Few bands can conjure up long lost high school days than Linkin Park. Twelve years after first emerging the poster boys for nu-metal continue to soldier on with Living Things. Once again they hook up with musical resurrector Rick Rubin. The bearded one, who also co-produced the last two LP efforts with Mike Shinoda, has helped them craft a dark, brooding sound while maintaining a commercial sheen.
Awash in synth and guitar, opening cut Lost In The Echo lets you know what you’re in for, as Chad Bennington and Shinoda do their double team routine over some rollicking drums. While LP and the nu-metal sound have long been the subject of ridicule they have chosen to embrace their past and fuse it with newer sounds. Castle Of Glass and Lost In The Echo don’t reinvent the wheel but do add new energy to a sound many have found tired and stale. They even embrace dubstep style flourishes on Lies Greed Misery. The track that has many talking about a Linkin Park album in 2012 however is I’ll Be Gone, an unlikely collaboration with indie wunderkind Owen Pallett. While the string arrangements are choice it is still FM rock by-the-numbers. Much like the track this is an admirable effort if one that serves little purpose in today’s musical climate.
BY ANDREW ‘HAZARD’ HICKEY
Best Track: Roads Untravelled
If You Like This, You’ll Like These: Fort Minor THE RISING TIED, Megadef STYLES OF BEYOND
In A Word: Decent
