP song. Warner Bros has done its absolute worst with this album in terms of promotion.
Something makes me believe that they would even less be in the news if they were still making nu metal songs. Nu metal has disappeared from the mainstream a long time ago. Sorry but your argument sounds irrelevant to me :/
Maybe a better way to put it would be, "They aren't in the news because they stopped making songs that their "fans" wanted them to keep making."
I honestly doubt Lost in the Echo had hit potential. Castle of Glass on the other hand was a major radio hit throughout much of Europe. I don't think they'd be more in the news at all if they returned to the "old sound".
Actually when Living Things released, Lost In the Echo became the highest non-single song on itunes from the album. In other words, it became the highest charting song from the album after Burn it down, on itunes. Every LP fan, be it the old LP or new LP, sorta loved that song. I'll agree with Qwerty that if they made nu metal songs for all these years, they would have died out. But the fact that they didn't make any for all these years gave LITE more potential to succeed. Hence my statement about it having the highest potential. Any way, I'm hoping the band makes more experimental songs but that are more rock in nature especially after Mike expressed his view on the state of Rock Music.
I, too, hope that LP returns to more of an alternative hard rock or metal sound, as they can pull off that sound so well. I also hope to see more experimentation in terms of uniquely structured and even unstructured songs, as well as new sounds altogether through sampling and genre-mashing. I will try to not get my hopes up too high, as having no expectations is sometimes the best approach to new music.