Skip to main content

ALBUM REVIEW: "One More Light" by Linkin Park

  Linkin Park have always had an interesting relationship with their fans; with every album since 2003's Hybrid Theory they have shifted and moved away from whatever they did before, often testing the patience of even their most die-hard fans. Since their early rap infused nu-metal days they have explored more straight forward rock and even touched on the U2 bag of tricks on Minutes To Midnight, thrown a curve ball and dived into more experimental (some would say pretentious) electronic territory on A Thousand Suns, they have sounded like a watered down Nine Inch Nails on Living Things, and took a tentative step back into their guitar-based past on The Hunting Party. While I am certainly not the same die-hard Linkin Park fan I was at 14, I can appreciate from a distance the way they have continued to do whatever the hell they want with their music, obviously without any regard for what they think will please the most people. At this stage, then, it is difficult to pin down exactly what Linkin Park's sound is. This is only compounded with the release of One More Light, and this is easily the biggest curve ball the band has thrown to date - more drastic a change than was had between Minutes To Midnight and A Thousand Suns. This is one of the biggest problems with this record; coming after The Hunting Party there is almost nothing of that band present here, and the transition is incredibly jarring. While at the same time I know I have no authority to say this, I think this would work a lot better if it weren't labelled as a Linkin Park album. It just seems to detached from anything else they have done in the past that it is incredibly difficult to come to terms with. I guess going in without any expectations would help, but when your band is approaching 20 years that is nearly impossible. It's not the lack of guitars and the prominence of keyboards, synths and slick production that's the problem (this has been done before with somewhat ok results and has been proven by other bands of similar pedigree to be viable options), instead a seeming lack of intent in the songwriting in general. On A Thousand Suns and Living Things there were at least interesting songs with progression and (depending on how widely you listen) a few fresh ideas. One More Light just didn't do it for me even on that level of "I wonder what comes next". When an album is only 35 minutes and I find myself constantly checking to see if I was getting through it, that is never a good thing. I'm not going to be one of those guys that will jump behind their keyboard and vent about how Linkin Park owe their fans better and that they've "sold out" - I don't really care about Linkin Park enough anymore to feel like that strongly about anything they do. For me it's more that One More Light approaches a corner of music that I've never been a huge fan of anyway (but have found my own favourites within) and does a consistently ok job of it. I'm also not going to bash One More Light, because there isn't anything really, really bad about it (there are a smattering of truly cringe-worthy lines on a number of songs, though). There's just nothing at all for me to grab ahold of and enjoy. At all. I don't remember any of the choruses, the production was ok but not overly dynamic, and... well, that's it really, there just isn't anything of note about One More Light. Good on them for not feeling they need to conform to their fans' expectations, I guess, but not really sure how they thought this would attract new fans if keeping the old ones wasn't a priority.

   Favourite Song: Sorry For Now 

   Least Favourite Song: ... look none of them are great.

   Rating: D

   What did you think? Did you like this album? Did you hate it? Let me know in the comments.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

1 YEAR LATER: "22, A Million" by Bon Iver

   Bon Iver's third studio album turns 1 in about a week (where did that year go?), so I thought it would be interesting to talk a bit about how my impressions of the album have changed - or how they haven't - over the last 12 months. When this album was released I was more excited than I think I ever have been to hear a new album. For Emma, Forever Ago is one of my all time favourites, and I love his self-titled second album too, so I had huge expectations for this album, but was also wary that expectations might ruin my experience of the music. This was particularly the case for 22, A Million , because it is unlike anything else Justin Vernon has released. There have been hints at this more processed, electronic direction previously, like the song "Woods" on the Blood Bank EP and occasional flourishes on Bon Iver , but 22, A Million is a drastic departure from the Bon Iver sound we had grown accustomed to at this point in time. Or at least, that's what I thought...

ALBUM REVIEW: "Go Farther In Lightness" by Gang Of Youths

   Where do you go after penning an hour-long tale of a relationship doomed by terminal cancer and subsequent depression, substance abuse and suicide attempts? The fact that Gang of Youths frontman and songwriter David Le'aupepe had anything left to say - let alone an EP and then a double album epic - in the two years since 2015's beautifully tragic The Positions is quite frankly remarkable. For Go Farther In Lightness to be as compelling and emotionally draining as it is, then, is mind-blowing. The musical well was obviously still rich for Gang of Youths, and they have released a sprawling epic that stands up confidently next to The Positions . Symphonic interludes provide a grand backdrop for the decidedly larger sounding album that also manages to slip in some of the most intimate moments in their already sparkling catalogue. It's this feeling of comprehensiveness - that they have covered all bases - that makes Go Farther In Lightness such a rich and immersive experien...

ALBUM REVIEW: "A Man Apart" by Ben Ottewell

   Ben Ottewell's third LP A Man Apart goes boldly where he has been before, and while it certainly does that pretty well it doesn't manage to either strike new ground or any real emotional response. There is a distinctly "nice" feel to this record, which is, um, nice I guess if that's what you want. But it just doesn't feel like there's any immediacy or forward motion on any of these songs, like Ottewell is content with writing songs that could be on four wheel drive ads. Again, there isn't really anything particularly bad here, it's just a singer-songwriter album that isn't trying to break new ground. His typically growly voice is also beginning to give way to a more accessible, smooth tone, which could place you on either side of this record. For me it just cements it's place firmly in the middle ground somewhere.    Favourite Songs: Own It, A Man Apart and Lead Me    Least Favourite Songs: Watcher, Back To The World and Bones ...